Last weekend was unbelievably rainy here in Chicago, so we, thinking we were clever, decided to visit the Garfield Park Conservatory for a photo outing inside and away from the storms. As it turns out, greenhouse roofs, over the course of the century it has been standing, start to leak. Everywhere.
There were the usual gawkers and the occasional stink eye from people wondering what we were doing, but the rain inside made things more uncomfortable than having to explain why I had action figures out. The bright spot was this shot of a Cygnaran Ironclad. For those of you unfamiliar with it, and Warmachine in general, here is a synopsis from Warmachine: Prime:
The most recognized heavy 'jack in the Cygnaran arsenal, the Ironclad is a walking behemoth of metal nearly thrice the size of a man. Gigantic smokestacks blow sooty "breath" from its hearthfire furnace, and a bright orange glow emits from its face grill, lending a fiery and fearsome gaze.
Armed with a powerful quake hammer, the Ironclad smashes lesser combatants to shrapnel with its massive blows; sometimes just one strike from this hammer has toppled even another heavy 'jack. The Ironclad's durable armor - smelted from precious ores harvested from the roots of the tallest mountains - provides fantastic protection from all but the heaviest impacts, and because of these things, the Cygnaran Ironclad is renowned for leading most warjack charges.
Here is the original, straight out of the camera.
I love how it looks, but I thought I could do it one better. Shift the colors around and make it more dramatic. Make it's furnace glow. Darken the edges. Add contrast. Cover up the little spots where the paint had chipped. Ok, not so much that last one.
The final edit:
You know, I have so much fun shooting these miniatures. I wonder if there is a gaming manufacturer in the Chicago area that needs a photographer?
You. Will. EXIF:
| Camera: | Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi |
| Exposure: | 0.077 sec (1/13) |
| Aperture: | f/5.6 |
| Focal Length: | 55 mm |
| ISO Speed: | 400 |
| Exposure Bias: | 0 EV |
| Flash: | Off, Did not fire |
| File Size: | 3.0 MB |
| File Type: | JPEG |
| MIME Type: | image/jpeg |
| Image Width: | 3888 |
| Image Height: | 2592 |
| Encoding Process: | Baseline DCT, Huffman coding |
| Bits Per Sample: | 8 |
| Color Components: | 3 |
| Orientation: | Horizontal (normal) |
| X-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Y-Resolution: | 72 dpi |
| Date and Time (Modified): | 2009:06:13 12:31:15 |
| YCbCr Positioning: | Co-sited |
| Exposure Program: | Aperture-priority AE |
| Date and Time (Original): | 2009:06:13 12:31:15 |
| Date and Time (Digitized): | 2009:06:13 12:31:15 |
| Metering Mode: | Multi-segment |
| Color Space: | sRGB |
| Focal Plane X-Resolution: | 4433.295325 dpi |
| Focal Plane Y-Resolution: | 4453.608247 dpi |
| Custom Rendered: | Normal |
| Exposure Mode: | Auto |
| White Balance: | Manual |
| Scene Capture Type: | Standard |
| Macro Mode: | Normal |
| Self Timer: | Off |
| Quality: | Fine |
| Canon Flash Mode: | Off |
| Continuous Drive: | Single |
| Focus Mode: | One-shot AF |
| Record Mode: | JPEG |
| Canon Image Size: | Large |
| Easy Mode: | Manual |
| Digital Zoom: | None |
| Contrast: | Normal |
| Saturation: | Normal |
| Sharpness: | 0 |
| Metering Mode: | Evaluative |
| Focus Range: | Not Known |
| Canon Exposure Mode: | Aperture-priority AE |
| Lens Type: | Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 |
| Long Focal: | 55 mm |
| Short Focal: | 18 mm |
| Focal Units: | 1 |
| Max Aperture: | 5.6 |
| Min Aperture: | 32 |
| Flash Activity: | 0 |
| Flash Bits: | (none) |
| Focus Continuous: | Single |
| Zoom Source Width: | 0 |
| Zoom Target Width: | 0 |
| Photo Effect: | Off |
| Manual Flash Output: | n/a |
| Color Tone: | Normal |
| Focal Type: | Zoom |
| Focal Plane XSize: | 23.04 mm |
| Focal Plane YSize: | 15.37 mm |
| Auto ISO: | 100 |
| Base ISO: | 400 |
| Measured EV: | 1.75 |
| Target Aperture: | 5.7 |
| Target Exposure Time: | 1/13 |
| White Balance: | Cloudy |
| Slow Shutter: | None |
| Sequence Number: | 0 |
| Optical Zoom Code: | n/a |
| Flash Guide Number: | 0 |
| Flash Exposure Comp: | 0 |
| Auto Exposure Bracketing: | Off |
| AEBBracket Value: | 0 |
| Control Mode: | Camera Local Control |
| Focus Distance Upper: | 0.27 |
| Focus Distance Lower: | 0.35 |
| Bulb Duration: | 0 |
| Camera Type: | EOS Mid-range |
| Auto Rotate: | None |
| NDFilter: | Unknown (-1) |
| Self Timer2: | 0 |
| Flash Output: | 0 |
| Canon Firmware Version: | Firmware 1.1.1 |
| Serial Number: | 1220842575 |
| Canon Model ID: | EOS Digital Rebel XTi / 400D / Kiss Digital X (and rare K236) |
| Num AFPoints: | 9 |
| Valid AFPoints: | 9 |
| AFArea Width: | 78 |
| AFArea Height: | 78 |
| Original Decision Data Offset: | 0 |
| File Number: | 126-4814 |
| Bracket Mode: | Off |
| Bracket Value: | 0 |
| Bracket Shot Number: | 0 |
| Noise Reduction: | Off |
| WBBracket Mode: | Off |
| WBBracket Value AB: | 0 |
| WBBracket Value GM: | 0 |
| Filter Effect: | None |
| Toning Effect: | None |
| Lens Model: | EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 |
| Internal Serial Number: | H1858035 |
| Dust Removal Data: | (Binary data 1024 bytes, use -b option to extract) |
| Tone Curve: | Standard |
| Sharpness Frequency: | n/a |
| Sensor Red Level: | 0 |
| Sensor Blue Level: | 0 |
| White Balance Red: | 0 |
| White Balance Blue: | 0 |
| Color Temperature: | 5200 |
| Picture Style: | Faithful |
| Digital Gain: | 0 |
| WBShift AB: | 0 |
| WBShift GM: | 0 |
| Color Space: | sRGB |
| VRDOffset: | 0 |
| Sensor Width: | 3948 (52-3939 used) |
| Sensor Height: | 2622 (23-2614 used) |
| Black Mask Left Border: | 0 |
| Black Mask Top Border: | 0 |
| Black Mask Right Border: | 0 |
| Black Mask Bottom Border: | 0 |
| White Balance RGGB Levels: | 2461 1024 1024 1382 |
| Color Temperature: | 6000 |
| WB_ RGGBLevels Measured: | 2151 1023 1024 1785 |
| Color Temp Measured: | 4512 |
| WB_ RGGBLevels Custom: | 1910 1024 1024 1594 |
| Color Temp Custom: | 4535 |
| Set Button Cross Keys Func: | Set: Picture Style |
| Long Exposure Noise Reduction: | Off |
| Flash Sync Speed Av: | Auto |
| Shutter- AELock: | AF/AE lock |
| AFAssist Beam: | Emits |
| Exposure Level Increments: | 1/3 Stop |
| Mirror Lockup: | Disable |
| ETTLII: | Evaluative |
| Shutter Curtain Sync: | 1st-curtain sync |
| Magnified View: | Image playback only |
| LCDDisplay At Power On: | Display |
| Compression: | JPEG (old-style) |
Be good,
-Dave
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2 Reply to "Ironclad Revisited"
Anonymous on June 26, 2009 at 7:54 PM
Hey, love the photos! I just happened to see an add in the July issue of White Dwarf (Page 15) that Games Workshop is looking for a photographer for their Book Production Team. It's not in Chicago, but it's a great time to take a couple of months on the other side of the pond for a job.
El Dave on June 30, 2009 at 7:10 PM
Oh wow, thanks for the heads up! I will have to track down the issue and see about getting my name in.
Thanks again!
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