As summer vacation is winding down, my kids were looking for something to do, so we decided to set up the studio and play.
They came up with lots of ideas for illusions...my daughter as a flower fairy in a giant garden, my son playing Jack in the beanstalk with a giant hand reaching for him...but then they decided that pounding each other's tiny figure would be the most fun. They took turns being the pounder. As kids can be impatient I really didn't get many shots. This pic just happened to have the hand in just the right spot. There were others with better expressions and the one's were my daughter was the pounder seemed more ironic but the illusion wasn't as good in those.
My first reaction to this challenge was - why - illusions can be done so easily in photoshop, but it turned out to be a great lesson in focal length and lighting. Set up was a wide angle lens, a couple of strobes, and some black fabric My daugther was squatting on a bench covered in the fabric, at the far end of the room. I used a softbox to illuminate her. My son rested his arm on a table covered in fabric just in front of the camera. I illuminated him separately with a strobe w/umbrella. Focal length was 16 mm, aperature was set as 20, I really had to turn up the lights.
I didn't have to do too much post processing. Made a few adjustments in raw, cropped, burned a couple of lighter spots on the black background, and did a small amount of cloning where you could see the edge of the softbox. Resized, sharpened, and saved for web.
My kids think this will win first prize, but I know better, I hope you like our illusion as much as we do. No matter what the score, this challenge was great fun.
Post challenge:
My kids are so happy that you liked our picture (me too!) I'm totally surprised. Had I realized that this would receive so much attention, I would have paid closer attention to the details (like the green wrist band). Thank you!
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 127 Avg (all users): 7.3906 Avg (commenters): 8.3492 Avg (participants): 7.0698 Avg (non-participants): 7.5213 Views since voting: 16879 Views during voting: 804 Votes: 297 Comments: 102 Favorites: 24 (view)
I like the green wristband. It puts some attention to big brother whose eyes are closed. Probably the band would have detracted if brother's eyes were open, but not in this case. A stunning image, congrats to all of you and thanks for sharing.
- I like the technical aspects of the shot, the setup, lighting, focus, etc.
- I love the wide angle view which gives the boy a huge presence.
- I like the lack of distracting elements (solid color shirt, clean look, etc).
What I liked less:
- Purely on the illusion aspect, I didn't like the lighting on the girl (already mentioned) but that's no biggie.
- Also as part of the illusion, I didn't like the lack of interaction the girl has with the boy. Why is she looking at the camera and making that gesture instead of looking up at the fist and trying to protect herself?
- I don't like the black background. It takes away from the illusion, IMO although it does help keep everything clean.
Congrats on your first ribbon, and a blue one. The kids were so right!!
It did do well, thanks for sharing how you set it up, and well done it's a great shot.
This photo is sooo perfect. What a wonderful capture; and as far as the green wristband - it's just a sign of our times. I would not have changed a thing! Congrats!!!
If this is a perspective shot, it's one of the best I've seen in a while. If the little girl is a cut out which I'm leaning towards thinking, then you got the lighting wrong on the little girl. Her hightlights and shadows don't match the highlights and shadows of the boy! Nice illusion though and it's nice to see decent lighting in a set up shot for a change.
TC
I remember a shot like this from the first illusions challenge. I like the lighting in this one. I think you did a good job. the shadows add to it in my opinion. Focus and clarity of both the brother and sister are really good and the expressions on both their faces are great. overall really great shot for the challenge, pleasing to look at and quite funny. great shot. ~Heather~
HAHAHA, cool.
very nice lighting and use of percpective. The girl's face (mostly her eyes) are a tad unconvincing (it looks like she's yawning and about to fall asleep ;-)) but besides that nitpic, I really hope this finishes top 5 atleast...
fantastic shot, lighting is great and so is the shot set-up. the kids look like they are having a blast helping you and the results should be a treasure for them in years to come
I think that this is my favoritwe of the challenge.
It works on so many levels.
Great shot and it fooled me (for a while)
Werll done
good luck i would like to see this win
if this is not in the top of the top 3 it will be a shame.....
i'm really really looking forward to reading how in the world u made this happen.
if i had to grip which i don't but of corse it is human kinds nature i would just say that the green rist band the kid is wheiring, why?...thats it just want to know why u didn't have him take it off? i think but i'm not sure the image would be more dynamic with out it and it would be a little bit cleaner....
but i'm splitting atoms at this point and i don't need to go any finer in detail u have a great shot here i hope it gets the placement it deserves.....good luck
Although I have seen the concept before, this is done the best. The relative size of the two is right on, as is the position, and expressions. Nice lighting, just well done. 10
What a wonderful photo! The kids must have had a blast helping you out! I've seen this sort of example in the "tutorial" section but your photo seems even harder to create since the background is all black and the girl is actually equally lit compared to the boy...
The expression on their faces is priceless and the set up perfect! great lighting, composition and execution! I hope you finish high up!!
(The only tiny thing I might have changed is his bracelet which distracts a bit from their faces...)
oh and the squarish crop works well here!
Really nicely done. No distracting reflections on the surface of the print of the miniature child and positioned at the right angle to the camera for the illusion to
work quite well. Direction of light compared with that on main model makes it a bit strange but still works. Strength is also in the composition of the full-size child within the frame - the close crop losing top and side of his head lends an intimacy. His concentration on the hand seems so real. Nice one!
EDIT after reading your methods: No wonder the "print out" looked SOOO good - wasn't a print out at all. Explains the different lighting angles too! Very clever!
Seen this idea so many times... still, well executed and composed. The black background really helps make this one better than the other similar entries.
see, this is a great example of an illusion, but on dpc, this wont win because its not someting anyone els but you would print it out and hang it on the wall.
I would love to see this picture win, it is a TRUE example of an Illusion and that is what the rest of these picutures are lacking,
clever idea and well executed! lighting and composition are great.
i hate to sound nitpicky, but the bracelet seems like an unnecessary distraction in the shot.
Cute shot! If this falls inside the rules, then you executed this very well (I can't tell which would be a cardboard cutout or how far back she would have to be).
Absolutely great illusion using the black bacground. Lighting is superb. I really like the expressions on the kid's faces. Big brothers can be such a bother! :-) 10
BIG brother!
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