Starhawk Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Some of you know how much I've been getting into photography lately from other threads I've posted. I recently finished my first studio shoot, and came away very pleased with the results! I've got a few friends who work at one of the local radio staions in Raleigh. Every Christmas, they promote "Merry XXX-Mas", an amazingly popular stunt that drives loads of traffic to their website. Basically, everyone at the station takes pictures of themselves in some type of Christmas theme, while at the same time, just barely covering their "bits and pieces". I told my friends that we could do alot better than the simple Point & Shoot pictures that almost everyone ends up submitting. And, it would give me a great chance to get my first studio session under my belt! Here are the results: "Cocktail" Carly: Randi West (who may be broadcasting in your area, she's does multiple markets): "Cuz" Jackie: Photoshop really came in handy, these pics had numerous touchups to make them look perfect, almost "Maxim" style. Randi's pic looks unreal, almost like a painting, and I was really happy with the way it turned out. She didnt like it though, as she felt she looked too "dead" so she went with this one I don't like instead. For those interested, after alot of research, I was able to get most of my equipment for much less than I thought. Most of my stuff all came from Alien Bees and Amvona.com's Ebay store. Hope you enjoyed the pics! Let me know what you think as any constructive criticism is always welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robot Monkey Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Wonderful work! Did you use a white backdrop from the company you got your greenscreen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starhawk Posted November 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 I used a white seamless paper backdrop that I bought locally. It's almost hard to see that it's a backdrop because I blew out the background with my background light, and then after throwing some effects on the pic in photoshop, it intensified the white even more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camp Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Great stuff. Did the ladies slip any nipplege for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Nice HDR effects No, seriously, very nicely done Cameron! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Nice Job Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHiL Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Cameron , You are god! NICE WORK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orpheus Posted November 26, 2005 Report Share Posted November 26, 2005 Nice job, especially the Randi one. :tu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 They're very good, Cameron. The contrast of a vivid red against white always works nicely, and the second one I find the most appealing in part for that reason. I certainly think you made the right choice over the alternate you linked to. Were you working with fixed prime lenses for this shoot or a variable zoom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whooter Posted November 27, 2005 Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 "Cuz" Jackie looks like she needs someone to hold her. I'm on my way. :tu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starhawk Posted November 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2005 Thanks for the comments, all! Dan, I shot all of the pictures with a 50mm prime lens. If you know anything about Digital SLRs, my Digital Rebel has a 1.6x crop factor, so I was essentially shooting at 80mm. Randi's pic was one of the concepts I had planned out weeks in advance, and I have to admit I was somewhat inspired by this movie scene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Dan, I shot all of the pictures with a 50mm prime lens. If you know anything about Digital SLRs, my Digital Rebel has a 1.6x crop factor, so I was essentially shooting at 80mm. Gotcha. I still can't bring myself to move toward digital I have to say. One thing I’d add about the images is flesh tone, particularly in the latter two images (the tones in the first one are very appealing actually). Whether this is down to make up or reflections, or a combination of both, I can't say, but the faces look somewhat flustered, which admittedly works to a degree for the style of the shoot, but in the third image especially seems a little off balance. I'm wondering if it’s a case of the vivid reds of the clothing bouncing back off the surroundings and lighting rig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starhawk Posted November 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 You're right Dan, the flesh tones on the face of the third one are worse than the others for sure. Most of it is due to my photoshop job, as the girls wanted to look as "perfect" as possible. It looks like I color picked somewhere on her face that was too pink and applied that as I was touching it up. It's definitely something I should have tried to fix, but I think my subconcious was already happy with the results. Also, I have very little experience with film, so I understand your hesitance, only in the opposite direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 It's definitely something I should have tried to fix, but I think my subconcious was already happy with the results. Mmm, it's really one of the most testing things to get right under controlled lighting I have found (partly a reason I like working with b&w film stocks so much, though they don’t excuse you entirely from getting tones right by any means). It’s all next to impossible to do in post via Photoshop...etc since the attraction of skin tones is so natural to the beholder to start artificially tinkering that element digitally really starts to delve into the waxwork model look often seen in magazines. It’s a shame the three of them wanted any imperfections removed but then, that is kind of the point of studio shoots at the end of the day. Also, I have very little experience with film, so I understand your hesitance, only in the opposite direction. I think it's just that I'm the most old-fashioned twenty something there ever was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 The other thing to remember is that all of us are seeing different versions of these images on different monitors with different settings and ambient light. The difference between CRT (which I prefer) and LCD alone is huge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Indeed. I actually can't bear to work with anything other than a CRT monitor when working with image manipulation. Big reason I can’t bring myself to have a tft monitor at my desk here…. See, terribly old fashioned like I said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustyjaw Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 Indeed. I actually can't bear to work with anything other than a CRT monitor when working with image manipulation. Big reason I can?t bring myself to have a tft monitor at my desk here?. See, terribly old fashioned like I said. Eh, not necessarily. I have yet to see a good LCD that can match a good CRT. And CCDs have yet to catch up with film, especially in dynamic range (not so much in resolution, although true film resolution CCDs are still expensive). That being said, when it comes time to replace my CRT I will surely go for an LCD for energy-saving and space-saving reasons. And the sheer convenience of digital photography trumps the drawbacks for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry the Clown Posted November 28, 2005 Report Share Posted November 28, 2005 That being said, when it comes time to replace my CRT I will surely go for an LCD for energy-saving and space-saving reasons. There are some well designed CRTs out there though that don't take up too much space, though if you want to start working with two or more of them things become tricky and I've noticed there's little choice beyond flat digital panels for 16:9 video editing displays which is irritating (correct me if I am wrong). And the sheer convenience of digital photography trumps the drawbacks for me. I think for me, aside from the lack of texture I find with digital capturing, it's the lack of a physical negative that puts me off digital the most. The convenience is wonderful, but even beyond some of the serious photography I occasionally get up to, for fun photographs when out with friends or family I feel safer having a 35mm device with me as I trust film a great deal more for long term archival purposes. It’s for this reason I'll forever be stuck in the past until they stop making film stocks altogether really, at which point I'll end up paying stupid money for leftover film on eBay and then when that's all gone I'll just throw myself into an icy lake or something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starhawk Posted November 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Im using a 19" CRT right now, and have been thinking about upgrading to a larger monitor for awhile. I kept thinking I was going to get another CRT for obvious reasons, but have since actually been considering an LCD. The problem is actually finding a good one at a reasonable price. I was thinking I'd try out the Dell 2405FPW, (24" of 16:9 goodness :drool ) especially since it can be found for around $800 when Dell runs their coupons. But these informative articles at Tom's Hardware havent helped me make a decision: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050706/index.html http://graphics.tomshardware.com/display/20050830/index.html The Dell I wanted just doesnt seem to cut it, and the best LCDs are around $1,500, a little much for me right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starhawk Posted December 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 Update on the project: All of the station's Merry XXX-Mas pics were scheduled to go up on their website this Monday. They've been running commercials promoting it already. Today, the Morning show host went to the girls and basically told them their pics were "too good". Keep in mind that most of the pics will be pretty cheesy, all shot with point & shoot cameras. The rumor is that another girl, who is the morning show co-host, complained because compared to these she was going to look like shit. The girls in my pics are forced to go back and shoot different ones... BUT Now, they're turning it into a bit on the station. Right now, the girls are complaining on the air that they arent allowed to use their original pics because they're too good. They'll shoot new ones and all of the pics will go up on the site on Monday. Everyone will then log on to view them (this thing gets huge traffic). Then, in about 2 weeks, the girls will "get their way", and my pics will go up, creating repeat traffic and even more hits for the station. Im a little disappointed, but if that's what they have to do, I have no say in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted December 1, 2005 Report Share Posted December 1, 2005 Im a little disappointed, but if that's what they have to do, I have no say in it. Sounds like a pain & a bunch of office politics, but at the same time a huge compliment to your skills, Cameron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starhawk Posted December 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 Well they finally put my pics up on their website. Feel free to have a look at all of the Merry XXXMas pics: http://www.bobandtheshowgram.com/xxxmas_2005_start.html (Most are pretty scary. You've been warned ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whooter Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 I love that the "outtake" photos look so much nicer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob B Posted December 19, 2005 Report Share Posted December 19, 2005 coupple of hotties in that mix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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