El Dave Photography

Since my last post, I've been stuck in a bit of a creative slump. Apparently, not being able to take a picture of a Frankenmonkey really knocked the wind out of my sails and I've been extremely dissatisfied with all the shots I've taken in the days since. Thankfully, Loki came along and saved me from a nasty case of Photographer's Block!

When I first set this one up, I wanted to go for Conan-esque scene, where Loki sat slumped on Odin's throne. Due to the figure's front and back loincloth, that didn't quite work out, so I had to try something different. While reposing him (and fighting with that freaking loincloth all over again), it struck me how much he really just looked like a toy. I mean, more than he already does. His joints are really obvious, his hands are twisted in the kung fu grip and, overall, he just doesn't have that much of a range of motion. I couldn't pose him in anything close to what I imagined without it looking like he was punching himself in the face!

With that revelation came the solution. If he's going to look like a toy regardless, why not shoot him like a toy? Having recently visited the House on the Rock, I tried to recreate the penny arcade clockwork machines they have on display. You put the coin in and the puppets do their little movements to a short music clip? I'm sure you've seen them? Go ask your grandparents, they'll know.

I moved the tripod down and shifted to the right to capture Loki at an odd angle where his obvious toyness would be accentuated. I hid his joints as best I could by only using two tea light candles for lighting and moving them towards the front of the figure so his back (and many joints) would be in shadow. All that was left was to play around with the aperture to get the light how I wanted and snap off the shot. Cleanup in Photoshop was just a simple contrast and highlight job, add the vignette, and upload to Flickr.

Insert coin for EXIF Data:

Camera:	Fujifilm FinePixS2Pro
Exposure:	0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture:	f/1.8
Focal Length:	50 mm
ISO Speed:	100
Exposure Bias:	-1 EV

Orientation:	Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution:	72 dpi
Y-Resolution:	72 dpi
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows
Date and Time:	2008:01:13 11:29:09
Tag::TIFF::0x882A:	-6, -6
Exposure Program:	Shutter priority
Date and Time (Original):	2008:01:13 10:41:31
Date and Time (Digitized):	2008:01:13 10:41:31
Shutter Speed:	3/1
Brightness:	-366/100
Metering Mode:	Center Weighted Average
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Focal Plane X-Resolution:	630 dpc
Focal Plane Y-Resolution:	630 dpc
Sensing Method:	One-chip colour area sensor
Exposure Mode:	Auto bracket
Focal Length In 35mm Film:	75
Saturation:	High saturation
Compression:	JPEG
Image Width:	2024 pixels
Image Height:	3024 pixels

Be good,
-Dave

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