More Tooling Around...

draymorton · 12-26-2008, 11:58 AM

Sorry for inundating you with still more of this particular subject.

That said... do these work at all?

What are any bothersome elements that could conceivably be corrected next time?

(These were intended to just be fun, goofing-around-type shots. Eventually I do want to get a legitimate, "definitive" portrait of this guy.)

Lori11 · 12-26-2008, 01:24 PM

I like the first one a lot, the textures, grainess works well here, but I dont like his hand cut off. He looks very different in the second photo, not as scary LOL

**Frog** · 12-26-2008, 01:43 PM

Pretty cool actually. If this is goofing around, I can't wait to see the serious stuff.
Only critique I have is that no man wants his tool cut off.

Lori11 · 12-26-2008, 01:47 PM

wish I had thought of that, well you know what I mean

Ron Kruger · 12-26-2008, 06:33 PM

Hey Drey,
You're really onto something with this character, and the whole attitude. Really original and interesting. The first one is technically the best you've done, but the second has lighting problems even more severe than the others. Keep the fur coat, or something dark, on the guy to maintain the special effects you're getting. Those pix have the character of BW with color, like some kind of new venue. I've seen a lot of great pictures on this site, but none I've kept staring at this one. It's captivating for some reason, and I think you could develop it into some type of commercal application for some tool company or something.

draymorton · 12-28-2008, 05:20 PM

Cheers, guys. Appreciated as always.

Lori - the only thing scary about this guy is his aptitude for fixin' and buildin' stuff.

Frog & Ron - thanks! Like I said, I plan to shoot some more serious shots of this guy in the near future. We'll see what happens.

I overexposed the second shot entirely on purpose, but (I confess) it didn't turn out quite like I'd planned!

Are the out-of-focus hands and drills problematic in the first shot? (I was at f4 or thereabouts, if I remember correctly.)

**gahspidy** · 12-28-2008, 06:38 PM

Dray, this is quite an impactful portrait. The second version the better. (fur coat). The subject is quite a character and the dark brown/sepia like toning works really well here. The one thing as Frog so eloquently stated is the tool being cut off. . .not a good thing but not enough to hurt what otherwise is an excellent piece of work.
Great job.

yairh20 · 12-29-2008, 01:48 AM

Congrats on the sticky! what lighting did you use and where?

draymorton · 12-30-2008, 08:46 AM

Gary - thanks - for the kind words and the sticky! I agree with you, Frog, and Lori, of course: I wish I'd either had a wider lens or the room to back up just a little more, but what can ya do? It didn't help, either, that it was too dark to see anything in the finder, much less the drill bits. (I needed a MagLite just to be able to focus on his face).

yairh - thank you! Vivitar 285 HV w/shoot-thru, camera left; Wein mini, bare, behind the subject. The original scheme included another 285, but one of my PovertyWizards crapped out on me. Oh well.

For the second shot: additional room light, 285s left and right, Wein in back. Triggered by the PovWs.

Ron Kruger · 12-30-2008, 11:34 AM

When I'm faced with a lighting situation so poor, focus is difficult, I switch to manual focus and shine a flashlight on the subject to set the focus and then turn off the flashlight to expose the pix.

Dubbs5050 · 12-30-2008, 04:09 PM

This is my favorite "photo of the week" in a really long time....maybe ever. Great job.

susaan · 12-30-2008, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dubbs5050

This is my favorite "photo of the week" in a really long time....maybe ever. Great job.

CONGRATULATIONS !!

**Greg McCary** · 12-30-2008, 07:46 PM

Congrats on the sticky you have really posted some awesome shots since joining.

draymorton · 12-31-2008, 08:29 AM

Dubbs, susaan, Greg - thanks!!

Ron - Ideally, that's the way to do it. I wish I could've used manual focus, but I had the light in one hand and the camera (with a really heavy lens attached) in the other. I should probably either use a tripod or bungie the Mag to my camera in these situations.

michael buchanan · 01-04-2009, 03:04 PM

wow!! congrats on featured photo!! well earned with this wonderfully expressive image....tons of character and super crisp focus! thanks!!

**GB1** · 01-04-2009, 03:35 PM

Has great character and you did well with the grainy effect. My only gripes are that the tools are so out of focus at the tips (due to relatively shallow DOF) and, may I say that instead of tools I would like to see real pistols? Oh well .. too many westerns when I was a kid.

G

draymorton · 01-08-2009, 07:57 PM

Thanks, michael!

GB - yup, I totally agree about the out-of-focus drills; that's been a detail that I just have not been able to get past with regard to this particular photo. I really wish I had used a tighter aperture (I think I was at around f/4 if memory serves) - and that I'd been able to get both drill bits completely in-frame! Ah well...

Thanks for the comment.

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