Reefs.org Forums

by **Sharkky** » April 10th, 2003, 6:15 pm

See if you can figure out the trick. :wink:

by **NKT** » April 10th, 2003, 6:30 pm

Let's see...how would I do this....this might be the more complicated way but I think I would punch out a small hole in the tip of the shell and tie a string through the shell and the cloth, then flip the cloth over...voila! (and then flip the pic back over in photoshop) am i right? hehe

by **Sharkky** » April 10th, 2003, 6:44 pm

NKT wrote:Let's see...how would I do this....this might be the more complicated way but I think I would punch out a small hole in the tip of the shell and tie a string through the shell and the cloth, then flip the cloth over...voila! (and then flip the pic back over in photoshop) am i right? hehe

Ummmm...I think you were right in that first part, and then just wandered off into left field somewheres. :wink:

by **Len** » April 10th, 2003, 7:15 pm

Well, however it's done, it's a beatuifully elegant abstract. Good textures, nicely composed. Only little distraction is the highlights are a bit blown. But hey ... it's an abstract

by **Sharkky** » April 10th, 2003, 7:20 pm

Len wrote:Well, however it's done, it's a beatuifully elegant abstract. Good textures, nicely composed. Only little distraction is the highlights are a bit blown. But hey ... it's an abstract

I know, I know! Argh!!! That's the only thing that bugs the crap out of me with this photo. I could not for the life of me figure out how to get that sidelight strong enough to create that inner glow without blowing out the camera-right side. I tried editing it some in photoshop and just couldn't get the blown area to come into any kind of clarity. I mean, I did, but it looked horribly unnatural, so in the end I just left it alone.

How long should I let people twist in the wind before I give up the secret?? :wink:

by **Sharkky** » April 10th, 2003, 7:23 pm

Here's another from the same shoot. Personally I don't like this one quite as much as the conical shell. That leading edge looked like it was glowing in real life, but it just didn't come through on the camera. I tried 3 or 4 different exposure settings, and it always looked blown out.

by **Len** » April 11th, 2003, 4:01 am

Yeah, lighting is definitely a tricky thing to get right. I usually underexpose by a 1/2 stop on purpose since with the cameras I use, shadow detail is a lot easier to bring back around in PS then lost highlights.

Regardless, artistically me likes

by **Sharkky** » April 11th, 2003, 10:13 am

Len wrote:Yeah, lighting is definitely a tricky thing to get right. I usually underexpose by a 1/2 stop on purpose since with the cameras I use, shadow detail is a lot easier to bring back around in PS then lost highlights.

I can't remember for sure, but I think I was underexposing these shots too to get more of the depth of color into the shell. I was just using a floodlight for lighting, so maybe if I had something more focused I could aim it into the shell better, but then I'd also have to have a secondary light to light the rest of the scene.

Regardless, artistically me likes

Thank you!

by **Sharkky** » April 11th, 2003, 10:16 am

Sharkky wrote:See if you can figure out the trick.

Since nobody is stepping forward with ideas as to how it was done, I guess I'll give it up.

There's a toothpick behind the shell and there was one sticking off the camera-right side of it propping it up. 10 minutes of clone-work in photoshop digitally erased it and recreated the edge of the shell where it was in contact with the toothpick.

by **wade** » April 11th, 2003, 11:50 am

10 minutes of clone-work in photoshop digitally erased it and recreated the edge of the shell where it was in contact with the toothpick.

So how did you erase the resulting shadow from the toothpick? (OR is the image flipped so that its in the shadow of the shell?)

by **Sharkky** » April 11th, 2003, 1:07 pm

wade wrote:
10 minutes of clone-work in photoshop digitally erased it and recreated the edge of the shell where it was in contact with the toothpick.

So how did you erase the resulting shadow from the toothpick? (OR is the image flipped so that its in the shadow of the shell?)

A lot of careful clone work and blending work in photoshop. The toothpick came off of the shell on the camera-right side just about halfway down. When I get home from school today I'll put up a thumbnail of the original to illustrate. :-)