Cool Marble Slab on a Hot Summer Night!

If you have two weeks, that's a lifetime. Send me the flippin' clock. I will shoot it, make it look like a million dollars and get it all back to you less than 24 hours from the time I receive the clock.

As an alternative, meter the LEDs for a correct exposure then adjust the ambient light to match your readings. (A rheostat on the lights would be helpful) Shoot this on a seamless background (unless they asked for something else) that is a medium gray to white, and you should be all set.

BTW... At some point the image has to go throough Photoshop before it goes to press.

Just remember what the doormouse said Feed your head, Feed your head

Interesting Debate...

IMHO nothing replaces a perfect exposure. There is no substitute for an exposure (digital, or film) that is well composed, cropped to perfection, properly lit and properly exposed in the camera. Anything less is a compromise.

Equally important, is that no amount of Photoshop, or traditional darkroom work will make up for a truly bad exposure. Poor composition, improper analysis or set-up of lighting, wrong aperture and/or shutter speed all lead to mediocre work at best.

With that said, I will also point out that the use of the digital darkroom has its advantages. One of the greatest assets of working in Photoshop is the ability to be able to analyze one's work quickly and efficiently. Personally, I think this is what most people fail to realize.

How many people actually think when they start working on an image, what is wrong with this exposure, and what could I have done to make it better. Probably not many. I would venture to say that most people get an image into Photoshop and then ask what can I do to fix it. This is great if your primary goal is to become a Photoshop Wizard. However, if you are not analyzing the exposure itself, then learning and correcting your mistakes at the time of exposure, you are waisting a valuable resource in becoming a better photographer.

Whether you want to do traditional work in a darkroom, or create incredible fantasies of montage work in Photoshop, the basics still remain. It all starts with making perfect exposures.

Well I had most of it... I didn't get the plastic wrap part, not did I think you shaved her head. Other than that though I was pretty muc in line with what went on. I will get into the glass thin when I have more than 5 minutes to sit down, even if it is really simple.

Well I think I got how you did this now, but I would still like to know all the details, bucause I am only making some educated guesses at some of what you did...

Very Cool!!! Care to share how you did it?

No need to apologize PC... I know you are a stand up person, and that you are sincere in your thoughts and views. Maybe I am just too much of a cynic... :-)

Once I am really happy with the way it is working, I will find, or create an image to use it with for real. This one is just fun to experiment with... ;-)

Two things, and then I am out of this...

One: Obviously I was all together wrong in my thinking. I am sure now that the people who provided these images have absolutely no interest in seeing their artwork on the cover of the magzine, and that they fully expect the vast majority of entrants will change the images they choose to work with beyond recognition.

Two: Despite my decision not to participate, I would certainly encourage anyone and everyone else to. I would love to see someone from this forum create something that would get the cover. There is a lot of talent here and I can think of nothing that would make me happier.

Who the hell is Bob Ross? Sorry I don't own a television. Just a computer, three cameras, a darkroom, some oils and other art supplies.

What is shows is ignorance... After all, any photograph that has been scanned is immediately a digital image, and any color corrections, curve alterations, level adjustments, or other basic image corrections done to a scan are technically digital manipulations. IMO... it is a lot of fluff that appears to be saying we are not interested in photographs, but we will accept them as entries if we have to.

I think he is hiding with Michelle somewhere...

There must be a face to go with those eyes...

These are way cool PC... Now go back and shoot them with a real camera ;-)