A Rock and a Hard Place by Canon DSLR Challenge

Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 18: Stones (Hosted by Karthik Murugesan) >> Challenge 18: Stones Exhibition (Hosted by Karthik Murugesan) > A Rock and a Hard Place

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21-JUN-2004	Joe Reilly

A Rock and a Hard Place

Interesting observation this evening: Rocks don't run around and do cute things like KiDz. Nor do wrenches. So comparatively difficult to make them interesting in two dimensions. I struggled mightily with this, and I'm still not satisfied with it. Looking for some shooting/processing tips from the studio gurus. If it's really this hard, then I'm not likely to do this often [*sMiLe*]..

Canon EOS 10D ,Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
1/200s f/19.0 at 225.0mm iso400 with Flash hide exif

Full EXIF Info
Date/Time	21-Jun-2004 22:19:12
Make	Canon
Model	EOS 10D
Flash Used	Yes
Focal Length	225 mm
Exposure Time	1/200 sec
Aperture	f/19
ISO Equivalent	400
Exposure Bias
White Balance	(-1)
Metering Mode	matrix (5)
JPEG Quality	(6)
Exposure Program	program (1)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto

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Guest		22-Jun-2004 07:19
Quite simply, made me smile, then I saw the name and searched hard for familair features... no daughter, no gas mask... Phil

Canon DSLR Challenge		22-Jun-2004 04:51
Holy smokes, Olaf, yours is a tremendous improvement! Credit to moosetruffles for suggesting contrast and saturation as well. I stared at this infernal image for an hour (i.e. too long) and could not, for the life of Reilly, figure out what was wrong. I plan to re-shoot and post more along this line (but will post in Exhibition). Thanks!! --Joe

Olaf.dk		22-Jun-2004 04:44
PS. By getting closer, I don't mean framing it tighter, I mean having the lens closer to your subject and shooting with a shorter focal length - this will yield a more pronounced or exaggerated perspective. May even add DOF-blur. --Olaf

Olaf.dk		22-Jun-2004 04:38
Feels awkward, giving you shooting and post-processing advice! Listening to Grant made me try this: colorize the background, duplicate layer and set the blending mode of the new layer to multiply at 70% opacity. Result (quick and dirty): Regarding shooting tips, I would get closer - to get a more "in-your-face-perspective" and maybe have the rock in the foreground. That's what you want to emphasize, the rock and the claws of the wrench. My shooting suggestions both make this the relatively bigger part of the image - thereby emphasizing the rock and the claws... -- Olaf

Karthik Murugesan		22-Jun-2004 04:12
I agree with Grant! How about a Black and White? Play with Monocrome Channel Mixer and some levels may be? - Karthik.

Guest		22-Jun-2004 03:46
i'm always a big fan of contrast and saturation to make something pop.