7th Place Self-Illumination by Victor Engel by Canon DSLR Challenge


16-OCT-2006	Victor Engel

Canon EOS 10D ,Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
1/60s f/8.0 at 41.0mm iso100
1.6s f/9 at 135mm iso100
2.5s f/6.3 at 135mm iso100
1.0s f/6.3 at 28mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto

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Canon DSLR Challenge		18-Oct-2006 00:32
Dearest Victor: I vastly prefer this version...because I like your face better...you look good...everything is perfect in this version. Best Wishes, Traveller

Canon DSLR Challenge		17-Oct-2006 23:47
Please see Take 2. I think I prefer it to this one. I hope I made the entry in time. -- Victor

Guest		17-Oct-2006 23:01
thanks for the how to. I find yourself in the ball hard to see on all my monitors. but i respect your reasons why to to add more contrast.

jnconradie		17-Oct-2006 18:53
Thanks for the detailed explanation, Victor. I take my hat off to you for the creative concept, the careful planning and superb, determined execution. Well done! Regards ~jnconradie

Guest		17-Oct-2006 18:30
Very creative and elaborate work Victor! Thanks for the explanation. Looks like you have mastered this technique -Cat

Canon DSLR Challenge		17-Oct-2006 13:06
Traveller, The problem with doing so is that it stops being convincing that it's a light source. Believe me, I spent a long time playing with just that aspect. One of the last things I did was to apply USM with a relatively large radius to a selection of just the orb (not its halo) to bring out more detail in the figure. -- Victor

Canon DSLR Challenge		17-Oct-2006 06:41
Dearest Victor: I kind of wish that the fetal positon you were just a tad more distinct...it is more art that this remains vague, but more commercial if that stands out a little more. Takes your picks...Best Wishes, Traveller

Canon DSLR Challenge		17-Oct-2006 04:58
SPOILER (if you don't want to know how I did it, skip this post). I'll give the short version here. It's a composite of either 4 or 5 images: 1. Image of myself in fetal position lying on my black cape (1.0s). 2. Image of plastic ball filled with water and a bit of milk -- either two separate images (one rotated) or two copies of the same one (2.5s). 3. Image of another clear, plastic ball, empty, illuminated to produce color reflections. (1.6s). 4. Image of myself with hands around a light bulb (1/60s). By far the hardest part was crafting the orb so that it really looked like I was floating in a fluid, yet glowing enough for the photo to work. I used 12 layers. This I flattened and used as a layer in the final composite of 2 layers. A bit of cloning of my beard to get rid of the fixture holding the lightbulb and to replace the lightbulb itself (this last part is mostly covered by the orb, but if I hadn't done this cloning, it would not have looked right). Much more than that went into the picture, but as I said, this is the short version. -- Victor

jnconradie		17-Oct-2006 04:35
This brings back fond memories! The technical data is interesting and seems to suggest a composite of four images. I would love to know more about how you went about achieving this end-result, Victor? Regards ~jnconradie