#78 - Defying Gravity

sapphire73

I have just entered a photo of two people jumping up in the air, buoyant or light-hearted at the end of the work week. I shot a lot of photos of these kind souls jumping this way and that and will post some options later. This is the one that I put in the gallery for the time being while I look over the options and process them. I'd be interested in whether you think the concept works for this challenge? I have shots of them exchanging high-fives as well as shots like this....

When a new challenge is announced, I sometimes look up a key word to help me think about all the ways it is used, light vs. dark, light vs heavy, etc.

1. Defying Gravity - The Work Week Is Over, Let the Weekend Begin! [temporary entry in the gallery]

sapphire73

#2 Day Is Done


#3 No Worries


Light at the end of the day, light-hearted playfulness, the appearance of defying gravity.... Do you think this concept fits the challenge? And are you drawn to any of these photos?

Thanks,
Gretchen

[Edit: Removed #4...]

Cambyses

Nice shots... I think I like them in this order: 3-1-2. I feel 3 is probably a bit stronger on the theme thanks to its lighting. The lighting in 2 seems a bit too harsh to me.

travelways

I think #3 is the best - quite a performance

sapphire73

Cambyses wrote: »

Nice shots... I think I like them in this order: 3-1-2. I feel 3 is probably a bit stronger on the theme thanks to its lighting. The lighting in 2 seems a bit too harsh to me.

Cambyses, thank you for giving me input on these. The lighting in 2 is a bit harsh and that's with being toned down a bit in LR3.:D My "accomplishment" with this shoot was staying in manual mode when I've relied on AV or TV for so many years. I also used the flash in manual mode for some shots, but forgot to bring the diffuser for the flash or a collapsible reflector to bounce it off.... I typically shoot landscapes with a tripod and haven't had to think about flash quite as much.

I'm going to play with the processing some more but this initial input will help me figure out which shots to focus on. Thanks again!

sapphire73

photo-bug wrote: »

I think #3 is the best - quite a performance

Tatiana, I appreciate your input on these. It was an amazing performance! My models (a son and his friend) must have springs in their legs somewhere, jumping around 40-50 times in one hour! I was lucky to get a decent sky toward the end as it looked completely blown out when we arrived, light gray with very few clouds.

Do you think this would lend itself to a composite showing them at different points in the jump? Or a triptych? (I think I saw one of those in a challenge once.) Not sure that I could pull off either of those with Photoshop Elements (and my skill level) but thought I'd ask whether it is even worth contemplating this if I have time to try. Might be better to keep it simple though...

I am definitely going to try processing for the sky, processing for the subjects, and then blending the two in PSE. Haven't ever done this before, but think it would help these shots where the light changed so quickly and I balked at trying to balance it with flash.

Thanks for your help!

Gretchen

sapphire73

Just looked at the exif for one of these and see that I had the camera set for spot metering.... If I get a chance to reshoot or do something like this again, what setting might you recommend for metering? I did try metering for the sky in some shots and then setting the exposure compensation accordingly before focusing on the subjects - trying for some silhouetted shots - but usually spot metered on one of their faces. Not sure what else one might try.

travelways

sapphire73 wrote: »

Tatiana, I appreciate your input on these. It was an amazing performance! My models (a son and his friend) must have springs in their legs somewhere, jumping around 40-50 times in one hour! I was lucky to get a decent sky toward the end as it looked completely blown out when we arrived, with very few clouds.

Do you think this would lend itself to a composite showing them at different points in the jump? Or a triptych? (I think I saw one of those in a challenge once.) Not sure that I could pull off either of those with Photoshop Elements (and my skill level) but thought I'd ask whether it is even worth contemplating this if I have time to try. Might be better to keep it simple though...

I am definitely going to try processing for the sky, processing for the subjects, and then blending the two in PSE. Haven't ever done this before, but think it would help these shots where the light changed so quickly and I balked at trying to balance it with flash.

Thanks for your help!

Gretchen

Hi Gretchen,

I think that a collage would have worked if the theme was something related to action or a story.

In my opinion, for this theme, your work will not benefit from this type of presentation.

sapphire73

photo-bug wrote: »

Hi Gretchen,

I think that a collage would have worked if the theme was something related to action or a story.

In my opinion, for this theme, your work will not benefit from this type of presentation.

Thank you. I'll focus on processing #3 or something similar as well as I can.

travelways

sapphire73 wrote: »

Just looked at the exif for one of these and see that I had the camera set for spot metering.... If I get a chance to reshoot or do something like this again, what setting might you recommend for metering? I did try metering for the sky in some shots and then setting the exposure compensation accordingly before focusing on the subjects - trying for some silhouetted shots. Not sure what else one might try.

I think you did a good job with the #3

I'm not an expert in metering, but generally, spot meter on their skin, will show them beautifully and less sky,
while spot meter on the sky will show this beautiful and it may show them darker.
You can also try the evaluative or partial metering.

sapphire73

photo-bug wrote: »

I think you did a good job with the #3

I'm not an expert in metering, but generally, spot meter on their skin, will show them beautifully and less sky,
while spot meter on the sky will show this beautiful and it may show them darker.
You can also try the evaluative or partial metering.

Thank you!

travelways

BTW:

If you are thinking to re-shoot, you can try making them just sit and admiring the sky, instead of jumping,
which in my opinion is a little distracting from the idea of showing the light at the end.

You can also use bracketing (3 of more exposures) and using layers, you will insert the best version of the sky
over the best version of the kids

sapphire73

photo-bug wrote: »

BTW:

If you are thinking to re-shoot, you can try making them just sit and admiring the sky, instead of jumping,
which in my opinion is a little distracting from the idea of showing the light at the end.

You can also use bracketing (3 of more exposures) and using layers, you will insert the best version of the sky
over the best version of the kids

Thanks. I had them jumping because I was originally thinking about it from the perspective of being buoyed up, light-hearted, etc. at the end of the week and the start of the weekend. Initially, the sky was a bonus to my way of thinking, but after seeing the shots - including some sun stars off their arms - I realized the potential for switching my focus. And I guess, there can be multiple takes on light at the end of the day if they aren't too much like ghinson's?

Good suggestion to try reshooting with them just standing or sitting. I usually auto-bracket all of my shots so I'm familiar with that, but haven't layered them before. Just learned the trick for faking a layering mask in photoshop elements but haven't put it into practice yet. (There are definite limitations with the budget version of photoshop!)

Thank you for your help on this. I appreciate it!

travelways

sapphire73 wrote: »

Thanks. I had them jumping because I was originally thinking about it from the perspective of being buoyed up, light-hearted, etc. at the end of the week and the start of the weekend. Initially, the sky was a bonus to my way of thinking, but after seeing the shots - including some sun stars off their arms - I realized the potential for switching my focus. And I guess, there can be multiple takes on light at the end of the day if they aren't too much like ghinson's?

Good suggestion to try reshooting with them just standing or sitting. I usually auto-bracket all of my shots so I'm familiar with that, but haven't layered them before. Just learned the trick for faking a layering mask in photoshop elements but haven't put it into practice yet. (There are definite limitations with the budget version of photoshop!)

Thank you for your help on this. I appreciate it!

You're welcome - can't wait to see what you will do

travelways

sapphire73 wrote: »

... there can be multiple takes on light at the end of the day if they aren't too much like ghinson's?

I think that sunsets are an obvious taken on this current theme, and these can be done in multiple ways, as you said,
and from every photographer's interpretation, sensibility and creativity. I don't think that if somebody got a shot at the end of the day, this subject will be tabu for the others.

I took my lake shot before I've seen his post in the forum for example, as well as some kind of tunnel shots, before I got the chance to see the tunnel entry in the gallery.

One is this for example, but I'm just not sure how good it is:

sapphire73

photo-bug wrote: »

I think that sunsets are an obvious taken on this current theme, and these can be done in multiple ways, as you said,
and from every photographer's interpretation, sensibility and creativity. I don't think that if somebody got a shot at the end of the day, this subject will be tabu for the others.

I took my lake shot before I've seen his post in the forum for example, as well as some kind of tunnel shots, before I got the chance to see the tunnel entry in the gallery.

One is this for example, but I'm just not sure how good it is:

I think I prefer your other shots. Really like your second shot. Heading into the office soon, but will post more specific feedback on your shots later today.

travelways

Thank you

powder

Hi Sapphire73,
I'm a sucker for jumping shots, so I love these and feel that they very much support the theme...both literally and figuratively ! I think I like the one that you posted the best (#1 , I believe). I'll see what I come up with. another thought I've had is the "weighty" issue .....wonder if anyone will take the task that way??

travelways

powder wrote: »

Hi Sapphire73,
I'm a sucker for jumping shots, so I love these and feel that they very much support the theme...both literally and figuratively ! I think I like the one that you posted the best (#1 , I believe). I'll see what I come up with. another thought I've had is the "weighty" issue .....wonder if anyone will take the task that way??

Oh my gosh! It seems that I'm really slow these days.

Because of the light in the background I never thought about "light" as the opposite of "heavy"

What a great interpretation! - in this case your entry is just fantastic!!!

sapphire73

powder wrote: »

Hi Sapphire73, I'm a sucker for jumping shots, so I love these and feel that they very much support the theme...both literally and figuratively ! I think I like the one that you posted the best (#1 , I believe).

Thanks for your input on these, Powder. Having seen your photos of sporting and dance events on facebook, your input on my first attempt at this kind of action shot is very much appreciated!

powder wrote: »

another thought I've had is the "weighty" issue .....wonder if anyone will take the task that way??

The weighty issue had come to my mind as well but I wasn't sure any model I know would appreciate the implication that one's slender figure was the result of dieting or famine or something. When I looked online, I found about 25 ways that the word "light" is used, so there seems to be a lot of potential with this theme!

sapphire73

photo-bug wrote: »

Oh my gosh! It seems that I'm really slow these days.

Because of the light in the background I never thought about "light" as the opposite of "heavy"

What a great interpretation! - in this case your entry is just fantastic!!!

Thanks, Tatiana. I had hoped that I was onto something good but was up half the night processing these shots and quick to doubt myself. I'll keep working on the processing and post tweaked versions another day.

bbjones

I wonder if there is a way to keep the joy of their jumping, while cropping enough closer to see their faces?

I kept leaning in to try to see the faces, and they seemed to get lost.

I love the idea, and definitely the jumping, and I'm really not sure if you could get a crop that would preserve that while bringing out the faces, but it would be cool.

torrbrae

Would agree with the others - #3 is the best. Certainly fits the theme, as you noted there are plenty of interpretations of light, and the jumping - implying light as in air - and joy at the end of the week - definitely light at the end of a tunnel! Great shots.

silversx80

I like #3 the best as well. It fits the theme without needing the help of a title; it fits the theme on several levels of interpretation. I do agree with bbjones that a little more fill would be nice... maybe something that would be easy enough to do in post?

sapphire73

Brian, Torrbrae, and Joe - thank you all for your input on these. I finally took the plunge and tried using layers in photoshop elements tonight. It was easier to see their faces in the blended images but I lost ground in other areas. Will probably get better results with more experience but may go back to LR3 to tweak them for this challenge....

Looking more carefully through the shots, I see that I have several images that look like they are flying and a few that looked like they are being suctioned into a spaceship that is just out of sight. I guess that's what happens when you ask a soccer player and a volleyball player to leap into the air!

Thanks,
Gretchen

Changed my mind and am adding the two images I worked on with layers (in pse) tonight. I actually grabbed the wrong image when trying to work on the image currently in the gallery but would appreciate input on where I could improve when using layers to blend two images. Thanks!

4. This is the image I accidentally grabbed instead of #1


The colors seem a bit saturated. Was not going for an HDR look. Will work on the correct, smiling image tomorrow which is #1.


5. Layers edit of #3


To make it easier to compare with the earlier edit, here is #3


The sky seems a little washed out compared to #3 but the faces are more visible. I may have a few uninvited halos here and there but tried to avoid them....

Any input on this would be much appreciated. I'm a total novice with layers!

Thanks,
Gretchen

travelways

Wow Gretchen, #4 is just gorgeous!!!

sapphire73

photo-bug wrote: »

Wow Gretchen, #4 is just gorgeous!!!

Thanks, Tatiana. Maybe it was a lucky mistake that I processed this one! There is a lot of energy in their positioning and a lot of detail in the setting.

billseye

Again... late to the commenting (it sucks to have a job that keeps me from photography all the time - all except the money part ).

Looks from the comments like you've got things figured out. I wouldn't know what to add in any case, except that I really like your take on the theme. It's so easy to get locked into literal thinking in adapting to a challenge theme. I like that sherstone is posting ideas that are open to interpretation. This set of yours is a good example of not going with the obvious. Nice work!

sapphire73

Thanks for your input, Bill. I will be uploading new edits of these shots later today. Have been trying to get a handle on using layers to blend dark and lights edits of these, and it has been a steep learning curve!

FYI to any Photoshop elements users. I had version 6 and found out yesterday that version 9 is much improved, allowing one to use layer masks in the typical way (for CS5 users). Also has some photomerge capabilities.... New learning curve.

sapphire73

So onto the next batch of edits with newly installed Photoshop Elements 9 and workhorse, LR3, helping me out. I have great material to work with but not sure I'm doing "justice" to them. First up, revisiting some shots that were posted earlier.

6. High Jump [edit of #1]


[to make it easy to compare, here is #1]


7. Day Is Done [edit of 3 and 5, also on this page]


8. Defying Gravity [Edit of #4 on this page]


9. Similar to #2 but a different jump


10. High Five (conventional treatment)


11. High Five (unconventional treatment)


The working title for any one of these is something like "Defying Gravity - the work week is over, let the weekend begin!" My youngest son just informed me that "Defying Gravity" is the name of a song from the musical Wicked - which I didn't see - about flying, etc. One of the shots from this photo shoot really looks like these people are flying but the ones here are much better. If you have alternative suggestions for titles, I'm all ears. This photoshoot was a fun experience for me, partly because of the subjects I was shooting and partly because it was my first "hike" with the broken foot and my first drive to anywhere other than work. A delightful experience all around! Now if I could nail the processing of one of these, I'd be all set. Since I was blending two images for several of these images, they have something of an hdr look to them. I did try out photomergy in pse9 and photomatrix andconcluded that I had to blend these images manually for best results.

Which of these images seems strongest for this challenge in your opinion? Any suggestions re processing for your favorite image?

Thanks,
Gretchen

sapphire73

I had a working title of Defying Gravity (the work week is over, let the weekend begin) - thinking it was a feeling that we can all identify with, but perhaps I should switch to a title that is more specific to my subjects. Tatiana referred to the subjects as "kids" and I didn't clarify before, but my son is a high school science teacher and coach & his friend is on staff at a nearby college, so in a sense they could/would be celebrating the end of the school year. We live in a rural area near Philly and this photo was taken about 5 minutes from my home and the school where he teaches. It's where we "escape" when we want to take a walk in the woods or meadow. We ran into one of his students during our photo shoot

Some Other Possibilities for Titles:

It's Summer Time and the Teaching Is Over... (until next September)

Sound-bite from a Teacher: "School's Out for the Summer!"

A Teacher's Response to the Last Day of School

Teachers Rejoicing That Summer Is Here

I am thinking of going with one of the edits of #4 / #8 because it emphasizes the light vs heavy aspect of this shot but also hints at the light at the end of the day. I like #3,5,7 in many ways but I was shooting with the 24-104 mm lens (sitting on a stool because of my foot) and wasn't quite wide enough to be able to move the subjects more off-center or handle the horizon differently (in post-processing). It is what it is. I went with the 10-22 mm lens late in my shoot because I was worried about it's not having IS, but I really liked the effect of going wide and getting a horizontal take on these jump shots.

Any thoughts on my rambling?

Thanks,
Gretchen