I was asked by a couple of people to share the technical aspects of my newest series The Dance.... So for those interested here it is..... My fancy lighting equipment and studio... *the sun* coming in from a southern exposure glass slider door. And the studio, simply the sitting area in my kitchen. Sorta like Tedz's bathroom studio, only no toilet. :~) I set up a backdrop stand and draped it with black velvet material bought at a fabric store. The white thingy is merely a sheet... The D70 was set up on a tripod and my Sigma 20-40 f/2.8 with a focal length set at 30mm. Shutter speed was 1/5th of a second with an aperture of 5.6...... and 400 ISO. Wireless remote used with delayed timer.... get ready..... hear the beep... move....

Afterwards images were processed from their raw format in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) and brought into CS2. I'm not beyond doing more than the generic processing when I want a certain look...... There were 3 layers.... the original file, a middle layer converted to BW and then toned with a sepia-ish color kept at 100% and a normal blending, and a top layer of the original which has a gaussian blur applied and blended as an overlay and an opacity of roughly 40-60%, depending on the image... Afterwards layers were merged, levels adjusted once again if necessary, and image resized for the web..... That's about it.....

Now this is cool!! Thx a bunch for this Chelle! I love to see the process!!

Thanks for sharing this process. I had wondered how you acheived the final effect but didn't think to ask. I'm glad someone did. :) I would have suspected a more elaborate lighting set-up, but when you have such a nice big sliding glass door, you might as well use it! 8] --Kort

Thanks for sharing these very interesting technical details! Like Kort, I'm also glad, someone did ask you. A beautiful, elegant & graceful series!

Thanks for your info and sharing so simply your intimacy...

Well I was going to ask after the series was complete. Glad you used my technical term for the sheet. ;-) Have I stated how impressed I am with this series? of course now I have to go bak and look for the remote in your hands which I know I will not find, but I gotta look. I am like that. :-) A stunning series. I look forward to the last 4!

this is the kind of stuff that makes me pick up a bat and start looking for people. eBots drop me an e-mail if a cricket sneezes in Guam, but I don't hear squat until your 5th of this series. :/ That said, I love the series so far, oh raven haired one. You sure know how to push my buttons. Dance, motion, emotion, light and shadow. Wonderful stuff. Add to it the fact that they are self-portraits and you really don't know how impressed I am. And you need to understand, with your previous series, you've set the bar pretty high on impressing me. Well done. big hugz -=>Donald

Donald...I used to be Married to a Bat...but...that is another Story. Dear Michelle...thank You for divulging Your Secrets...sigh As I am sure You are aware...this Series has been one of My best Sellers at the Foxton Thieves Market...and I look forward ,with much fondness to see more of You. An even BIGGER HUGZ than Donald....and smootchies too! salute PS: All that Sun Room needs is a ....Toilet :]

my kind of lighting... what's your backdrop stand look like, a T frame with clips possibly? impressive to say the least 'chelle... a celebration of woman! :]

Attached Link: http://www.adorama.com/BMSSPSP.html

This is the stand that I have.... no clips the rod that holds the paper has holes on either end, and it slips right onto the stands.... size of the rod can be adjusted to fit the size you need. For fabric you need clamps to hold it all in place.... but what I like about it is it's portable.... and came with a carry bag....

that would be pretty handy... :D but then i guess clothesline & clothespins are too... thanks for the link 'chelle!!

That is a great stand...the price isn't too steep and you get a roll of white. And if you want another color, all I would do is get a ream of fabric and throw it over the white roll! ;] Keep on dancin!

That is a great stand...the price isn't too steep and you get a roll of white. And if you want another color, all I would do is get a ream of fabric and throw it over the white roll! ;] Keep on dancin!

Yes! Thank You for sharing!!! Thank You!!!

Thanks for sating my curiosity, Michelle. I must confess, as I stared at the images in the series, I tried to picture just (exactly) how it was done. I wondered if you had set everything up and just danced with your camera running on time lapse. Or if your daughter kept pressing the button when she thought it was a good shot. Then, I wondered if you had added the motion blur in PS (but I figured you more for doing it with camera instead of software). Final bit of curiosity (I think), how many shots did you take and how many were "keepers"? In other words, how many were "hits" and "misses"? Many years ago--when there was no such thing as Photoshop, and the dodge tool was a piece of plastic attached to a thin wire--I became very interested in photograpy. Luckily, I met someone who acted as a mentor (or sorts). He told me 2 things I'll never forget: (1) The differece between and amateur and a professional is the amount of shots they take; and (2) Think of film and paper as being free. If you worry about the costs of either, your work will never be its best. /ramble off/

I took 86 images.... of those, 11 were good ..... quite a few were acceptable but not gallery worthy either. And there are some I'm still on the fence about. Sometimes I need to sit and let my images rest for a bit.... then I come back after a few months time and I can see them in a new way...... An amateur takes one or two shots and walks away satisfied, a professional will burn through film/or cards like crazy and be happy with only a few images.... I believe this is what you mentor meant? And I do believe he was correct......

Ahhhh, 86 shots! I THOUGHT there might be a lot of them. As we know, getting just the right amount of blur and artistry in this situation is a matter of luck. (reminds me of the time I bought a dozen eggs and tried to capture the egg at the moment the shell started cracking but before all the mess...LOL...I got one acceptable shot and a mess to clean up). 86 shots would take a while, too, I'm guessing. But...at least you got some very nice shots! And, your thoughts are the same as mine as to my "mentor's" comment/advice.

Hmmm..... curiousity got the best of me...... My stats showed someone found their way to my website from this here thread.....

Interesting........ how the dead will come back to life years later.......

I see that Michelle A. has rejoined us because her,

curiousity got the best of me

Well, well, well ... I also have curiosity ... I'll start with, how have you been? 

--
Martin

HI Michelle...long time no see...

For the benefit of the forum..I learned a lot about being a moderator from Michelle

Hiya 'chelle. Yes, it is funny how that works sometimes. :') Thanks for dropping in. Can I ask what Stats software you are using, I might be able to use one that can do that!

Fabulous work Michelle lovely to see you here again and sharing your great talent

Well yes I guess it has been a very long time hasn't it....... Martin, Bruce, Kort & Danny..... How've you all been?

I've been good, busy, and happy and I guess that's all that really matters. Right?  The place where you'll find me most these days is over at the DWF  (www.digitalweddingforum.com), no time for much else...... 

I'm amazed that someone actually found this thread, and went to my website because of it......

Can I ask what Stats software you are using, I might be able to use one that can do that!

I'm using StatCounter, as well as Google Analytics.  Both are free, but I've been using StatCounter for a while now.  I really like it...... I think you might too.

Bye all!
Michelle

Thanks Michelle, I'll check them out. Glad all is well with you. Take care.

I remember this dance well and was duly impressed. Thanks so much for coming in again with the info.   Glad to see you post.