The mystery can

[Seb]

Here is some more "twins" experimentation. Comments are welcome.

Seb

[readingr]

Seb,

I like the idea and it nearly works for me. If the left twin had a look of surprise it would have nailed it for me. As it is the expressions are too similar.

Roger

[Greg McCary]

I don't know exactly how you do this, but I like this one as well as your last twins shot. The lighting and the exposure are perfect. I think the expressions being similar works because they are twins. I also like the hand jestgers. From looking at your web site I am guessing this is your wife, tell her good work as well. Is there a lot of PS work involved in this?
Greg

[gahspidy]

Seb, especially after having seen the other version you sent me, I bust out laughing at this when it popped into the screen. I think with this image, as Roger stated, it would work stronger had one of the "twins" had a different look of bewilderment. This still works ok, though. I do think I prefer the other version I have seen. Great work on the technical aspect.

[Seb]

Thank guys.

Roger: I see what you mean. I might reshoot this one of these days when the occasion occurs.


Greg: She's actually my sister lol... About the technique, the whole thing is mostly easy. I set the camera on my tripod and compose the shot. I shoot one frame with the model on the left side and another frame with the model on the right side. I cut both shots right in the center (in width), cropping out the "empty" portion of each picture. Then I put the remaining halves together and they necessarily align perfectly since both pictures were cut at the very same place and the camera was perfectly stable betwen both shots. That was for the easy part.... lol
The problem, from what I have experienced so far, is that cameras doesn't seems to meter light and expose in a perfectly stable way. For instance, the upper part of the left picture was slightly darker than the upper part of the right one and the lower part of the left picture was brighter than lower part of the right one. Thus, a visible seam remained.
I use tools such the magic wand to select specific areas and I brighten/darken them until the lighting is even and the seam no longer visible.
Then, there is the casual post-processing (levels, saturation....).


Gary: Thanks for sharing your opinion and comparing the two.


Seb

[veggie]

Nice work!

[J-Dogg Productions]

i agree with readingr just doesn't work for me

[Greg McCary]

That's good PS work Seb. I have read about this technique in landscapes when the foreground and background had to be exposed differently. But I am sure you have as well...
Greg

[Rocket_Scientist]

It is a very effective technique you have there. I wonder, though, would there be any advantage to (1) cutting one photo (say the "right") non-linearly along lines already present in the photo, like the floor tiles and cabinet doors, and then (2) super-imposing it on top of the left photo, rather than cutting the left? Just thinking out loud, but I figured you'd know better than I if such a thing would work.

[Seb]

Veggie: thanks!

J-Dogg: That's allright, thanks for sharing your view.

Greg: Honnestly, I haven't ventured that much in that direction (but then, I don't shoot landscapes on a regular basis), I have read a little about it though.

Rocket_Scientist: Your idea make sense to me. There is certainly more than a single way to do this. The only issue that I can think of is that it might be harder to cut along elements in the picture than to simply cut in a straight line but I guess that your way would make the seam less visible. I'll try to do it that way the next time. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Seb

[Yoyo Szeto]

Hi Seb,
Thanks for sharing the interesting technique. The shot is hilarious. I just wonder why the girl on the right is taller even though she bents.
yoyo

[gahspidy]

Yoyo, good observation. I think she appears slightly taller there because if you look at the placement of their feet, she is a bit closer to the camera, making her appear slightly taller.

[Seb]

Hi Seb,
Thanks for sharing the interesting technique. The shot is hilarious. I just wonder why the girl on the right is taller even though she bents.
yoyo

Thanks Yoyo. You are right she's a little taller. I failed to notice that by myself. As Gary stated, it has to do with the fact that she was sligtly closer to the camera. The thing is that I had to use a wide angle due to the small size of the room. Thus, perspective is exagerated and these kind of "flaws" are magnified. I wish the room allowed to shoot this at 50mm or so.

Seb