The photography thread

Thanks!
Yeah, the lighting is key to get the look. I'm using three lights and one reflector. One beauty dish front and above, two diy striplights as rim on both sides of the subject, back left and back right, and also a diy silver reflector front underneath the subject to lighten shadows and getting som light underneath the chin. All shot with cheap hotshoe flashes and triggers and cheap light modifiers. I made the striplights same day as I shot these two guys, they cost me about 20$. And of course theres alot of postprocessing done on the images.
 
Nice dude... Getting very close to a Greenberg look (I assume that's kinda what you're aiming for) with almost half the lights she'd normally use!

How'd you DIY the stripbox ? I'm trying to plan my next few modifier purchases and if I can get results like that from DIY, I can cross striplights off the list! Also, do you have any recommendations for any particular post-processing tutorials ? Or have you just experimented a shitload? I'm just asking cause you've developed your talents in this area pretty damn quick whilst still retaining a nice look.
 
Thank you!
Yeah, I'm aiming a bit for the Greenberg look but trying to not completely rip it off.

The DIY stripboxes are done very easy. I took two stands used for magazines, made out of cardboard. I work at a magazine so we had a couple spare. They were about 110cm high and about 30cm wide. I cut out 4 pieces to form the box. Glued tinfoil on the inside of every piece. Then taped everything together with strong tape. I found some cheap sheets to cover the boxes with and just taped that also. When I cut out the pieces I accounted for a square hole to fit the flash in in the center of the box.

I thought about buying stripboxes but don't quite have the economy right now for it so just trying to work with what I've got. I can post some pics of the stripboxes later if you're interested in seeing them. They don't look good but they do work.

As for tutorials, check out Amy Dresser's webinar where she's retouching a man. She used to work for Greenberg so she has some great tips. I also own some tutorials from Calvin Hollywood. You can check him out at Kelby Training or Video2Brain. And I've also experimented quite a bit to see what works for me and what I want to do. I'm always looking for photos that have this illustrated look and try to see what they might have used to get the effect. I'm still learning tons of stuff and I'd gladly share some tips and pointers if you have any questions.

By the way, does anyone have any good tips for a IPS monitor? I have a really shitty and kinda old monitor now and I need to upgrade cause my colors on the screen are way off sometimes. So any ideas? Around 300-400$ ?
 
Thank you!
Yeah, I'm aiming a bit for the Greenberg look but trying to not completely rip it off.

The DIY stripboxes are done very easy. I took two stands used for magazines, made out of cardboard. I work at a magazine so we had a couple spare. They were about 110cm high and about 30cm wide. I cut out 4 pieces to form the box. Glued tinfoil on the inside of every piece. Then taped everything together with strong tape. I found some cheap sheets to cover the boxes with and just taped that also. When I cut out the pieces I accounted for a square hole to fit the flash in in the center of the box.

I thought about buying stripboxes but don't quite have the economy right now for it so just trying to work with what I've got. I can post some pics of the stripboxes later if you're interested in seeing them. They don't look good but they do work.

As for tutorials, check out Amy Dresser's webinar where she's retouching a man. She used to work for Greenberg so she has some great tips. I also own some tutorials from Calvin Hollywood. You can check him out at Kelby Training or Video2Brain. And I've also experimented quite a bit to see what works for me and what I want to do. I'm always looking for photos that have this illustrated look and try to see what they might have used to get the effect. I'm still learning tons of stuff and I'd gladly share some tips and pointers if you have any questions.

By the way, does anyone have any good tips for a IPS monitor? I have a really shitty and kinda old monitor now and I need to upgrade cause my colors on the screen are way off sometimes. So any ideas? Around 300-400$ ?

That budget is a little low for IPS, here is what I'm gonna get when I can afford it.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?cs=19&c=us&l=en&sku=320-8277

Are you using a high pass filter method to get that ultra contrast in your post?
 
Yeah, I've looked at that monitor also. Been reading about some issues with the antiglare on Dells but can't remember if it was for that model or the cheaper ones. I'm happy with my monitor on my Dell laptop, although it has some colortinting, but otherwise great. Guess I probably have to go with a more expensive monitor than what I originally thought.

About high pass filter, no I don't use it to get the details. You should check out Topaz Details and also Nik Color Efex's Tonal Contrast, it's two awsome plugins/filters. Although I use high pass when I smooth the skin to make it look more "illustrated/cartoony" along with a blurred layer.
 
Is there anyone with full frame Raw files to share ? I would like to know how my computer would handle 80 to 100mo raw files, because I am considering buying a new camera at the end of the year and the ability of my laptop to deal with those is a major parameter ?
 
Is there anyone with full frame Raw files to share ? I would like to know how my computer would handle 80 to 100mo raw files, because I am considering buying a new camera at the end of the year and the ability of my laptop to deal with those is a major parameter ?

you'll never have a full frame raw file that is that large.. 22mp raw files from my 5d mark ii are ~23-28mb

tiff or psd with lots of layers you will definitely see that size and above though

@carlsman thanks for the software tips, gonna check those out :)
 
Really, I thought they were that large ?

I'm not really too much into photoshop editing and layering and heavy processing but I might consider it though. I think it's all fine because if ever I don't need a big file, I can accept the hassle of having to resize the image for a photoshop editing, which is a specific work anyway. It is not like editing 100 files in Lightroom one after the other for "development".

@carlsman very nice pictures indeed ! Gonna check this as well when I find some time.
 
Is there anyone with full frame Raw files to share ? I would like to know how my computer would handle 80 to 100mo raw files, because I am considering buying a new camera at the end of the year and the ability of my laptop to deal with those is a major parameter ?
If you still need it: On the Froknowsphoto.com website they make RAW files available every week for practicing. Here's a Full Frame image from a Nikon D800:
http://froknowsphoto.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=175140

You have to register at the forum to download it.
 
Copying from my reply in your thread:

Where are you located? If you're in the States and you want to buy new:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ Not always the lowest prices, but GREAT customer service, especially if you need to make a return for whatever reason.

http://www.adorama.com/ Also a good company that I've given quite a bit of business too. :)

And of course, Amazon, like you already stated.
 
If you still need it: On the Froknowsphoto.com website they make RAW files available every week for practicing. Here's a Full Frame image from a Nikon D800:
http://froknowsphoto.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=175140

You have to register at the forum to download it.


I have downloaded 2 of them in .dng without registering... Did I miss something ?

Anyway I'm surprised, those files aren't that big to work with (at least in lightroom only). I expected much worse. Thanks for the link.
 
I have downloaded 2 of them in .dng without registering... Did I miss something ?

Anyway I'm surprised, those files aren't that big to work with (at least in lightroom only). I expected much worse. Thanks for the link.
They have a new forum, maybe they forgot to hide the download links for non-members.

Anyway, i have won a Nikon D5100 + 18-55mm with a photo contest. I received it yesterday and i just took this picture:
 
someone here into food photography?
Really interested in this, trying it abit at home, but it's a bit different if you want to eat it and
you don't have a good light situation at home (only cooking in the evening, so there's not much
natural light).

This is just a short test:

curry.jpg
 
That looks beautiful. Better luck with this one!

Shouldn't it be in the gas thread though? Hahaha

First shot I ever took of a car, so thought I'd post it here :lol:

Yeah, should have better luck with this one alright. It's in perfect shape, looked after properly and only has 117k in kilometers on it. It was a bit more expensive that I could afford, but fuck it, I want a proper car for a change.