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2am... Still no idea what to shoot
2am... Still no idea what to shoot
Tygerr


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: 30 Seconds or More (Basic Editing III*)
Camera: Nikon D70s
Lens: Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED
Location: Sevenoaks, Kent, UK
Date: Jun 20, 2006
Aperture: F11
ISO: 200
Shutter: 30sec
Galleries: Diptych / Triptych, Self Portrait
Date Uploaded: Jun 19, 2006

Actually, had a good idea of what to shoot, but by 2am without any successful takes, I was starting to worry that I wouldn't get it right.

AFTER VOTING:
Thank you for all your comments. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out. If I did it again, I'd ensure that the bottom-left pose added more to the image - maybe by centering it a bit more, lowering it a bit more and maybe changing the pose to face the camera directly. But after countless outtakes, I think I'd just lost the stamina to keep perfecting it...

Statistics
Place: 40 out of 170
Avg (all users): 6.1060
Avg (commenters): 7.2759
Avg (participants): 5.8904
Avg (non-participants): 6.1593
Views since voting: 1446
Views during voting: 655
Votes: 368
Comments: 35
Favorites: 0


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AuthorThread
07/20/2006 02:10:50 PM
Neat shot.

Mostly wanted to comment, though, to thank you so much for your comments on how you did it.

It's this kind of detailed, thoughtful description that so helps those of us trying to figure out a) how you did it and b) how we can do it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/28/2006 04:36:02 AM
A lot of people have asked how I did this one...

The basic idea is quite simple. Take a long exposure in a dark room, and use flash lighting to briefly expose the subject in various poses within the frame.

Executing this idea takes quite a bit of time though.
I planned the poses by taking numerous short exposures with the lights on (remotely triggered), so that in the test shots there is only one pose per image. Then when I was happy with where I had to be standing for each pose, I did the long exposure with the lights off, by moving from position to position and triggering the flash whenever I got into the correct pose.
(Moving around in the dark can be hazardous. See my comments on this thread)

There are certain factors that make the task easier:
1. A vary dark room. Any ambient light will cause the background to shine through, and will also cause 'ghosting' of the main subject.
2. Flash lighting. The only light must be brief flashes of strong light. This is what causes sharp, bright, well defined subjects (i.e. no motion blur). I used my SB-600 speedlight, handheld, pressing the "Test" button to trigger the flash. (You can see from the angle in my shoulder in the top-left pose, that I am holding the flash pointing down at me.)
3. Focus and DOF. The three poses are at different distances (the top-right being the closest, about 3ft from the camera), so DOF becomes important. I focused in on the closest pose, and selected F11 to give quite a wide DOF. The narrower the aperture though, the less strong the effect of the flash lighting is. So F11 was a good compromise to keep the rear pose in reasonable focus, as well as allow enough light in from the flash.

The remote trigger also helps, especially whilst setting up the poses (in fact, it's probably vital for most self-portraiture).
06/28/2006 12:50:42 AM
Very cool. How did you do this?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
06/26/2006 08:58:50 PM
glad you got this validated because it is amazing and makes you ask the question, how on earth did you accomplish this...deserves to do well, great job
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/25/2006 04:47:07 PM
I can't wait to see the details on how you did this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/25/2006 01:33:43 PM
good job
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/24/2006 12:58:17 PM
cool shot, I wish I could do shots like this 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 09:42:34 PM
This is great. The fact that you got three different sizes is interesting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 08:58:22 PM
Best "me, myself, and I pic" in this challenge!! Thanks for doing a good job. The flash may be harsh in places, but overall not so bad.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 07:15:05 PM
I actually felt the same.. youre idea is way better than mine though :o)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 05:41:41 PM
Well done. Can't wait to read how you did this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 02:23:29 PM
Terrific lighting!!! great job...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 01:28:42 PM
Should be nice at your wall. Like it a lot!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 01:15:38 PM
good job creating the compisition in camera. hope your score didn't suffer too much before validation. 8 from me only because the bottome left pose seems strange. maybe it is your finger.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 10:59:37 AM
very thoughtful...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 10:43:51 AM
Good concept, exceptionally well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 10:27:48 AM
Very clever...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/23/2006 02:35:56 AM
Been there!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 08:56:31 PM
Well done finding something!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 08:42:40 PM
Excellent shot!!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 05:15:01 PM
How did you do that ?!?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 11:05:20 AM
yeaaaaaaaaaah this is crazzzzzy !!! you are the man
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 09:39:47 AM
Good. Love the composition here. Executed to the tee. Nice job, and GL.
Still don't get how ya'll get these.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 09:26:18 AM
sweet jebus how did you do that
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 08:57:20 AM
Neat. The perspective and clarity are great. Nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/22/2006 12:41:38 AM
points for originality.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 10:02:59 PM
I quite like this, an interesting take on a portrait/self-portrait. I'll be interested to see how you did it because it looked like it was manipulated. The red showing on the collar of the lower-left portrait is a little distracting. I'm in two minds about whether the large dark space in lower right is a little too large or not - but maybe that's part of the image, staring into nothingness.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 07:40:13 PM
Very nicely done, I really like the different expressions.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 05:40:45 PM
Can't wait to see how you did this.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 04:10:06 PM
Good poses! You look very toughtful...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 01:29:08 PM
Meets Challenge:2
Aesthetics:2
Technical:1
Wow:0
Originality:1
Total Score:6
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 12:43:04 PM
Wow how did you do this?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 10:01:07 AM
Tsk! That is nothing, I have stayed up to 4 am for DPC so beat that sucker :) Nice idea, a lot of people have a similar one but this is by far the best executed of them all I have seen so far, have voted on about 40% here.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 01:18:59 AM
Very effective. The bottom-left pose however takes away from the other two - just not as convincing (and the hand is a bit blown). Nonetheless, the balance across the image is excellent and the angst we all know is well conveyed.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
06/21/2006 12:38:49 AM
I hate to say it, but this would have been SO much better with the bottom one gone... Nice execution though... I was thinking of doing something similar. A crop probably would have brought this up a good two notches for me...
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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