I'm going to be quite close to the sculpture this afternoon, and I may just bop over there and grab a couple of shots with the digi so I can show you the setup. It's probably not quite what you think it is, as the artwork lays on the ground, unlike most sculptures that are upright. The location of the sun is, of course, seasonal. The evening sun would be mostly behind the scene, but describes a rather large arc from season to season, so at some time of the year it sets further to the north and would give a greater directionality to the light. I don't think 45-degrees is possible, but maybe it is. I could try early morning light, but then the sun would be in front of the scene and off somewhat to the side.
Production assistants? LOL, I'd probably have to recruit some. Thanks, Paul .... Shel > [Original Message] > From: Paul Stenquist < > I thought about your shot while I was out for my morning walk on this > lovely spring day. The classic way to accomplish this on film (or > digital for that matter) is to shoot the scene when backlit using > large reflectors to light the sculpture. The sun should be off to one > side or the other about 45 degrees rather than fully backlit, but it > must be behind the sculpture. If the grass is totally in the shade > you'll be able to nail it. For reflectors just use a couple of pieces > of large white mat board or white foam core. Prop them up to reflect > the light back on the sculpture or have your PAs hold them. (You do > have production assistant's don't you?). Flag the sun if you have to > with a black mat board to make sure you don't get any flare. > > Exposure and processing will earn you very little with color film. > Controlling the light is the time proven method to achieve shots like > you describe. > > That's the thing ... it's easy to do in Photoshop, but I'd like to > > find a > > way to do it outside of Photoshop, ideally using natural light, and > > making > > it happen with film choice, exposure, processing, and so on. > > > > Thanks for your suggestion about exposure ... 'tween you and Bob and a > > comment or two made by another person off list, I think I know how I'm > > going to approach this. After all, photographers did things like this > > for > > years without Photoshop. > > > > Shel > > > > > >> [Original Message] > >> From: Paul Stenquist > > > >> Of course with BW you have the option of colored filters to > >> selectively > >> alter the light. With color, it's tough to exercise a lot of control > >> in > >> camera. More light on the rusted art with a reflector or diffused > >> flash > >> would help. With negative film a bit of overexposure might help as > >> well. But the easiest and best way to do it is post process. And since > >> almost all color film is scanned these days, it's a simple matter to > >> do > >> it in PhotoShop. As you know you can simply select the grass or mask > >> the sculpture and treat them individually. > > > >> On Apr 18, 2005, at 11:37 PM, Shel Belinkoff wrote: > >> > >>> I know how to control contrast and tonality with B&W film, but how > >>> does one > >>> do it with color? For example, there's a piece of artwork that I'd > >>> like to > >>> photograph. It's rusted metal and the background is green grass. > >>> I'd > >>> like > >>> to photograph it in such a way that the grass is much darker and the > >>> art > >>> work is lighter, resulting in more contrast between the two. Is this > >>> possible? > > > >
