Untitled

First crack at a Halloween picture - $28 Walmart fog generator, four 18" made-in-China ghosts (one is obscured by fog), painted with a 2-AA flashlight. F8, 15S, ISO-60 with a SONY DSC-F828.

 

Best viewed large... at night... alone... in the dark... during a storm...

General feedback appreciated. I have till the end of the month to

improve this picture.

This is fantastic Michael. I've been playing with some dolls from Walgreens also (hmm, I coulda rephrased that) and haven't gotten results like this ! Really well done.

Appreciate the encouragement, Neil. This was shot in my backyard under a dead cherry tree last night. The idea was to create deviant art so popular these days, and Halloween presented the perfect opportunity given the seasonal availability of props. I thought light painting would create the desired mood, which it did, so now it's a matter of a few more attempts to get the prized shot. :-)

 

The many challenges encountered in making this picture were:

1. The unpredictability of smoke - the fog machine (on the right side of the attachment) operates by pumping glycol based fluid into a heated chamber and released through a nozzle when pressure builds, controlled remotely with a switch. The spray distance is a good 10 feet under calm conditions enough to envelop a horse, and my setup was no more than 12" across so I just placed the machine behind the props and sprayed in spirts hoping for the best (maybe I should rephrase too!).

 

2. Painting with light - essentially by waving the flashlight around in areas where I wanted lit, but again complicated by dense fog and having to control the flashlight and fog switch at the same time. The flashlight's broad beam was also an issue in localized control, especially given the small area of needed coverage.

 

3. Camera angle and composition: The camera was placed on a piece of cardboard (on wet grass) controlled remotely. I chose to use the SONY for its swivel body and LCD live preview; it would have been nearly impossible to use a dSLR at ground level. It was an iterative process to find a pleasant composition, which in this case was the most time consuming of all activities.

 

As you can see from the attachment, Neil, the rather unspectacular setup in the making of this picture.

Very cool, Michael. My husband (the Halloween nut) will love this one! It's creepy and you wonder how it was accomplished. Luckily, you posted how in your post.

Simple and effective, now I understand how you got a shadow of a flower in there. Thanks for showing us Michael. This will takes many practices.

Ponderingggg ...

Thanks for all the set-up info. I would have had to set it up on a table and the cam on a tripod since I just have the dSLR...unless, I suppose, I wanted to be on my belly in the wet grass!

 

I'm wondering about the brown spots in the fog...I'm assuming they're due to the flashlight reflecting off the fog, but not positive...not sure if trying for a more white/clean fog would be better or not.

 

I really like the entire left side of the image. I think because it is so much clearer. Is there any way to work the fog machine so that it is slightly more evenly distributed in the pic? Again, not sure if that would be better or not...I'm one of those crazy people who has to see it and compare before I can decide....(honey...does THIS shoe or THIS shoe look better? see me pretending to be a flamingo) sigh.

 

Leslie

Kim, it's pretty simple to do - the hard part is trying to making it look good. :-)

 

I'll speak to Ken when he's done pondering. Meanwhile, Leslie, light can behave unpredictably in fog and very difficult to control, so yeah, it'll take a few iterations to get things just right, and you are correct about the brown spots.

 

I know what you mean about the clean left side and that might be the reason folks here generally turn to Photoshopped fog for better control over texture and placement. I think it's ultimately the results that matter so either way is acceptable to me, but there is a certain satisfaction in achieving it "naturally" along with the learning process which can be applied elsewhere.

 

I would have done it indoors on a table too, but perhaps at the expense of a more natural appearance of doing it outdoors. The fog machine isn't for the asthmatic nor people with respiratory conditions even though it's deemed safe by the EPA.

Happy Thanksgiving Michael.

 

John

I'm thinking Tiki torches - not necessarily 6' off the ground either - fire of some sort to cast light into those areas closer to the bong ... er ... fog machine.

Thanks, John! Ditto yours should I forget... (Note to self: wish John happy Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November).

 

I thought the same about a fire, Ken (Great minds think alike!). I do have a 6' Tiki torch but obviously not useable.

 

Haven't tried yet, but my thinking is the difficulty in creating a miniature fire that appears ferocious. Thinking out loud, perhaps I'll need a rapid burning fuel source something between a sparkler and a candle - maybe a small bundle of match heads placed to set off sequentially.

Lighter fluid ........... Kerosene lantern .......... are all road flares red? .... magnesium strip.

 

Where did ferocious come from ? (-;

 

And that's one helluva big (dead) cherry tree ... !!

 

Btw - your 1st take on this kicks ass - just so you know .... sol.

Yes, Ken's FAQ on how to set a fire without burning your neighbor's house down. :-) Good suggestions! - I kept the dead tree as a bird's perch. It goes against the neighborhoods' unspoken aesthetic codes but nature comes first.

 

I was pretty happy with this shot yesterday but I also know it can be Much better, so it's off to the backyard tomorrow night for another try, with fire (maybe I meant a convincingly ferocious fire)!

Very cool - although I almost missed the flower - somehow, this element adds greatly to the mystique here for me, like the juxtaposition adds a dark romanticism or sadness - since you're seeking feedback, is there a way you could bring attention to it more without losing the subtlety?

 

Great atmosphere - I really like the way this is so dark and... well... subtle - like what you can't see scares you more than what you can see. Would love to rate 7's so I could show it off in my highest rated photos ;-) Awesome.

Great lighting and effect! At first I thought you went to a horror house or something. I was going to ask you if they allowed you to take pictures from the inside.

 

Good that you had a fog machine. It would've been really painful to fill the area with cigarette smoke... :)

Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys. I have a second variation posted here:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5059976

 

Less fog, figures placed on a tree, hopefully creepier.

Great work Michael, I think that the figure on the right should lower his arm and be reaching in to the fog with his boned hand as if drawing you in, oh yes and lose the white in his face.

all the best. Love the work!

'deviant art', didn't know there's a name to it already, lol, the composition here is essentially good, the light distribution reminds Caravaggio. I miss sth in the center, the rose is not enough...maybe a white rose...maybe a hint of a corpse...you are more Halloween-trained than we are. Of course in Europe we use cigarette (better: cigar) smoke for such effects ;-)

the fog has to creep out of the lefts skeletons mouth!

Thanks Richard! I don't particularly care for the hockey mask white face either. We're in agreement!

 

Andrea, deviant art is so popular that there's a large web site dedicated to it by the same name. It's worth a visit; lots of fantastic stuff from artists of all types including photographers. Here's a link to their Top Rated Page, and I would have used cigarettes too if it didn't take a whole carton. :-)

http://browse.deviantart.com/?order=9&alltime=yes

 

That would be difficult, Daily. the fog machine outputs high temperature vaporized particles that would cool instantly if piped through a small diameter tube, but if I was designing a theme park ride, smoke from the skeleton would definitely be on the list!

I must say that the project came out nicely,and you merit all the compliments for the maneuvers...Spooky it is! fits the concept... and thanks for the explanation. ( where is Marc G? ;-))

Pnina he is the 2nd one from the right ....... smilingoutloud.

 

*kidding-justanattempttodrawyouout* (-;

 

I still prefer this one with the light coming down from the upper right and the diagonal composition overall.

Still trying, Pnina and Ken, but it's getting colder and windier. Might have to wait for next year or do it indoors.

 

Would greatly appreciate if you can have a look at this picture which is also light painted.

Ken Ken, thanks for letting me know, Now I know how he looks ...awidesmile....