A Shot at Studio

Peanuts · Oct 27, 2006

Finally got around to it. Oy that was fun

. Luckily I had my little half brother (who is edging on one. What a sweetheart) come over and do some of those corny, yet somewhat adorable shots. Unfortunately he didn't nap earlier that afternoon so he was a little bit in a crumby mood near the end, but I can understand. I would have broken into tears long before him if I were in his shoes.

I essentially used the flat 'beauty' lighting set up, primarily because I had 15 minutes to set up, and still don't quite understand the entire additive nature of light concept, and wasn't going to risk having too much contrast. So any hints/tips/suggestions for the next time would be wonderful.

I will add maybe 3 more to this thread in the next 24 hours when they are edited.

Critique of any type is asked for

I think between the web and photoshop I lost a touch of contrast/saturation, so those will be checked prior to printing.

1.

2. No fish were harmed in the making of this photograph

3.

4.

5. The final straw. He looks like a carbon copy of his father in this shot, so I 'aged' it a bit. (If one of the grammar people could inform me whether it would be correct to put an apostrophe after the 's', that would be lovely)

Sw1tchFX · Oct 27, 2006

HAHAHA I love the last one! and you're correct on your grammar.

The 2nd one is really great in my opinion. The only one I don't like is the first one beucase I'm just not keen on the tilt. Did you put a mirror down or soemthing, becuase how did you get that reflective surface?

mentos_007 · Oct 27, 2006

OMG this set is awesome! the first one is lovely! little pumpkin.
wow can you tell us what do you use ad a "floor" ? it is nicely reflective! and how do you get such wonderful white background?

KevinR · Oct 27, 2006

Nicely done.:thumbup: I am sometimes indifferent to the reflective floor, but I like it here. I think my only criticism is the last. Not really liking the color. I might try a duotone or just straight B&W on that one.

Arch · Oct 27, 2006

excellent work peanuts... these are all really good! Double thumbs up from me :thumbup: :thumbup:

Peanuts · Oct 27, 2006

Thanks for the comments.

The floor is plexiglass, and I do have a love/hate relationship withthese things. I noticed when flipping through other people's photos, that often times the reflection looks decapitated and such, and my goodness, I was certain I was going to do my best to avoid it. It is so incredibly hard! I felt like I was working with two kids at once. The best part is cleanup. These were shot in a 1.25 hour time frame (I believe), and there were two other 'themes'. There was the fish, which produced a ton of water, the 'farmer', whcih was alot of extra oreo crumbs lying around, dirty pumpkins, and a stepped in cake. Between each 'theme' was probably all of 5 minutes of clean up. Can't do that on a paper backdrop

I might post the 'fixed' version of the first photo for comparison later, as that was the original angle it was shot at. (He decided he wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins, started crawling at a hasty pace towards the camera, and the only way I could get all of him in without too much distortion was tipping the camera. Not certain whether it is currently working or not.

Also in the last one, I have received comments from my family about how jaundiced he looks. Whoops! But I still haven't worked up the courage to go black and white.

For the white background, it was a combination of lighting (mostly) and some PS work. Two lights were lighting the background 1.2 (? I think) stops higher then that of the foreground, which was lit by a gigantic octalite, as seen in the fish bowl. (This was done at someone's place who has a studio that is rarely used. Most defintely not my equipment) The largest problem was just being able to see the 'line' which was the end of the plexiglass, but that took about 30seconds in each photo to photoshop out. After that I selected the slightly muddy white background, duplicated to a screen layer and lowered opacity to between 40-60% and this was the outcome. If any one has words of wisdom to cut down on the PS, that would be great.

Big Mike · Oct 27, 2006

Great work...look professional.

Christie Photo · Oct 27, 2006

Peanuts said:
I noticed when flipping through other people's photos, that often times the reflection looks decapitated and such, and my goodness, I was certain I was going to do my best to avoid it. It is so incredibly hard!

I know! I have the same feelings, and find it a challenge too. I think the work done on the horizon line is fine. The only thought I have is let the paper come onto the plexi, reducing any shadow.

Nice! The fourth is my favorite.

Pete

Christie Photo · Oct 27, 2006

Oh... one more thought...

I think the lighting is fine as is. When shooting high key like this, there's plenty of light bouncing off the paper and plexi for fill.

KevinR · Oct 27, 2006

So I thought I would give ya something to ponder. :wink:

AprilRamone · Oct 27, 2006

These are all adorable! Love the Fishbowl idea!
The color looks great in the first, but then looks sort of lifeless in the 3 below that one. But, maybe you're right and it was lost or something between your comp. and the web. Also, the text looks good to me in the first few, but then I don't really like when it actually becomes part of the photograph in the garden one and the 50's one. Seems to take away too much of the focus imo.

Mansi · Oct 28, 2006

Whoa brit! you go girl... love these! very well conceptualised and shot..... nicely lit and beautiful... love the expressions captured

thnks a lot for sharing

Peanuts · Oct 28, 2006

I have tried re editing some specifically for the web but my colour profile must just keep changing. Argh. Unfortunately most of these and the ones I am about to put up look extremely flat and drained in comparison to my 'original' PS shots.

Christie: I was actually just trying to think of how I could reduce the 'reflection' and I will have to try the paper overtop once he gets a little more.. err.. controlled in his.. mannerisms with liquids and gooey cake

Kevin: Ohh.. it sure is tempting, next time I bring that one up in photoshop I will just have to try out a few

AprilRamone: Glad to hear your opinion on the text. I actually originally had the third one's text in the same place as 'Fishy, fishy, fishy', but there was so much extra white space above. I am still uncertain if this one will be printed, and if so, even if I will have text. If yes, then where? So it was great to hear your views on that.

Thanks Mansi and Mike.

Here are just a few more.

6. The white's are really whiter. But how can one resist a mischevious glance like that?

7. A few milliseconds after the first photo in the set

8.

9. Deep in childish thought

10.

11. The plexiglass! (No scratches.. *phew*)

12. This is a few moments before the last photo in the last set. I swear he was having fun... err.

13. Too much space on the right side

14. Balloon heading straight for the camera.

anthwinter · Oct 28, 2006

i love number 2 and number 8 with the fish,
in number 2 even the look on the fishes face is funny.

all amazing shots though, was a pleasure looking through them!

jemmy · Oct 28, 2006

Nice brit!!!!!! Loving the crisp 'whiteness' - and the plexiglass... must try and get myself some of this stuff - liking the sound of cleanup time....even without all the props, between the dribble footprints and handprints, my white fabric backdrop needs a wash after each shoot! xx