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03/10/2009 12:04:06 AM · #1 |
do I...
a) Shoot this subject?
My light on white entry was basically white on white. White egg sitting on cotton balls surrounded by white feathers with a white background. I could crank up the light on my flash and remove the umbrella and create a lot of shadows but I wanted a softer look. Apparently my attempt was too soft and there wasn't enough contrast.
b) How to process it?
Typically I set my black and white points for my image. With this image there is a definitely white in the shot but if I crank up the blacks then I get too much contrast. Ideas?
Here is my entry:
(Original is not handy at the moment because I'm at work)
Any tips would be appreciated.
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03/10/2009 12:16:48 AM · #2 |
| I think it's just too bright, I can see it, but only just. |
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03/10/2009 12:35:19 AM · #3 |
| yeh, it seems oo light. working wtih the contrast might have added some more detail but still kept the soft look |
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03/10/2009 12:38:21 AM · #4 |
mayeb like this, but without the dark off to the left. my monitor is being a bit of a butt and i cant quite fix the darkness
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03/10/2009 01:14:27 AM · #5 |
If it were me, I would have shot the image in RAW using multiple exposures. I would then have merged them together, creating an HDR file. From there, there should be enough tonal range to provide the level of contrast required. The contrast could then be brought out with a process called tone-mapping.
If you did shoot in RAW, but only one exposure, you could have Adobe Bridge expose the image at different levels of exposure and export those images to TIFF. Then you could HDR-merge and tone-map them.
If you simply shot JPG for the original capture, then maybe this tutorial could help you.
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03/10/2009 01:14:55 AM · #6 |
Good news, the image isn't blown out ... you've lost no whites. Not-so-good news is your entire image is concentrated in the rightmost 20% of the histogram and you have almost no darks recorded.
If you could shoot it again, try to bracket your exposure around a darker exposure and then use Curves or Levels to spread the histogram of your best capture. Then brighten the image to achieve the high key effect you wanted and boost contrast a little to preserve a few darks to create depth and shape.
May not be perfect and may be other approaches but I'd give this a whirl ... you may be happy with the result and you'll something. |
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03/10/2009 01:19:37 AM · #7 |
| i LOVED this shot b/c it really showed me something different something a subject that did the illuminating rather than a darker subject on a blown out background. i think that for an every day kind of photograph it doesnt quite fit the bill BUT for this challenge i think you really took it to a different level in a very artistic way. i didnt vote in this challenge although i entered it and looked at my competition and i can honestly say that yours was one of my personal favorites. amazing concept and flawless lighting technique. |
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03/10/2009 01:21:31 AM · #8 |
This was my go with the image...
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03/10/2009 01:34:16 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by michaelmonn:
i LOVED this shot b/c it really showed me something different something a subject that did the illuminating rather than a darker subject on a blown out background. i think that for an every day kind of photograph it doesnt quite fit the bill BUT for this challenge i think you really took it to a different level in a very artistic way. i didnt vote in this challenge although i entered it and looked at my competition and i can honestly say that yours was one of my personal favorites. amazing concept and flawless lighting technique. |
Thanks for the high praise! :) I am curious what it would look like printed.
Just to speak quickly to the suggestion of going HDR with the shot: HDR is helpful if your exposure range is beyond what your camera can record. That's not the problem here. As Dr. Confuser points out, my histogram is all within the 20% of the righthand side. It is probably only about 1-3 stops of info.
The problem is that there is not enough contrast I'm afraid. At least on a monitor. On my calibrated monitor at home it had very little in the way of contrast. On my wife's Mac book? It was the proverbial "Polar bear in a snow storm".
One thought I have considered after the shot was using colored eggs and/or feathers. If I can't get contrast using light I could always use color.
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03/10/2009 03:22:18 AM · #10 |
An interesting note, you were shooting white on light, so the difficulty of the shot is a bit different than a darker subject on white.
Another thing you could have tried would be to shoot light brown eggs on white and then go to B&W. That would get your eggs to be darker than the BG and you could use your light a bit closer (but still diffused) to both create stronger highlights and stronger shadows. You could manipulate the brightness of the eggs in post. I'd do it in curves or levels. Similarly, you could use lightly colored feathers...
PS. I agree about the HDR. If nothing is blown out, there's little need for going to HDR. HDR is for when the quantity of light varies too much in the scene to be captured by the camera - generally when the light is beyond your control. It is seldom called for with studio type lighting like here.
Message edited by author 2009-03-10 03:25:51. |
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03/10/2009 06:20:24 PM · #11 |
Just a thought: If I did more sidelighting rather than lighting from a 45 degree angle, would that bring out the texture more without creating harsh shadows?
eta: I shot my flash from a 45 degree angle and used a reflector for fill.
Message edited by author 2009-03-10 18:20:59.
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03/10/2009 07:33:47 PM · #12 |
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