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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Canon SLR Challenges - FAQ >> CSLR - Best of... >> Best of 2005 > 1st Place
Creating Darkness Edgerton's Way*
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March 05 2005 David Willis

1st Place
Creating Darkness Edgerton's Way*

Cambridge MA

Well, executing this photo has been my goal all week. I finally got the setup made today, broke 8 lightbulbs and this is the best of the photos -- didn't manage to electructe myself or burn down my "studio" (not that I have a studio).

NOTE: I didn't do an Edgerton setup for this photo...That is pretty obvious, since, in his work, a flash burst is used to stop time in an open shutter camera...which would cause total burn of the film if the filament was exposed like it is...the tough and funny part about this shot is taking what edgerton had made so famous and doing something that he really couldn't do (think about the light sources)... I did end up having to use a flash to fill in some light on the hammer, but the on camera flash was sufficient (since I am cheap and havent gotten a real flash yet).

This said, do not play with electricity at home. This is a very dangerous picture to take if you are not familiar with electricity and photography!!! Adult supervision is always required, and even then, extreme care is necessary. I'll explain the setup I made later on...for now I'll leave it a mystery :)! I'd love to get any an all comments on this...changing it is tough as the setup is relatively temporary...I will be taking it apart this evening and cleaning up all the glass...otherwise I'll be in trouble!

Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel ,Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
1/50s f/22.0 at 50.0mm iso100 with Flash full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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cindyd08-Mar-2005 17:50
Impressive shot and dedicated photographer! Cindy
Canon DSLR Challenge08-Mar-2005 02:01
Yes, this is a parody of Edgerton...Why? Well, the strobe light (flash) usage in this photo is NOT used to "stop time", rather to fill in the details of the hammer...why can we tell this? Well otherwise, the setup would not allow us to light the bulb with light and then use a strobe and an open shutter to capture the moment it breaks...since it would cause a blur effect when the bulb is broken (the light from the bulbe being on does not allow this to happen)....I'll post an image of the setup if I can find a way to do that...is there a gallery for that to be done???

Thanks for the comments...Keep em rolling in.

Cheers,
:-D
Canon DSLR Challenge07-Mar-2005 14:53
Yes, Edgerton comes immediately to mind when I see this photo. I perceive it as a sort of parody of Edgerton. I hope that's what you intended. Of course, I'm also curious how you set everything up.

Regarding color, perhaps I'm a bit biased, having just come from editing two pictures of sodium vapor light situations. I like the color as is and think it's probably better than black and white. I'm not sure about the framing. I think to mirror Edgerton, the negative space surrounding your subject should be about the same size all around. That would mean a bit more space above the bulb, and more even framing from left to right as well. You might also experiment with the hammer being on the other side of the bulb (still oriented the same way), as if the hammer went THROUGH the bulb. This way, you could space the hammer and the bulb a bit further apart, which I think would also help.

-- Victor (just my opinions -- and I'm not an Edgerton expert)
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Mar-2005 17:17
I cut and paste the exif info on the technical notes for this one...in the future I'll upload without doing "save for web"...Thansk all for the insight into this problem. Still happy to hear comments...Other comments:

1) What do you see in this photo...Some people don't see what it is (hammer and lightbulb)...

2) Does the Irony of this photo vs. Edgerton's style come through? Ie. this style couldn't be done by Edgerton...since the bulb light would have to be instantaneously on (otherwise you'd get a blurr of the glass as it fell).

:-D
Canon DSLR Challenge06-Mar-2005 05:00
How do I get the exif info? :-D
Guest 06-Mar-2005 04:33
Not gonna be easy commenting this image without the EXIF info. Sorry
- Michael Soo
Canon DSLR Challenge05-Mar-2005 20:12
I'd like to get some feedback regarding my image...

1) Color, vs. B+W...Any opinions.

2) Exposure...I had some difficulty getting the exposure correct....any input? Doe the exposure work in this photo?

3) Cropping...There is more darkspace to play with....should I keep this close a crop or should I back away a little.

Thanks.
:-D