Episode 06 - Commercial Project for SDC

Published: January 14th, 2008

Duration: 32:57

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Discussion Open - 20 Comments

  1. WillWill on 1/14/08

    Thanks Craig, fantastic stuff. I appreciate the technical info and you are a great raconteur as well!

  2. weswes on 1/14/08

    Great light diary Craig. I don't know why I am so amazed at your abilities but I am. Just a great experience to see your work and to realize the amazing amount of time and effort you put into it. I am beginning to understand who you are and, for me, that helps in appreciating your work even more.

    I am trying to see what you see as you are describing your images but sometimes I just can't. For instance, when you talk about distortion in the first architectural inside shot of the condo, you are using, I think, a 16mm wide angle lens and you mention the distortion. Are you referring to the distortion of the foreground sofa seeming to be larger because of its closeness to the camera? If so, OK. I would expect to see some distortion along the sides where there are vertical lines but there is nothing there. Have you made any corrections there?

    Thanks so much for the light diary.

    Wes

  3. craigtannercraigtanner on 1/14/08

    Hi Will and Wes,

    Thank you for the very kind and generous comments!

    Great question Wes about the distortion and you are right...the distortion I am talking about is how the super wide is making the sofa near the camera (along with all of the rest of the stuff in the corners and along the edges) look huge relative to the rest of the stuff in the room... in my landscape work I am going for these kinds of stretched, distorted foregrounds but in my architectural work I typically avoid it because the viewer of the picture will have a lot of visual cues about the reality of the normal size of things as they compare to each other. The other distortion you mention...parallex distortion - where vertical lines are not parallel to the frame's edge...that type of distortion is missing here because I shot with camera completely leveled using a bubble level in the hot shoe of the flash......Craig

  4. mgrigsbymgrigsby on 1/14/08

    Craig,

    I love that you are willing to show us the amazing differences between your original photos and the fantastic final images and tell us the REAL stories behind the tranformations! Thank You!!

    Murry

  5. UshaUsha on 1/14/08

    As soon as I saw this episode, I felt like I am sitting on a gold mine. I felt like telling people I know of it's existence. I felt...how could it be that such intense learning, teaching and training is out there....with such generosity and a giving spirit. Each one of the commentaries on those images is a tutorial and a training by itself.

    I leanrned a tremendous amount by watching it. Most often, "learners" feel like they understand a final image, but there is always a secret quest to see what the photographer saw, how he saw it and what was done to get it to the final stage. This quest is almost unspoken as most people feel delicate about asking for this information directly....but wish someone would teach this.

    Craig, thank you for an incredible episode and the generosity of your spirit. I feel like I just returned from a workshop!

    Usha

  6. phelanphelan on 1/14/08

    Thanks Craig, I really appreciate the discussion about the multiple layers on the interior shot that is discussed mostly about distortion. This type of sharing gives me great motivation to get out and try more interesting assignments, not particularly architecture, but put the lessons to use in my work. You are a great communicator.

    Jim

  7. smilanosmilano on 1/14/08

    Craig

    outstanding amount of great information to help understand how you arrived at the images I have been seeing on Lightdiary--I have been "lurking" and have only once commented on any of the work but wanted to pass on a big Thank-You for taking all the time to enlighten us all. It is absolutely amazing to me how much previsualization, setup, capture, and processing goes into creating the final product for the client-and then, you turn around and pass on the techniques!!! after what sounds like exhausting days you take the time to virtually create a "tutorial"--many thanks

    Steve

  8. martijeffersmartijeffers on 1/14/08

    Hi Craig --

    An outstanding vidcast that truly shows what you do to create these wonderful images for your clients. It is wonderful that you so willingly shared all the steps along the way. Great vidcast!!!

    Marti

  9. craigtannercraigtanner on 1/14/08

    Hi Everybody,

    There are some incredibly kind and generous comments here and I just wanted to say how grateful I am for all of them!!!!....Sincerely, Craig

  10. JohnGaltJohnGalt on 1/15/08

    This podcast is a terrific look into the life of a commercial photographer. All of these shots are excellent. Introducing me to rescaling and showing the befores and afters are helpful to see. All of these shots require patience and persistence which is hard to remember when we are dealing with something captured in a fraction of a second. Good stuff.

    I love High Point View and hearing more about makes me appreciate it even more. Just a beautiful shot. I came back to look at this one several times before hearing the podcast. It is funny but I still have a hard time making out that we are looking out into the water. It is easier to see on the right side but the left side appears so smooth I thought it was simply a valley until you told me what I am looking at. Now I will admit that I only have the luxury of seeing it on my screen and touching it in real life may leave a totally different impression. Just an observation.

    Steve

  11. RenePReneP on 1/16/08

    Craig – as always this vid-cast is beyond outstanding. The insight into your workflow, techniques, and and your views on (digital) photography, especially in the realm of commercial photography, are extremely informative and inspiring.

    Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to produce these.

    Best,

    René

  12. dougiedougie on 1/18/08

    HI Craig, I've just watched this episode and I'm quite simply blown away but I learned here.

    I've been following RV for about 18 months now and while I have found a huge number of interesting articles and learned a *huge* amount, this diary just seemed to resonate with a few things that I've been struggling with in getting my images to another level - so thanks a lot, it's really given the motivation and buzz to get my projects moving again.

    I was interested to know more on your technique for softening the effect of the polarizer effect in one your images.. you talked about using curves and a brush .. but can you elaborate. I have a couple of panoramas where I forgot to remove the polarizer and I want to know how to remove the obvious graduation that is apparent.

    I'd just like to echo the comments of others who remark on the very 'giving' nature of the video and associated dialogue - you have a real easy way to deliver your message and your enthusiasm for teaching and sharing is just fantastic.

  13. skedonkskedonk on 1/19/08

    Hi Craig,

    Thanks for another amazing down to earth presentation.

    Repeating Usha's comment, this is indeed a trove of gold and has helped me immensely.

  14. craigtannercraigtanner on 1/19/08

    Hi Dougie and Skedonk,

    Thank you for being here and thank you so much for the kindness of your comments.

    Doug...about those dark circles from the polarizer...I go into curves and sample the dark area and then pull up...lighten from that point on the curve...I over do it...I then fill the mask with black and choose a brush size that is almost as big as the circle and 0 hardness on the brush. Then at a low opacity 10 percent I slowly create a hole in the mask that corrects the problem..hope that helped....Craig

  15. AprilSAprilS on 1/20/08

    Simply, a goldmine of information. Thank you for sharing this intimate, behind-the-scenes look at your art and craft!

  16. dutchkiwisdutchkiwis on 1/21/08

    Hi Craig,

    Good to see you are posting again - I have missed your vid/pod casts over the break. The SDC pod cast is really outstanding. Very cool that you show the originals and share how you got to the final. I find the scaling very interesting - something I will definitely try out. Once again a very inspiring Light Diary.

    Thanks heaps for all the time spent on RV - I wonder how do you do combine it with your commercial work?

    PS Please pass my complements on to Mark. I have had great fun with the work benches and had very pleasing results from applying the retouching techniques outlines in his CS3 Companion eBook.

    Edsard

  17. HumanistHumanist on 1/22/08
    valued by 1

    Craig,

    Great video: I feel inspired.

    Your "before" and "after" shots from the title photo really, really blew me away. I've been learning Photoshop for a while now, but cannot imagine the work that you did to bring those trees to life. I can think of nothing more exciting than learning more about the techniques you uses and, more importantly, how and why you applied those techniques. When I first saw the "before" photos I thought to myself, "Wow. If I saw those in Bridge, I'd skip over them or else only ever consider Black and White." I am amazed with what you can visualize and how you actualized it, especially in post-processing.

  18. craigtannercraigtanner on 1/22/08

    Hi April, Edsard, and Josh,

    Thank you for the very kind feedback... it always means a lot to me and I am always very grateful for all of the support and I will pass this on to Mark... Sincerely, Craig

  19. YacudaYacuda on 1/23/08

    Craig,

    Thanks so much for this light diary episode and the sharing of your life. I hope your cold is better and that the incredible sharing and the work that it takes is not coming at the sacrifice of your health.

    My question is about the moon you stuck in the panoramic view. I think you said the view is generally west into the sunset and it looks like the sun has just set. If that is correct the full moon can't be there it has to be opposite the sun. This bothers me and would make me think other thing were fabracated. Maybe I'm being picky, your customer loves it or I have some details wrong. Anyway would this be the kind of add-in that you would clarify before releasing?

    Looking forward to meeting you and photographing Death Valley in Feb. Thanks again, Mike Harris

  20. craigtannercraigtanner on 1/25/08

    Hi Mike,

    Excellent question(s)!!!!

    You are dead on about the moon. This is a spot where the moon could set in the morning as a full Moon but this was shot in the evening. But, with the exception of the direction of the light from left to right this soft light twilight is generally the same feel to the light that you would get at full moon set (in the winter (and in the morning)) the day after the full moon. The only difference would be that the light would be flowing in the morning from right to left. I try to keep my departures from "reality" in my property ad shots connected to the overall feeling of standing or being in a given spot. You may or may not have heard me say this before but to me all photography is a form of fabrication because all photographs are taken out of context. I also truly believe that if you ever visited this property that you would be overwhelmed at how much more beautiful it is to be there than my photograph of it could ever be. I love your question and will include it in my next Light Diary Vidcast....Craig

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