Unplugged

[Loose Canon]

Please allow me to introduce Mr. Rock Star’s twin brother!

This is Country N. Western (where their Mama comes up with these names I’ll never know!).

Ole Country boy here has agreed to help me out a little as I see if I can dial in shooting on white.

Some concerns I had with Mr. Western included getting the background properly lit while not getting too much reflected flare going on around him. I was hoping I could get at least close within my space confines. It is looking like I am going to have to knock out an outside wall on my house! I am also wondering if it is time for me to spring for a light meter.

I’ll try to get him to lift his head so we can get some face in the shot. The only problem is that he is uglier than a mud fence! Maybe ask him to get someone in his entourage to press his britches next time!



I’m really getting tired of having six semi-trucks and a tour bus parked out in front of my house! Anyway he asked me to post a shot of him so you good folks could maybe make some comments and suggestions on him. He wants me to shoot his next album cover if can ever get it right!

Giddyup!

[Ludwig]

Terry, I think you got it right! The exposure is right on - save your money for the light meter, you do fine! The reflection of the feet is a fine touch. Just edit out that tiny bit of chin and you got the cover photo.

[Colin Southern]

"Well life on the farm is kinda laid back and ..." (sung to the thigh-slapping rhythm of John Denver)

OK - seriously? Good stuff. The whites are white - the only comments I'd make are that the mid-tones look a little under-exposed on my screen, and if you push the vibrance a little it'll give the image more "pop". In terms of light meters, there's really no getting away from one for studio work unless you want to waste a lot of time.



PS: I'd really encourage you to make them BIGGER when you post - it's too small to evaluate the quality on a high-resolution monitor. I'd suggest 800px on the SHORT side and up to 1200px on the long side for normal aspect ratio images.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Terry,

Another good example to us all.

I agree with Ludwig.

I agree with Colin as long as height is no more than 1000 for portrait orientation as many monitors are only 1050 or 1080 tall.

My contribution?
I am distracted by the painful looking 'saw cut' into your left hip mostly on Colin's rework.
(or put another way; the background and glint on guitar side have merged into white, losing the bottom edge of guitar shape - your original is better in this respect)

Bear in mind my monitor isn't calibrated, which may affect my judgement, anyone else see it?

Cheers,

[Loose Canon]

Another concern (along with lighting the background) with Mr. Western was if and how I could shoot full length in my available space and with what focal length I would have to go with to do so. The original out of the camera could have been zoomed more with the lens I was using. And that’s a good thing.

Since the reflection was mentioned, and seeing as how I was participating a little in Mr. Gary’s (oldgreygary) DIY-type (see: Still Life Indoor Setup) thread in another category (over here), I’d like to expound a bit on that.

The reflection, in case anyone might be interested, is a result by a 4x8 piece of a type of white tile board that I found at a home improvement store. It was not done in post production. I am liking it so far. Not only for the reflection of the victim, but for the light reflection it throws up from below as well.

It is easily cleaned and seems impervious to staining. Hopefully it will help me keep overhead down and help my seamless paper backdrop from having to be cut time and again by victims treading on it. Sadly, my room is carpeted and I need a solid deck to work with.

That it produces (in my opinion only) a very nice reflection that might be time consuming to reproduce in post help keep the victims “grounded” in the shot. I am thinking that if I need them to “float” in the white, I can easily dodge the reflection out. Or just pull some more paper to cover the deck to begin with.

But, this is what is undoubtedly casting the painful looking “saw cut” into the left hip. I’ll need to watch what this material throws off and to where. Come to think of it, Dave, it would have probably cast the reflection on the entire bottom section of the guitar had the leg not been partially blocking the reflection.

Going forward, I’ll see about posting in a larger size. I have a couple of actions made for this. I’ll go in and change the dimensions for them.

Thank you for commenting, Ludwig. You too, Dave. I’ll mention to Mr. Western (C-Dub to his friends) your concern about his wounded hip! Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Thank you, Colin for your comments and re-work. I see what you are saying.

[speedneeder]

Looks good Terry. There is a lack of sharpness in the upper body? Moving too fast or just artifacts from size reductions? I know FB and Flickr sometimes do odd things to my photos.

What is he/you standing on? I have been thinking about getting a dry erase board for shots like this.

[Loose Canon]

Looks good Terry. There is a lack of sharpness in the upper body? Moving too fast or just artifacts from size reductions? I know FB and Flickr sometimes do odd things to my photos.

Hi Brian!

Thank you, sir. I don't use FB or Flicker on here, but its possible. Its sometimes iffy on focus when shooting self portraits by yourself. I do it not because I need a lot of photos of myself soaking up space on my hard drives, but only to get something dialed in and when working by myself.

As for the decking I am using?

The reflection, in case anyone might be interested, is a result by a 4x8 piece of a type of white tile board that I found at a home improvement store. It was not done in post production. I am liking it so far. Not only for the reflection of the victim, but for the light reflection it throws up from below as well.

It is easily cleaned and seems impervious to staining. Hopefully it will help me keep overhead down and help my seamless paper backdrop from having to be cut time and again by victims treading on it. Sadly, my room is carpeted and I need a solid deck to work with.

Home Depot, Brian. Its called Thrifty White Panel Board. The kind that has no faux tile look. It could easily be cut into sizes of your choice. Cost me about $14 USD per sheet after tax.

[speedneeder]

Cool, I do like the price!