Wow
I go away for a few days to come back to quite the cool looking thread.
Thank you everyone of you who commented on my entry and how it was created.
An even bigger thanks to those who posted your own evolution, it is downright (insert your favorite expletive here), cool to see how superwoman flies, trucks become better reflectors, painting with light, stationary but moving bikes, the ups and downs of subway politics, getting singed by stars, cropping methodology, a great explanation of why Gary cut himself up and even SPONGEBOB!
For this contest round, I already knew I was going to be out of town for both weekends and my weekdays were going to be tight. Given those restrictions, I decided the best approach would be a studio shot. The question, of course was what? Walking around the house I noticed our blender as a possible subject. In my head, I pictured an image of the blender, shot wide and low, towering over the camera with a beam of light shooting out the top to the heavens. I started planning what I would need to put it together including red water and dry ice to create a mist which would make the beam of light visible. The plan was to use my homemade lightbox with one flash on either side and a flash above shooting through a cardboard tube to create the beam of light.
Our blender is a rather ugly looking beast molded out of white plastic, so I started asking around for a blender with a bit more style. Pretty quickly I found out our friends down the street has a retro-styled Osterizer Classic so I arranged to borrow it. I still had in my head one of the old-style 10 button square base blenders, but "Classic" was nothing of the sort. As you can see in this early test shot, the polished chrome base made a mockery of my lightbox:
Every wrinkle in the cloth shows clear as day and I didn't really have a satifactory way of closing the gap without showing seams on the front of the blender. It only took a few test shots with different light setups and camera positions before I concluded that the lightbox just wasn't going to cut it.
So, back to the drawing board. I really a smooth, seamless, wrap around light. It took a day or so to come up with the idea of using a translucent plastic sheet wrapped in a cylinder around the blender. I took a lunch hour to run down to the local Tap Plastics and picked up 3 2'x4' sheets of 1/16" polypropylene plastic. When I got them home I put my cylinder together with clear tape and binder clips, cut a couple holes in it for the lens and took another set of test shots. Here is the basic setup:
You can see a light stand on either side and a boom over the top. I am using a black lightdisc to prevent reflections of the ceiling and (in a later adaption) a sheet of thin black acrylic as a floor. The backdrop is black felt draped over a piece of foam core. This shot, which I posted as in my thread was a first pass with the new set up:
Still not really where I want to be. The beam from the flash above is not working the way I'd like it too. The carbon dioxide smoke is too heavy to really show the light properly and I think I would need to use optics to get a well enough defined beam. The base is also a problem both because of flat light and because the low angle on the round base doesn't really work all that well.
There were 3 major changes that went into the final version. I changed the point of view of the camera which is both a more flattering perspective on this blender and also livened up the light because with the camera higher some of the floor is reflected in the ripples on the base; I brought the overhead flash down and hid it behind the blender shooting up through the water; and I put down the black acrylic which reflected some light into the base. There were also some tweaks to the shape of my cylinder and a few adjustments to the side light positions. This is the final:
The yellow at the surface of the water is actually a happy concidence. Reflections of the flash behind the blender off the underside of the water surface are extremely bright and blew out both the red and green channels on the camera sensor. When I was shooting, I saw that in the LCD and turned down the power on that flash, but when I loaded the shots into the computer I decided I liked the blown out look and chose one of the early shots over the later ones which "properly exposed" but much less interesting.
... and this is why I love the LPS series. What an amazing amount of thought that goes into each picture, but also a jawdropping level of creativity and technical know-how. I hope to one day know how to do some of the things discussed in these threads, both before the shot and afterwards. Reading everyone's posts are like glimpses into mini-tutorials and helps me prioritize what I want to learn first.
Within a few minutes of reading the LPS challenge, I had a working title and a pretty clear idea of what my entry should look like.
My shoot involved directing my brother to give our sister a "Come Hither" look, which proved interestingly difficult because neither could keep a straight face . We squeezed the shoot in during a six-minute period between my sister having to pick her kid up from school and my brother home in between work and the gym. I had originally planned on using another male (unrelated) but that didn't pan out because of scheduling conflicts. In a way I'm glad because the shoot provided us with some bona fide belly laughs and have become something we'll remember and laugh about in years to come.
I got some fabulously funny outtakes that will soon be invading my sibs myspace pages but only 2 good shots to choose from for LPS. My entry was the best of the two and I'm pleased with the picture overall, though my vision for the entry was a tad stronger than the ultimate result. I converted one copy to B&W but decided the color was subtle enough and just a bit stronger picture. As an aside, I love the color of my walls
Somebodies…
After downloading this thread and sharing it with camera-buddy friends, I want to pay LPS rather significant applause! I know, that sounds pretentious...
But, although a noob, I'm finding each day I need to slip away to learn more. Slip away ~ take LPS sharing pseudo-classes from guys and gals like Sherstone (Metal Strategy), Kerry (Soul), Mark (pickup bike shot – don’t know title), Liquid Air (Classic ???)…
With a couple of years under my belt in a camera club, I'm finding LPS reminds me of the movie An Officer and a Gentleman. I'm the recruit; you guys are the avidly demanding drill sergeants.
First, let me compliment you on the art in your photography.
Metal Strategy and Classic show me absolutely new ways to think about photography and the final product. The impact and composition is a response to carefully thought out plans, camera experiments, and very imaginative postprocessing.
Soul is a judge's delight; simple, emotional, dramatic... yet clearly explained as a learning experiment from a camera class.
Then, let me simply say how much broader my horizons are now.
I find strange, exotic images popping into my head during dreamtime. Then, it's time to go out and shoot 'em. Back in the digital lab, it's time to add completely new processing tricks to enhance the drama.
That's a whole new way for me to think about using a camera!
Well Done, Guys!!! (Come on, Mark, its still generic…)
And it makes me humble to realize that it's all put out there on the net, if I can just open my mind, experiment, and learn...
Where I come from, my old uncle would have said, "Them’s somebodies…"
Joe
[FONT="]As You Think, So Shall You BE... Rumi, 13th Century Persian Poet
Thanks, Joe! The title of mine was "Direct Drive...."
When I was in California I had to attend one of those sensitivity courses.. Changed the course of my life by at least 90 degrees.. Still, next time I use the term "Gals," consider yerself generically included!
Not quite an evolution
but was fun trying to come up with something I felt worthy of posting. I'm amazed at the creativity on some of these shots. Torn at times between making a photograph in PS or capturing one sends me both directions in my thinking. In one sense, the LPS has become a bit more of who can create an image out of several shots versus capturing the theme in one shot. Don't get me wrong, it's masterful to create such a work. The validity at times I struggle with.....more of a Photoshop challenge than a photo challenge but that's simply me. I realize all have different viewpoints on this and it isn't necessary to even go there.....just wanted to share my observations.
With that said, I haven't had very much time this summer to participate in the LPS (sadly so) but was keeping a lookout the last two weeks for a viable shot. We went to our state fair on Saturday and took a few that I thought would be interesting entries. Unfortunately, it was entirely too late to throw it out for feedback, so I chose what the family thought would work.
This is the first one I was going to enter:
But, this is the one the family liked
The evolution then was more about choosing than getting real creative. By seeing how some of you did yours it makes me scratch my head and think, "how on earth do they think of this stuff"? Excellent work people. Sure is fun seeing the work behind the scenes. Thanks for reading a long winded (evolved) post!
Well Done, Guys!!! (Come on, Mark, its still generic…)
And it makes me humble to realize that it's all put out there on the net, if I can just open my mind, experiment, and learn...
Where I come from, my old uncle would have said, "Them’s somebodies…"
Joe, It is reactions like this, that make me smile and realize that I am really having a lot of fun getting to know each of you through our art and our reactions to it.
Comments
I go away for a few days to come back to quite the cool looking thread.
Thank you everyone of you who commented on my entry and how it was created.
An even bigger thanks to those who posted your own evolution, it is downright (insert your favorite expletive here), cool to see how superwoman flies, trucks become better reflectors, painting with light, stationary but moving bikes, the ups and downs of subway politics, getting singed by stars, cropping methodology, a great explanation of why Gary cut himself up and even SPONGEBOB!
1. See yard sale sign.
2. Go to yard sale.
3. Buy really cool lamp and fan for $1 each.
4. Take pictures in my kitchen of said fan.
Ta-da!
I think we should have a new contest rule. If you don't work any harder than that you're automatically disqualified!
p.s. It's a nice shot, no matter hard you didn't work!
ShutterGlass.com
OnlyBegotten.com
For this contest round, I already knew I was going to be out of town for both weekends and my weekdays were going to be tight. Given those restrictions, I decided the best approach would be a studio shot. The question, of course was what? Walking around the house I noticed our blender as a possible subject. In my head, I pictured an image of the blender, shot wide and low, towering over the camera with a beam of light shooting out the top to the heavens. I started planning what I would need to put it together including red water and dry ice to create a mist which would make the beam of light visible. The plan was to use my homemade lightbox with one flash on either side and a flash above shooting through a cardboard tube to create the beam of light.
Our blender is a rather ugly looking beast molded out of white plastic, so I started asking around for a blender with a bit more style. Pretty quickly I found out our friends down the street has a retro-styled Osterizer Classic so I arranged to borrow it. I still had in my head one of the old-style 10 button square base blenders, but "Classic" was nothing of the sort. As you can see in this early test shot, the polished chrome base made a mockery of my lightbox:
Every wrinkle in the cloth shows clear as day and I didn't really have a satifactory way of closing the gap without showing seams on the front of the blender. It only took a few test shots with different light setups and camera positions before I concluded that the lightbox just wasn't going to cut it.
So, back to the drawing board. I really a smooth, seamless, wrap around light. It took a day or so to come up with the idea of using a translucent plastic sheet wrapped in a cylinder around the blender. I took a lunch hour to run down to the local Tap Plastics and picked up 3 2'x4' sheets of 1/16" polypropylene plastic. When I got them home I put my cylinder together with clear tape and binder clips, cut a couple holes in it for the lens and took another set of test shots. Here is the basic setup:
You can see a light stand on either side and a boom over the top. I am using a black lightdisc to prevent reflections of the ceiling and (in a later adaption) a sheet of thin black acrylic as a floor. The backdrop is black felt draped over a piece of foam core. This shot, which I posted as in my thread was a first pass with the new set up:
Still not really where I want to be. The beam from the flash above is not working the way I'd like it too. The carbon dioxide smoke is too heavy to really show the light properly and I think I would need to use optics to get a well enough defined beam. The base is also a problem both because of flat light and because the low angle on the round base doesn't really work all that well.
There were 3 major changes that went into the final version. I changed the point of view of the camera which is both a more flattering perspective on this blender and also livened up the light because with the camera higher some of the floor is reflected in the ripples on the base; I brought the overhead flash down and hid it behind the blender shooting up through the water; and I put down the black acrylic which reflected some light into the base. There were also some tweaks to the shape of my cylinder and a few adjustments to the side light positions. This is the final:
The yellow at the surface of the water is actually a happy concidence. Reflections of the flash behind the blender off the underside of the water surface are extremely bright and blew out both the red and green channels on the camera sensor. When I was shooting, I saw that in the LCD and turned down the power on that flash, but when I loaded the shots into the computer I decided I liked the blown out look and chose one of the early shots over the later ones which "properly exposed" but much less interesting.
Very cool to see how you did this. Thanks!
Wow! I wished my mind worked that way. Very creative approach to a great shot!
My Images | My Lessons Learned and Other Adventures
Wow.
Within a few minutes of reading the LPS challenge, I had a working title and a pretty clear idea of what my entry should look like.
My shoot involved directing my brother to give our sister a "Come Hither" look, which proved interestingly difficult because neither could keep a straight face
I got some fabulously funny outtakes that will soon be invading my sibs myspace pages
After downloading this thread and sharing it with camera-buddy friends, I want to pay LPS rather significant applause! I know, that sounds pretentious...
But, although a noob, I'm finding each day I need to slip away to learn more. Slip away ~ take LPS sharing pseudo-classes from guys and gals like Sherstone (Metal Strategy), Kerry (Soul), Mark (pickup bike shot – don’t know title), Liquid Air (Classic ???)…
With a couple of years under my belt in a camera club, I'm finding LPS reminds me of the movie An Officer and a Gentleman. I'm the recruit; you guys are the avidly demanding drill sergeants.
First, let me compliment you on the art in your photography.
Metal Strategy and Classic show me absolutely new ways to think about photography and the final product. The impact and composition is a response to carefully thought out plans, camera experiments, and very imaginative postprocessing.
Soul is a judge's delight; simple, emotional, dramatic... yet clearly explained as a learning experiment from a camera class.
Then, let me simply say how much broader my horizons are now.
I find strange, exotic images popping into my head during dreamtime. Then, it's time to go out and shoot 'em. Back in the digital lab, it's time to add completely new processing tricks to enhance the drama.
That's a whole new way for me to think about using a camera!
Well Done, Guys!!! (Come on, Mark, its still generic…)
And it makes me humble to realize that it's all put out there on the net, if I can just open my mind, experiment, and learn...
Where I come from, my old uncle would have said, "Them’s somebodies…"
[FONT="]As You Think, So Shall You BE... Rumi, 13th Century Persian Poet
Award-Winning Photography, Workshop Instructor, Storyteller, Writer
[/FONT][FONT="]Blog: [/FONT][FONT="]Pathways of Light[/FONT]
[FONT="] Workshops: Creating Fine Art Magic[/FONT][FONT="]
Book: Paths of Light [/FONT]
[FONT="]Workshops: 2011 Lightroom 3 Workshops
[/FONT][FONT="]Galleries, Bisti Art
[/FONT]
When I was in California I had to attend one of those sensitivity courses.. Changed the course of my life by at least 90 degrees.. Still, next time I use the term "Gals," consider yerself generically included!
www.HoofClix.com / Personal Facebook / Facebook Page
and I do believe its true.. that there are roads left in both of our shoes..
but was fun trying to come up with something I felt worthy of posting. I'm amazed at the creativity on some of these shots. Torn at times between making a photograph in PS or capturing one sends me both directions in my thinking. In one sense, the LPS has become a bit more of who can create an image out of several shots versus capturing the theme in one shot. Don't get me wrong, it's masterful to create such a work. The validity at times I struggle with.....more of a Photoshop challenge than a photo challenge but that's simply me. I realize all have different viewpoints on this and it isn't necessary to even go there.....just wanted to share my observations.
With that said, I haven't had very much time this summer to participate in the LPS (sadly so) but was keeping a lookout the last two weeks for a viable shot. We went to our state fair on Saturday and took a few that I thought would be interesting entries. Unfortunately, it was entirely too late to throw it out for feedback, so I chose what the family thought would work.
This is the first one I was going to enter:
But, this is the one the family liked
The evolution then was more about choosing than getting real creative. By seeing how some of you did yours it makes me scratch my head and think, "how on earth do they think of this stuff"?
NAPP Member | Canon Shooter
Weddings/Portraits and anything else that catches my eye.
www.daveswartz.com
Model Mayhem site http://www.modelmayhem.com/686552
That's awesome LiquidAir. Thanks for sharing your set up and thought process. I'm learning a lot about lighting from your set up posts.
My Photos
My Facebook
Wow. Thanks, Joe.
Joe, It is reactions like this, that make me smile and realize that I am really having a lot of fun getting to know each of you through our art and our reactions to it.