BMW action composite

mercphoto · May 10, 2007

Does this action collage "work"? Or do you know what I am trying to do but have a better idea how to accomplish it? Thanks.

Frog Lady · May 11, 2007

Bill, I think I get what you're trying to do. But IMHO, I'm not sure it works. I think part of the problem is that the accessory turn images are too small and too obviously pasted in. I'm not sure if it would "read" better if they were on the curve of the road themselves... larger and just the car.

Nice concept, good luck fine tuning it.

C.

mercphoto · May 11, 2007

I think drop shadows on the smaller photos would help. I also tried this:

Dbl · May 11, 2007

How about your second idea only fade each of the layers so the last car would be light increasing in intensity as you reach the main photo? Give you an idea of speed I would think.

HarveyMushman · May 11, 2007

mercphoto wrote:

Does this action collage "work"? Or do you know what I am trying to do but have a better idea how to accomplish it? Thanks.

I don't think it works. The main image is not interesting--there's no drama and the DoF is way too deep. Maybe shooting from a lower perspective would help.

The smaller images are distracting and not especially dramatic. Maybe if their placement matched the curve of the road they'd be more appealing.

Overall, I think the composition needs to be much tighter and there needs to be some kind of blur or blend effect around the smaller images, though I haven't the slightest idea how one would do that.

Dusty Sensiba · May 11, 2007

Hugin
Try loading the images into Hugin, it should make for an interesting composition.
http://hugin.sourceforge.net/

I like the idea of gradually increasing size on the bimmers.

mercphoto · May 11, 2007

Thanks for all the replies. I've learned a few things. One, I never intended to make a sequence like this in the first place, but to make this work requires a change in composition when you originally take the photos. Fixed focal length, reasonably fixed camera angle. Manual exposure (so the asphalt is a consistent color, for example). And don't shoot a tight crop. I can still fiddle with the shots I have and will post a new version by Sunday from existing shots.

Thanks!

mercphoto · May 12, 2007

I think I figured out how to do this

xtnomad · May 12, 2007

That is cool,will have to give it a shot on the next shoot.

Chris_S · May 13, 2007

mercphoto wrote:

I think I figured out how to do this

That last one is much better. Maybe get rid of the 2nd bmw from the front.
I have done a similar shot here (http://photosbychris.smugmug.com/photos/135112791-L-1.jpg)

Cheeshead · May 13, 2007

How did you do this? Don't have to be to detailed, just a brief overview?

Thanks!

mercphoto · May 13, 2007

Cheeshead wrote:

How did you do this? Don't have to be to detailed, just a brief overview?

Take the photos in a burst, use the same focal length and do not move yourself. This seems to keep all the perspectives and sizes the same in the images. Looking back I should have done a manual exposure as well so that there were not subtle shifts from image to image.

I took the "main" image as my starting point, the last car. I then asked which way I would be adding photos (in this case to the right and up) and had Photoshop add blank space to the canvas. This gave me room to move photos around. I took the next image, copied its layer on top the main, and reduced its opacity to about 50%. I moved that around until background elements lined up correctly. Now take the opacity back to 100% and start masking off what you don't want. Repeat.

DavidTO · May 13, 2007

Cheeshead wrote:

How did you do this? Don't have to be to detailed, just a brief overview?

Thanks!

BMW action composite

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