Mega 15 C&C "Little Town"

Troy Raymond · January 30, 2012

Had a very busy weekend, days of planning and nothing but strobe problems which I believe is due to the power at the shop where I work, kept blowing fuses. Ended up moving to the paint booth with all the lights then realized something I had never considered before, it's like a light box for big stuff. Anyway, I'm not sure I like the background, not enough depth compared to what I'm use too. Still have some tweaking to do.

Even prepared a cool background to project on the wall, for now it failed to be tested again another day.

There is no reshoot available as the booth was only open for this one afternoon... and I don't have time to regrow a beard again. (still in trouble with my wife for shaving my chin. :huh )

Anyway, Comments? Suggestions? Do you think the name is appropriate?

Thank You all...!

Troy

WhatSheSaw · January 30, 2012

Looks great! I was thinking of trying a band of me idea. I may still see if I can pull something off, but will probably not enter it.

ghinson · January 30, 2012

Like the idea and, moreso, like the execution. Well-done. Tell your triplet brothers I said so. Too bad you were not quadruplets, so that the two guitar playing brothers wouldn't need to remote triggers!

PedalGirl · January 30, 2012

Really cool... great job! I wish I could clone myself!

SAMBALAM · January 30, 2012

Great idea and well done! Love it!!!

Jenn · January 30, 2012

OK Garth Brooks... it's awesome. I'm not sure about the title, though, but I like the font. Maybe, the Troy "Brooks" Boys!

Or The "Garth" Raymond Boys! Or even the Home Town Boys! Are you sure you aren't related to Garth?? Ever been to Oklahoma?

Troy Raymond wrote: »

Had a very busy weekend, days of planning and nothing but strobe problems which I believe is due to the power at the shop where I work, kept blowing fuses. Ended up moving to the paint booth with all the lights then realized something I had never considered before, it's like a light box for big stuff. Anyway, I'm not sure I like the background, not enough depth compared to what I'm use too. Still have some tweaking to do.

Even prepared a cool background to project on the wall, for now it failed to be tested again another day.

There is no reshoot available as the booth was only open for this one afternoon... and I don't have time to regrow a beard again. (still in trouble with my wife for shaving my chin. )

Anyway, Comments? Suggestions? Do you think the name is appropriate?

Thank You all...!

Troy

Troy Raymond · January 30, 2012

lol, Thanks everyone. I was wondering if anyone would notice the remote triggers. You probably didn't notice (due to size) that the beanie hat also has the name on it.

I'll have to play with some color combinations in the title so its easier to read at a distance.

I was hoping the title was acceptable, since a photo for "Psycho" or "Dazed & Confused" would have been much harder to create.

My wife says you'd understand, you've already met the 3 voices in my head.

travelways · January 30, 2012

Whatever the title is, the image is wonderful and very well executed - a winner to me

PS: I think the color for the title is just perfect

PS2 - Lucky you guys with big collaborating families

redleash · January 31, 2012

I think it's great--looks just like a modern country album with an old-time flair. I love the title!

Troy Raymond · January 31, 2012

This challenge has been the most fun yet. Our driver even got in on the action, but we're still not letting him in the band.

Troy Raymond · January 31, 2012

This is the version I have entered. Thanks everyone for your support.

WhatSheSaw · February 1, 2012

Troy Raymond wrote: »

This challenge has been the most fun yet. Our driver even got in on the action, but we're still not letting him in the band.

Perfect!

sapphire73 · February 1, 2012

Great entry from start to finish - concept through execution.

travelways · February 1, 2012

Troy Raymond wrote: »

This is the version I have entered.

Nice graphical addition

NelsonK · February 1, 2012

The album cover is great as is, but I'd consider giving the driver some space on the back cover, at the very least.

DsrtVW · February 2, 2012

I like it

tinamarie52 · February 2, 2012

Nice! I do wish you'd clone out the remotes, tho. It took me a while to catch on to your triplets. I'm overextended this week! Great concept.

Troy Raymond · February 2, 2012

In the final version shown above you'll notice that the 'me' on the right does have the remote cloned out. The 'me' in the middle simply has the shiney antenna removed as my hand looked deformed after trying to remove it, so I simply minimized attention.

Also note the name "Little Town" on the beanie hat is now much more legible.

Thank You for the comments.

Troy Raymond · February 2, 2012

Does anyone think I should add to the name to make it more apparent that all 3 are myself?

Troy Raymond - Little Town (Me, Myself and I) ???

Did anyone other than Tina not realize that all three are me at first glance?

dnie · February 2, 2012

Troy Raymond wrote: »

Does anyone think I should add to the name to make it more apparent that all 3 are myself?

Troy Raymond - Little Town (Me, Myself and I) ???

Did anyone other than Tina not realize that all three are me at first glance?

At first glance, no, I didn't...
Then I got to looking and thinking gee... you must have a twin... and hey the other guy looks... OH!
(sort in that kind of order)

Troy Raymond · February 2, 2012

Would this be more fitting as a description without cluttering or pushing the guidelines for text?

Never realized I could be a master of disguise.

It's important for my entry to be understood as all three are one in the same even at a glance.

dnie · February 2, 2012

personally, I think it works either way.

CHANDLERJA · February 3, 2012

I love the idea and you pulled it off perfect.

The only thing that bothers me about the shot is the blue screen feeling I get between you and the wall. If you could bring the wall a little more in focus it might help the wall feel more natural to the shot. Some overall noise addition might also help with the overall blending and also make it feel more like an actual album cover.

I hope that made sense!

Troy Raymond · February 3, 2012

With the background in focus it looks cluttered and doesn't separate from the main subject as well.

I'm actually a graphic designer (one of my businesses), noise is usually a big no-no because of multiple media use with scaling/printing (BIG). Perhaps this is an exception, but I'll leave it as is. Thank You for your comments.

As a side note, I would have prefered to photo an old run down town or building for the background. I could easily find something to photograph, but the crappy winter weather and snow just wouldn't fit the theme.

Also, has anyone else here heard of Typography? it can really add to most images where text is allowed.

lkbart · February 3, 2012

Really nicely done - I did realize it was you for all three, but you did a good job on making them each look quite different. If one didn't know better, the black thing in your hand could be a tuner

& I do like your typography! I also like your color coordination throughout. The "Me, myself & I" makes me think for me it would be "The three voices inside my head!"

billseye · February 4, 2012

This is terrific! It's cool to read the thread and see the changes and thoughtful comments. For the record (sorry...) I caught on right away that it was you for all three, although the tag line is a nice touch.

Related to typography, I'm neve a fan of all caps (the small caps of the first line is fine, but the lack of varying x-height in the tag line and its relative small size and tight line leading all makes the text harder to read. Perhaps a different complementary typeface for the tag line would declutter it a little. Just my. 2 cents.. I'm not a designer, just a computer geek who got interested in fonts when I got my first Mac more. Then 20 years ago.

Troy Raymond · February 4, 2012

Thank You again! I was wondering if anyone would notice the color coordination.

As far as the tag line, I've decided to keep it simple and leave it out. From a design standpoint it isn't really needed, plus it is straying from the initial guidelines of the challenge. Just trying a variation to get a few opinions and Thank You!

Both font's are Caps and lower case, however the actual font uses a smaller cap for the lower case. I chose the font for the tag line simply because of the old country style "and" to fit the theme that matched up perfectly with the circle in the graphic flourish.

Troy Raymond · February 5, 2012

I was showing a friend this image earlier and noticed it was kind of dark and had a slightly yellow/orange-ish tint to it. Took the opportunity to adjust color, exposure, sharpness and re-crop. I had forgotten one of my main rules.... Go outside in the sunlight for a little bit before completion to adjust my eyes from the computer screen.

Before and After:

sapphire73 · February 5, 2012

Nice tweak and good tip!

travelways · February 5, 2012

I personally like the "before" better, because my feeling for the idea of a "little" cowboy town is that is should look a little dusty, a little (or more) oldish, warn-out, etc. You can adjust just a little bit the yellow (not perceivable before the comparison with the "after" version).

WhatSheSaw · February 6, 2012

Thanks for the link to typography. I could really lose a lot of time with that!

I agree with Tatiana on the brightening. I think the skin tones look a little washed out.

After looking at the 2 in the gallery, I find I like the new one better.