My Process

photoguy99 · Nov 21, 2014

I'm doing a project with an Edsel that's just gelling gorgeously and I thought I'd write a few words on my process, because, you know, might be helpful to someone.

First I noticed the car and said 'man, I oughta shoot that thing. make a little book.' and one afternoon I had a little time and went and took a bunch of documentary shots. Just to record what the thing looked like and form some impressions.

Thought it over, looked at the pictures. What do I see? Vast expanses of bent steel. Chrome. Chrome all over.

How do I handle this? How do I get a visual look that carries the idea of this car?

So I thought up some explicit visual ideas:

- Long shots from up close. Down the side. Down the hood, along the length of the car, across the grille. Near/far to the max. This gets you a sense of bigness.
- dutch tilt like crazy, the car should always (usually? Often?) lean out across the frame, it should loom. More bigness.

What about that chrome?

Shoot day-for-night with a snooted strobe, hit the sharpness hard to bring out the specularity.

Thinking more, trying to express a feeling I wanted. Various phrases drifted around in my head and I settled on "and erotic dream of chrome" and pulled the last few elements together. Drag the shutter quite a lot, and shoot it in the rain. Luckily it's always raining here.

Even if the car doesn't loom, it should be tilted and dreamlike. And it should do a lot of looming.

I've been out a couple more times and the keeper rate is astonishing. I'm probably gonna keep 1 out of 15, maybe one of of 10, because I've thought it through, and every time I go back I've got a shot list and a clear idea how to handle it. I'm looking for 12 photos, and it'll take me a couple more days of shooting, I think, to nail it down. I've got some nice work, but I don't feel like I have the whole car, because I'm focusing too much on my favorite details.

I tend to do this, to bounce back and forth between words and pictures, and it works for me.

Maybe it'll work for you!

The_Traveler · Nov 21, 2014

Talking about unshot pictures that you don't intend to post here is a bit meta.

Derrel · Nov 21, 2014

The_Traveler said:
Talking about unshot pictures that you don't intend to post here is a bit meta.

JFC, complaining about it is exceedingly curmudgeonly and worthless. Maybe next time try and put a bit more effort into tearing down a fellow forum member, mmkay? Surely you can do better than that drive-by insult...you're a blogger FFS!

Photoguy: sounds good ! A saw an Edsel the other day on the interstate, traveling right alongside me for maybe 1/4 mile...I got a lot of looks at it...don't see many out these days, except on the 4th of July, when Edsel owners let their ugly cars out of the garages for a bit of fresh air and the chance to scare small children away from America-made cars for the rest of their lives. I "get" the angled, looming presence idea. The car design itself was....out there...a RESOUNDING FLOP....and so phgotos associated with it ought to have an aura of difference about them...something decidely "off-kilter", you know, like the Edsel design was itself...off-kilter and ,well, not quite right.

photoguy99 · Nov 21, 2014

The car is awesome. It's such a thing of an era. I am in love with it.

And, of course, when the project is done (probably January, book design takes a bit if time, ugh) I will be happy to show anyone who likes the finished product.

Pm me next time you're in Bellingham, WA!

Lew, the point was to describe a process. The photos don't matter. If you want to see what they look like, set up for about a quarter second, stop down to get a murky dark photo in the ambient light. Dial in flash power appropriate to that aperture and snoot up.

Go shoot something chromed and old with this setup. Ideally in the rain. Adjust to taste in post, but slam the sharpness all the way over. Move the camera as you expose.

That's what it looks like. But it's yours. And isn't that better anyways?

bribrius · Nov 21, 2014

Actually found this very helpful. Often I find myself taking "pre shots" which I shot. staring at them. Realizing I don't like them which I knew I wouldn't when I took them. But staring at them to get a idea of how I would WANT to take the photos.
Just having some vision like you typed in that post, yeah. I aint there yet.

photoguy99 · Nov 21, 2014

Glad you find out helpful!

Have you tried turning the pre shots into words? Single words, phrases. Just something to hang a feeling on.

Everyone's brain works differently but I find that using those non visual brain cells works, somehow.

Then I turn the words back into photos. It's like guitar feedback, it amplifies the ideas a little more each time around. Until it's screamin or something blows up! Don't ask me how often it blows up or fizzles out

407370 · Nov 21, 2014

My daughter did very well at a dance competition yesterday and today I want to take some pics of her and trophy. Words I came up with:

Happy
outfit
winner
proud
trophy / sash

each word now has an image associated with it in my head.

photoguy99 said:
! Don't ask me how often it blows up or fizzles out

So how often does it blow up?

CHEERS

photoguy99 · Nov 21, 2014

407370 said:
photoguy99 said:

! Don't ask me how often it blows up or fizzles out

Click to expand...

So how often does it blow up?

CHEERS

Humph!

Too often!

No plan survives contact with the enemy. Sometimes what I had so clearly in mind just isn't coming or it's geometrically impossible or something. Then I wander and get other ideas and then the whole enterprise can veer of into the weeds and I get a bunch of stuff that makes no sense and I bin the project.

I'm not sure what to do about it. I think I might need to get better at sticking to the plan, but I'm not sure. Going forward I'm trying to just work the shooting script 'big, steel, chrome, loom, erotic dream of chrome' (or whatever it is next time around) harder.

This one came together like magic, dumb luck of course, but obviously I'm excited. If it hadn't I don't know what I would have done. Probably something dumb and pointless instead of pausing and refocusing on the baseline ideas. So. I dunno what that all means but I sort of have a plan that's a little more than relying on magic. Pause. Back up. Get back to basics and keep trying.

It can't be worse!

Designer · Nov 22, 2014

Is this car owned by someone you know, or is it just something you see on the street? If you and the owner collaborated on the project, you could get the car posed in some nice locations and with nice light.