Show us your setup and the final result!

xpfloyd wrote in post #13652657
Heres my first ever light painting attempt. Happy with the result although I think the torch on the right of the apple could have been better if not so bright.

Setup -

Black background and surface, maglites either side of apple to illuminate. Maglite to create "Smoke" effect

Really great especially just using torches to light.

Hinson wrote in post #13655992
Here's my humble setup. Finally got around to making a cheap lightbox to photograph some ebay stuff.

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And here is a shot taken with that setup

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^c1970's+ famille rose Chinese Vase, probably decorated in Hong Kong...

pridash wrote in post #13655736
Yep it is St Pancras! I must try and get my own shot of Paddington, but as always its difficult to get a shot without the thousands of commuters around!

Yeah; I wish I had my camera with me on the 28th December when I went back to work; Paddington was empty and one side looks great now they have finished the roof refurbishment.

pilsburypie wrote in post #13656509
Really great especially just using torches to light.

Thanks

pilsburypie wrote in post #13656495
Damn PJ - that is a cracking shot. You have produced some really striking composites that stand out from the crowd.

Apologies for my basic understanding, but how do you "cut out" the girl and "paste" her onto your background? Just wondering as her hair looks hard to do.

Cheers

Thanks for the kind words. I'm trying to push myself a lot, learning and improving each time so expressions such as yours helps me a lot to keep going.

The "Refine Edge" tool in CS5 is the initial and principle tool for the process. After that it's working on the layer mask you produce from it using a number of processes. It's not immensely difficult, but nor is it totally straight forward. I did cheat on this image a bit by cloning some strands of her hair.

mrrikki wrote in post #13656856
Yeah; I wish I had my camera with me on the 28th December when I went back to work; Paddington was empty and one side looks great now they have finished the roof refurbishment.

Yh, the xmas hols seems to be the time to get a lot of places at their quietest. Thanks - I'll mark Paddington to my list for next xmas!

pridash wrote in post #13657321
...
I did cheat on this image a bit by cloning some strands of her hair.
...

Your comment made me think of this video. Aaron actually recreates hair in this tutorial to fix where he's clone stamped and masked out some other hair. When he's done you can't even tell.

BTW, I have ZERO affiliation with Aaron or Phlearn. I've purchased several of his tutorials as I think they are top notch. His free videos are also packed with great info on PS and compositng, etc.

askydiver wrote in post #13657370
Your comment made me think of this video. Aaron actually recreates hair in this tutorial to fix where he's clone stamped and masked out some other hair. When he's done you can't even tell.

BTW, I have ZERO affiliation with Aaron or Phlearn. I've purchased several of his tutorials as I think they are top notch. His free videos are also packed with great info on PS and compositng, etc.

Aaron is a legend - I'm admired him for years (as well as his ex-girlfriend Rosie)...and I still get gobsmacked at his PS skills - at times it borders on hate because he makes me look like someone using MS Paint for editing!

I don't think you haven't wasted any money at all buying his tuts - the more information you can soak up, the more you can apply for your own benefit.

mtimber wrote in post #13656640
^c1970's+ famille rose Chinese Vase, probably decorated in Hong Kong...

I think you nailed it. I got it from a wholesaler sometime in the early '70s.

pridash wrote in post #13652291
I don't usually show SOOC shots, but here goes...

Set up (light at front not shown but is almost on axis):-


IMG_9204 by P Lawrence, on Flickr

Final: -


Before it's too late... by P Lawrence, on Flickr

Outstanding work PJ. Simply stunning. I've been wanting to do some composite work but keep getting distracted by Modern Warfare 3.

This thread is by far my favourite thread on these forums. So inspiring seeing what other people come up with and then trying to either mimic it or top it. Keeps my drive going when the weather aint so great outside for shots.

Bioshock wrote in post #13658296
Outstanding work PJ. Simply stunning. I've been wanting to do some composite work but keep getting distracted by Modern Warfare 3.

Thx. ...and I get that - I was hooked on Rage & Deus Ex for ages - couldn't stop myself ...which reminds me I haven't completed the DLC! ...also need to play Crysis again on hardest setting!

3-1/2 hours of reading. Wow- amazing set ups. Subscribed to learn some more!

set up. 2 borrowed alienbees. but one is not really noticeable in the pic. Since this I have gotten some better diffusers etc that I think would have worked nice during this shoot. I generally use a couple yn560 and a couple other lights I have.

I do think this could be much better but I'm still learning about using light and proper post. In this particular case I am not that upset about the end result. sorry about the shaky image as i was in a rush to get this done because it was cold.

^^^ Good shot, but it looks a little underexposed. Watch your histogram when taking the shot - I suspect it was bunched up to the left for this one.

Also, when you have three lights and you're shooting in front of a dark background (or at night), use one of those lights as rim to separate yourself from the background.

Once you start to get perfect that, watch for specular highlights - there's one on the bike's tank that is distracting. It can be quite hard to avoid it on shiny objects, but your placement of the lights will determine if and where those highlights form.

Hope that helps.

tete wrote in post #13661570
set up. 2 borrowed alienbees. but one is not really noticeable in the pic. Since this I have gotten some better diffusers etc that I think would have worked nice during this shoot. I generally use a couple yn560 and a couple other lights I have.

I do think this could be much better but I'm still learning about using light and proper post. In this particular case I am not that upset about the end result. sorry about the shaky image as i was in a rush to get this done because it was cold.

Tete

Nice shot and great idea. I might try something similar with my bike.