randall paul

<p>The Problem with Lasertran is it is very very fragile to say the least and it bubbles and then rips. We ordered two packs to demo it on to different materials. Another problem with Lasertran water slide paper is that any area that is not printed will have an artifact of paper which is not clear and destroys the image effect. If you try to use a turpentine or any other oil based solvent as the company suggests it will pull off and rip because it is melting the transfer paper. We have a company that deals with all sorts of transfer processes and really the best way for the home user is to use an Inkjet Iron on transfer paper. Print your image obviously in reverse position it how you like on to the wood. Then iron on to the wood. You can use a curling iron for tough areas and use other metal that you can heat to get into cracks or into areas that have different depths or curves. This for me is the best way unless you want to screen print your wood piece which is not cost effective. Another little tip is to pre finish your wood with a flat white paint because Injet will not print white and if it is in your design then it will come out clear. Normal flat white house paint is good. Once the image is printed let it sit for a bit then brush it over with a clear satin polyurethane finish or what ever varnish you wish to spray. Good Luck </p>

Ellis is correct. Lee Filters is a great source for your gels a use of a warming filter is cool as well as bouncing off of the gold reflector provided you can control the consistancy of light around the subject and back ground. For me because I am not anywhere at any one time and have no base, I mainly shoot cine lighting i.e. Hot lights, so I am into Gels and filters. You can also adjust the color temp in your photoshop for final tweaking but best to get it first from the lens. Good Luck

 

 

 

 

 

 

ellis is correct but

Again thanks I think this has been really helpful

Thanks Guys Basically I need speed specially if I am view shots real time on the monitor. If I am on location this is especially important so these slow load times just don't cut it. I will check out the i-book but I do want a 17" screen and yes I will be running CS3 so it seems that the suggestions here bend toward the I book for the CS3. I will have to do some research on graphics cards I guess. Hell All we want to do is have a good image package that allows us to get on with it and create lol! Thanks so much to all

If you are not working with 3d then I am not sure I would need that graphic card What I am searching is for a laptop that users of CS2 or 3 have used successfully. thanks

Well here is the 64 million dollar question. Guys I am going to compromise

here a bit and am going to go for a designated laptop for my Photoshop CS2. I

need the versatility for location and the performance for fine tuned editing

with a great monitor for color calibration. Some are talking about the DELL

M65 others talking MAC. If anyone has a clue about this let me know.

Best regards

Randall

I mostly only use these lights and the heat issue is a big one but go as high of wattage as possible more is better because you can diffuse and manipulate a bit more when you have the power. I found some great ones just recently and they are Italian the cool thing is they have all the attachments, snoots, barn doors etc. I can't for the life of me remember the brand but I used them for short films and they are an intelligent set up.

check the eyes you can see he uses natural lighting in most cases with reflectors some of the reflections are annoying There is some ring flash in there as well I would estimate. Fairly clean work which the agencies want now. good stuff

Bill I just went and checked out the new Kobold systems and was highly impressed with the consistency and the controllability of the lighting whether you are shooting with PAR or Fresnel. From 20w to 1000w. For me hot lighting is fantastic and they have and huge range of adaptors for the units. Check it out if you prefer hot lighting as opposed to flash. Good luck

John don't get discouraged. We all go through that. Hey Dave what is TRP? lol. Anyway folks! I still think at least there should be a more interactive technical forum which is a photo post as with fashion, portrait, landscape etc. The photo's submitted would have shooting details. I know this would help someone like my son who likes to work out everything in his own way. This would strengthen the educational aspect of this site. I might just do it on mine come to think of it! lol! Anyway guys have fun! RP

I guess your are right guys may be too difficult. I was thinking of a format that would be more constructive and helpful to the young ones and beginners etc. I was also looking at the intergity of it all. I guess the web, as we all know, has its amount of strange individuals who do nothing more then try to disrrupt anything that is potentially for the good. Photo of the week is a critique forum which is good here. What I have started doing with my contributions recently is to lay out a brief detail of lens, camera, lighting techniques etc. I was hoping this would either inspire someone or encourage a debate on the set-up. Oh well! Either way photo.net in general is a excellent setup and I am glad to see there are some very good people here who contribute between busy schedules when they don't have to. Good luck RP

It would be interesting to have a combined rating with a manditory

comment attached. What seems to be happening here on Photo.net is

that there is a certain group that will attack photo's and rate them

low for the sake of it. Photo.net is on its way to becoming a very

serious platform for serious ethusiasts and professionals alike.

Lets make it better by make it more constructive. Another

interesting catagory would be the technical catagory. This is where

Photographers actually in brief state details on shooting. This

would be a great format for everyone. Although a voluntary

excersise, it would be nice to load a photograph and put it in the

technical brief catagory for those who want more in-depth

explaination and for those who want to share it. Just a thought!

RP

Great subject guys as I always normally combine hot light with custom made lights for painting Now only digital applications as it is faster and cheaper. Experiment as above mentioned rehearse. I normally find I like longer exposure times for combined painting though Good luck RP

I am leaving to go look at a studio as I type. For a 12 segment car shoot in studio. Unfortunately I will be shooting digital otherwise I would be shooting with Fuji 50 asa velvia. Fantastic film. I will be using Halogen 500 watt lights x 4 and various scrims and reflectors. you can use a blue gel but why not get a dalylight filter for your lens so you don't get any bleed from other light sources. Best of luck Cars are cool to shoot! /Regards Randall

I would try simple lighting look at some of the cinematic masters i,e. hitchcock etc. Really moody and effective. suprizing o how simple the lighting was.

Wick That is some very fine work you are doing I visited your website and love your style and presentation. Very impressive indeed!

There is nothing wrong with this shot and you captured the detail needrd for the bag. As a single product shot I think any client would be happy with that. The difficulty comes when you mix it up with a model trying to keep the bags details but the aesthetics of your over all shot. Anyway good one!

I will go with the 2 x 4 foot Kino set up on this shot as well. Very close up. Did one for a CEO a while back. He thought it was a strange setup as it was not his idea of a conventional lighting style. Worked fantastic

Most pro's will retouch or PS the second catch light out. The primary light should always be in the 1'o'clock position. This gives the illusion of the the stare following you no matter what angle you view the photograph. So with a second catch light present this diminishes that effect. For me personally I don't care and it would depend on the subject. But I think you will find that most secondary catch lights are unavoidable and are retouched! Good luck

Hi Ed first off what lighting are you using? you could combine strob with hot lighting and use a cinematic approach to lighting detail. I saw your Urban decay photo and see what you mean about giving it a bit more punch in specific areas. This is all fascinating stuff. But if you check a bit more in to film lighting techniques you may find a complimentary working condition and great results if you experiment with both. Keeping in mind colour temperatures etc.

Hi Terry why don't you put up a photo of your subject that you have taken with an explanation of your set up! I mainly use Hot lighting when I can and there are a few tricks you can use to achieve excellent results. Scrims coloured glass as opposed to gels, snoots etc. Here is a example of a photo using a black leather sofa. Although I did not focus on the Sofa detials for this shot it still picks up details of the creases.<div></div>

This is exact from Elliot

 

"The role of editorial fashion photography is to sell magazines, not clothes. The role of advertising fashion photography is to sell brands, not clothes. The role of catalogue fashion photography is to sell the clothes." And again I emphasize that the markets as with language have their own interpretation.

 

I was sitting with a design firm the other day discussing a strategy for branding a product which was in a way fashion. I had the owner of the design firm, the Photoshop wiz, the client and the graphics guy. By the time anyone agrees on the over all image the big question is what is going to attract buyers, build a brand, create a signature image blah blah! Well you have to segment your imagery. Each in Elliot's definitions of imagery appropriations. You can not have it all in one image although many of the top brands do so as their branding is so strong it doesn't matter. Look at shock imagery from sachi and sachi. They have determined that that is what will get noticed. I guess one thing that is great about photonet is that all of us live in different places of the world and we are seriously dictated by the cultural surroundings. I think my favourite influences in fashion are certainly the boldness of the French and the slickness of the Italians. The yanks for which I am one are clever and highly commercially geared but to me lack real authenticity and force originality by the way of emulation. The Italians do it with such ease. I remember watching Aldo Fillai in the Studio in Milan years ago. The stylist worked the shot, his assistant set the lights. He looked through the view finder. The Model was told "We shoot now" He backed off of his camera and didn't even look at the model. He pressed the shutter and held it down for seven seconds then his assistant changed rolls and the process was repeated for two films. " Ok finished" He says.

 

I like M.H's approach he reminds me of Aldo a bit. Simple imagery with subtle impact. Cool! Have fun guys... I am off to look at yet another girl. Still have not found one out of 60 to do my series. Unbelievable!

Interesting subject as it is subjective in total. Here is a link I think sumes up many of my opinions of todays perspectives of fashion.

http://www.slate.com/features/010510_fashion-slide-show/01.htm

 

Another point being is your local. When I was in Paris I would have to shoot differently then when I was i Milan or Munich etc. So the Germans wanted presentational, saturated colour work which was very clear and exact. The Parisians wanted etherial seductive with a subliminal edge. The Italians, Washed colour and over exposed B&W, heavy expressive action with quirky cropping. Now I am in New Zealand. Wel they like photography 101 photographs that are presentational and representational and very safe in over all image application. In short...Boring. So where do we begin with the right and wrongs with fashion photography. I suppose what ever makes you look at a photograph will also make you look at its content which my or may not inspire you to buy subliminally. At the end of the day it is about selling to your market and the markets are so varied.

Good suggestions above. I find if I shot with my F5 virsus the D70 I find there is a difference in sharpness control under identical situations. So I am getting into that issue as well. I shot some sport stuff not long ag with my 300 2.8 with the D70 shooting at a meter reading of around 250th at f8. Wasn't happy with the results compared to shooting with the F5.

Great point Alistair. I normally shoot 1/2 stop over if I intend on stayng with colour. I normally try to use flash fill when appropriate. I always use my Seconic as a meter and work my values out between metrics and spot. This works for me as I am from a film back ground. As far as clipping and latitude. I shoot allot of Jpeg fine now although if I am using lights I shoot RAW and convert it. Funny stuff but digital has really come a long way. Getting use to it is the difficult bit. Good luck