Photo 101 workshop

[Jim]

To kick off the new Darkroom Forum The mod team thought we would start a workshop thread.

So you have a great shot BUT it needs to be cropped or someone has redeye, or the color needs to be corrected.
Heres what you do;

Upload your photo to the GALLERY.
Post the photo in this thread,the Mod team will then work on this photo and repost it with what they did and how they did it.

Now for the best part- You can do the same thing and work along with us.

To save a photo to your computer right click and select > save photo.
You can then work on it in your PC and make what ever changes you wish.Then repost it here in this tread.

So lets get the cameras out and start shooting.

[joel]

To kick off the new Darkroom Forum The mod team thought we would start a workshop thread.

So you have a great shot BUT it needs to be cropped or someone has redeye, or the color needs to be corrected.
Heres what you do;

Upload your photo to the GALLERY.
Post the photo in this thread,the Mod team will then work on this photo and repost it with what they did and how they did it.

Now for the best part- You can do the same thing and work along with us.

To save a photo to your computer right click and select > save photo.
You can then work on it in your PC and make what ever changes you wish.Then repost it here in this tread.

So lets get the cameras out and start shooting.

Oh this is too awesome.... I think I might keep you guys mighty, mighty busy

I'll take some tonight in the light box for some reviews (I have like 20-30 reviews I have been meaning to get to) and post some of 'em for tips tricks etc.

We might also want to post the specifics of the uploaded shots and such IE what kind of camera, the mode it was in (if you have a digital SLR the aperture, lens, shutter speed, etc) so we can all see what different cameras, modes, and settings actually create.

This is gonna be a REALLY fun forum.... and.... Jerry's back!

[joel]

Can you photo guru's post pic info on your SOTD's - like lens, aperture, shutter speed, or mode (IE: macro, landscape, etc) lighting setup/source, etc?

I'd love to try to duplicate some of your guys photos.

hmmm.... that might be kinda fun... we could all pick a few common products, everyone more than likely has, then all post the same general SOTD (IE: proraso shave cream, or Tabac shave soap) and see who has the best pic, and how different people set it up.

Could be fun?

[Jim]

Can you photo guru's post pic info on your SOTD's - like lens, aperture, shutter speed, or mode (IE: macro, landscape, etc) lighting setup/source, etc?

I'd love to try to duplicate some of your guys photos.

hmmm.... that might be kinda fun... we could all pick a few common products, everyone more than likely has, then all post the same general SOTD (IE: proraso shave cream, or Tabac shave soap) and see who has the best pic, and how different people set it up.

Could be fun?

Joel
That sounds like a lot of fun.

So whats the first SOTD-athone photo?

[joel]

Maybe Proraso? Everyone seems to have at least one Proraso item. (doesn't HAVE to be the full set - just one item from the brand in particular) How should we get the word out?

Wednesday - Proraso
Thursday - Trumper
Friday - Taylors
Saturday - Musgo
Sunday - Crabtree & Evelyn


Sound like fun?

[Jim]

Maybe Proraso? Everyone seems to have at least one Proraso item. (doesn't HAVE to be the full set - just one item from the brand in particular) How should we get the word out?

Wednesday - Proraso
Thursday - Trumper
Friday - Taylors
Saturday - Musgo
Sunday - Crabtree & Evelyn


Sound like fun?

I think you just did!

[DoubleE]

Maybe Proraso? Everyone seems to have at least one Proraso item. (doesn't HAVE to be the full set - just one item from the brand in particular) How should we get the word out?

Wednesday - Proraso
Thursday - Trumper
Friday - Taylors
Saturday - Musgo
Sunday - Crabtree & Evelyn


Sound like fun?

Does sound like fun! A thread announcing it may be in order.

[DoubleE]

Can you photo guru's post pic info on your SOTD's - like lens, aperture, shutter speed, or mode (IE: macro, landscape, etc) lighting setup/source, etc?

Shutter speed - 3/10 of a second
Aperature - f5.0
focal length 35mm
flash off
white balance set to custom and metered off a white piece of paper
Macro function set for close focusing ability
100 ISO
Shot in aperature priority for enough depth of field (really could have used a tad more)

For most of my shots I'm using a Canon G7. It has two custom settings and I have one set for the settings above. I can then turn on my camera, set it to C1, and the above settings are there and ready to go.

This particular shot was done in my bathroom. I used the black setup that I pictured in the Digital Photography primer.

I have a row of 5 lights (standard vanity lighting) above my sink and use them for the main light. I then reflect light back into the shaving gear either by one or two folding mirrors to put highlights where I want them. This can really accent select items within the photograph. Or, I may use a large piece of white fome core as a reflector to bounce back light. Here's a picture of what the setup might look like.



Any type of mirror that you can move around will work. The big white object in the front of this picture is the white foam core. You can buy it at any crafts store. This piece is probably 3x4 feet that I use for portraits and a much smaller piece would work for what we're doing here. It does a great job of bouncing light back into the entire image vs spot lighting with the mirrors.

I have two mini tripods for point and shoot cameras I'll use for different heights or I may just grab a wooden bowl of soap to steady the camera. I've use stapers, soaps, just about anything I can think of that will give me the height I'm looking for.

I liked the idea Lyrt posted on the light box made from a cardboard box. I built one and it only took about 10 to 15 minutes from start to completion and it works very well. If I want a white background, I use it and if I want black, I use the black felt covered foam core and a piece of black felt tossed on the countertop. 30 second setup and tear down. Now the time to compose, that's a different story.......

[Jim]

Jerry
You just cracked me up -I would have sworn that you were using umbrella flashes with 4 strobes and remote triggers on that photo when you posted it today!

Just goes to prove its the man behind the camera not the gear!

[DoubleE]

Jerry
You just cracked me up -I would have sworn that you were using umbrella flashes with 4 strobes and remote triggers on that photo when you posted it today!

Just goes to prove its the man behind the camera not the gear!

Jim, while I own all the stuff you mentioned, it's just too darned time consuming to set it all up and tear it down!! My wife won't let me leave it set up in the living room! Very narrow minded that way!!

I strive for ease of set up and tear down. I do like the little cardboard lightbox. Easy and simple. I forgot to mention I have a desk lamp that I position right on the top of the light box to evenly illuminate the gear in the box.

[Jim]

OK seems that everyone is pretty shy about this so I will post a stinker.

Who can square this away for me? Take note there will be questions!

[Lyrt]

What is it exactly you want? Something like this? Note the result would be better if I could have worked on the original file before it had been downsized.

[Jim]

Thanks Yukio

The purpose of this thread is to do a workshop for specific photos so everyone can pick up tips- size wise we are constrained by the limits of the gallery.

So what did you do?

[Lyrt]

This is what you should do in Photoshop. Note I used ACDSee to correct your image.

Step 1:
Open your file in Photoshop

Step 2:
Go to image => adjustments => levels. A window will pop up:


Step 3:
Toy with the small pointers so they cover the spectrum:

Step 4:
Toy with brightness and contrast




There are many, many other roads to walk if you want to improve your image. You can adjust selective colours, use plug-in that will spoon-feed you, etc.

[Jim]

Super job thanks!

Anyone else want to give it a whack?

[Lyrt]

I added some surface blur to reduce noise.
Before:


After

[Jim]

"surface blur" Where would you access that adjustment?

[Lyrt]

First, you must select the area you want to blur. In your toolbox, select a lasso tool so you can draw the limit of the area you’ll work on. You can also use the magic wand which will often prove useful.

Illustration 1: select a lasso tool (try all of them, they are fun)


Illustration 2: select an area


Illustration 3: the magic wand is indeed magic




Once you’ve drawn the limit of your area, simply go to filter => blur => surface blur. Of course, you can choose to blur the whole pic and just go to the surface blur option without selecting any specific area. Voilà!

[Lyrt]

I add a personal opinion. You should use all these Photoshop artifices only to improve the photographs you’ve taken and that you cannot take again. For our SOTD photographs, I think it is better to just take another photograph and try to learn from past mistakes.

[DoubleE]

Here's my setup for the 1-19-07 SOTD picture. Very easy to do! I just used 3 small flexible mirrors to direct light where I want in the image (your wife or girlfriend may already have some). You can see the reflection of the six vanity lights lights on the brush handle. These provide my main light so you don't have to have expensive lights....just regular room lights. you just need to move the light around to bring light to where you want it. Keep in mind, this took about 2 to 3 minutes to set up. We're not looking for perfection here. Not one of my favorite images but I thought I'd show how it was done. If you want to see the type of lighting used, look for reflections (as in the handle), as well as where shadows fall. Shadows tell you the direction of the light.



Here's the image from that set-up.