April 18: Fun and Frolic: A Plea for Help by Robin Reid

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18-APR-2005	Robin Reid

April 18: Fun and Frolic: A Plea for Help

San Diego County, CA

Actually I am working on my studio setup and lighting and my Photoshop extracting skills. Amazed Steve is from last week at Warner Springs looking at my wooden pelican (homage to Herb) imaged today in my soft box, being chased by a real dog at Del Mar Beach taken 2 weeks ago.

I need help! Please give me a source for how to take good indoor pictures of objects to separate them from their backgrounds, and your thoughts about lights etc. for studio work (a la portraits). Many thanks.

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
1/60s f/16.0 at 31.0mm iso100 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto

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brother_mark		20-Apr-2005 00:58
Can you link to an example of what you want to do?

Chris		19-Apr-2005 22:42
Cool bit of Photoshop, but you are already past my skill level as far as tips go :)

don nieman		19-Apr-2005 10:07
Sounds like a lot of work to me. The extraction technique seems it would be very useful. I'm waiting for an answer to your question, too.

JeremyGood		19-Apr-2005 04:42
I just bought a light kit at a local photo store. It comes with two stands and big lights. I bought a diffuser and umbrella seperately. The kit came with a CD or DVD about lighting techniques but I haven't looked at it yet.

Coleen Perilloux Landry		19-Apr-2005 03:42
I love this fun photo. I really should have consulted some expert and given a dissertation on what you asked about. But, unfortunately, I didn't and I haven't a clue.

Karen Leaf		19-Apr-2005 03:08
Meant to add that I am really enjoying playtime with the Alien Bees :)

Karen Leaf		19-Apr-2005 03:05
Sounds like an excellent question for the wizard herself (she has to give those dogs a rest, sometime, ha) I'm thinking back light to separate b/g from the subject? I wish I could figure out how to use the extraction tool, but I usually end up with the magic wand as Wynn suggests, and always end up fixing the remains with the eraser which looks awful Will be checking back for the expert answers.

Josy's Pics		19-Apr-2005 02:49
LOL!, I wish I can help you... good luck! :) Josy

Gary Winters		19-Apr-2005 02:08
Don't ask me! But let me know what you find out! LOL

Gayle P. Clement		19-Apr-2005 01:34
I can't wait to hear the answer! Fun photo, Robin.

laine82		19-Apr-2005 00:07
I know I'm not the one your directing your question to Robin so I will only comment on this work & to say your very good at PSing.

Guest		19-Apr-2005 00:00
It's easiest to select with the magic wand when the contrast is large enough that the edges are consistently far enough from the surrounding backdrop. In the extreme, a solid white object on a solid black background. Then select the magic wand with a threshold of some moderate amount (like 30), and you get one or the other. Of course, if your subject has inconsistent-color edges (black hair, pale skin, white shirt) then it's much harder to do that!

Pepe Zyman		18-Apr-2005 23:53
Are you looking for photo o professional help? :^)

Di		18-Apr-2005 23:50
Are you kidding? I don't even know what you just said...you don't want any advice from me! Cool pic, tho.

Dan Chusid		18-Apr-2005 23:30
Wow! My photo today looks very similar to this one of Steve, Robin! ;-)