Disco Girls

[john w revie]

In this photo I sent myself the goal of capturing the party atmosphere
It is a composite of two photos one for the lights at a slow shutter speed of 1 second @ f5.6 and the other for the girls 1/125 of a second @ f3.5 with fill flash. I think I have caught the fun of that night and would be interested in what other people think. My goal for this year it to move away from the normal static portrait to the more dynamic.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3417/...3ea2da97_o.jpg

[Colin Southern]

Hi John,

I think it's an excellent effort.

Out of interest, what generated the background lighting? (just wondering if it was a laser show) (I think I last went to a dance party about 25 years ago, so forgive me if this kind of lighting is common these days).

Only small thing I can see is that there's something that doesn't seem quite right with the composite - it might be that the ladies need a small blur around them to help them blend in (I think they look a little "cut/paste"), or it might be something else - can't quite put my finger on it.

On a small side note - I'm not sure how others feel about this, but personally, I find it a big plus if images are displayed inline (saves having to click the link - open up another window etc). I used to avoid doing it until I discovered that it's actually a piece of cake to do - so if you'd like a hand doing that, just let me know.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Colin - pbase.com/cjsouthern

[john w revie]

I also would like to attach the photo to the post but I can't get it to work help required
thanks john

[iPhillip]

You can attach a image to the site using the "Go Advanced" section then to upload it from there click the "Manage attachments" button and its pretty straight forward from there - You can either upload from your computer or from another website.

If you would like to post the image inline, look for the "insert image" button (either in the go advanced or quick reply posting menus), it will ask you for a URL, just copy/paste your image URL into it. Press ok and tah-dah you have posted your image inline

[Colin Southern]

"I also would like to attach the photo to the post but I can't get it to work help required, thanks john "

Hi John,

I've popped it inline for you.

It's actually quite easy when you get the hang of it, although as I learned the hard way, some host sites need a slightly different procedure.

For Flickr it seems that you need to ...

- Display the image on Flickr

- Copy the URL to the image (same as the link you posted) to the clipboard,

- Click on the "Insert Image" icon when you've composed your message here (the button with the brown boarder and green centre), and

- Paste the URL into the box that pops up

Job done.

Perhaps give it a try next time if you feel so inclined, and sing out if you can't get it sorted?

Cheers,

Colin - pbase.com/cjsouthern

[crisscross]

not really my scene (doubt if you could have found room to insert a camera in the cellars of the 60s), but I do like the effect of the way the girls end up floating against the background - you seem to have succeeded in your aims

[taken]

i think you have succeeded in moving towrds the dynamic visuals from the normal ones the expressions,and the body language,will suit any back ground i think like the overall composition too

[john w revie]

I have reworked the photo a second lights layer it has been added to remove the impression that the girls are stuck to the front of the photograph


the background lighting effect was achieved by the slow shutter speed used and moving the camera during the exposure.
john

[Colin Southern]

I think the reworking does make it more believable, but to me the ladies still look a bit too isolated (the lines around them are still too "clean cut").

When I used to play with composites like this I used to take the forground layer - select the objects in it (ie the ladies in this case) - shrink the selction by about 2 or 3 pixels - give it a small feather - invert the selection (so now only the 2 to 3 pixel outline is selected - then apply a gausean blur.

If you get it right it removes the cut and pasted on look, but get it wrong an it'll give you an un-natural halo around the image - so a fine touch and a bit of experimentation are required (actual "numbers" will depend on the resolution of the image though).

Excellent work though.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Colin - pbase.com/cjsouthern

[Davey]

I also really like it. I think part of the thing that makes them stand out is the people are lit differently. Maybe slight selective colour cast / very gentle photo filter will help take that edge off without making it glaringly obvious cast. Adding shadows too even just very faint ones to ake away the super imposed look. Just a suggestion so I could be wrong but that's my guess, and obviously you don't want them blending in too much and want to stand out from background still.