How this was done:
In the "easiest" way possible I think - Larus, Steinar and I simply put the (rather largish) window into a car and drove off to the countryside for a shoot of the window and through the window.
Here at Geysir in Haukadalur Larus and Steinar held the window suspended in the air using a pair of string which I later cloned out. I borrowed Larus's 5D and used my own 17-40mm lens for the shot as it wasn't wide enough on my own 10D. I also used a polarizer to help fend off reflections from the window and to enhance the sky.
I just wish I had been slightly lower or closer to the window so the tourists heads hadn't been cut off.
Editing steps:
Converted and cropped using Adobe Camera RAW.
In Photoshop I first remeved the strings holding the window with the clone brush. I also had to clone Steinar's shoe and hand out. There was also a distracting reflection from my tripod in the window which I cloned out.
Color/constrast enhancements:
I simply used the automatic exposure, shadow etc. settings in Camera RAW for this shot and imported into Photoshop.
In Photoshop I first converted the image using the [url=//www.outbackphoto.com/workshop/photoshop_corner/essay_21/essay.html]Russel Brown method[/ur]. I then copied the bottom color layer to the top and changed the blend-mode to soft-light (this is a favorite method of mine and probably of many more). I also copied a 2nd layer version of the to the top and changed the blend-mode to color. I then messed a bit with the opacity of those layers.
I also applied two curves, one to increase the contrast by using soft-light blending and one in which I masked out everything but the sky and set blending mode to multiply to darken the sky a bit.
And finally after flattening the image I increased the local contrast by applying unsharp mask with radius 50 and 16 in amount.
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Ah, if only you had gotten the window slightly higher or gone slightly lower and had the heads of the people in the shot. Cool shot though, it´s masterfully held by whoever is holding up the window :)
Woah! one of the best in show...to bad all those ppl. have to be standing there watch/photographing...this is why all photographers should carry enough beer on them to attract people else where...lol (sorry slap happy mood).
great shadow impressive image nice sky tones also, post prossess blends well.
This has a surreal sense with the floating window. I like it very much. The shadow it's casting, and the people behind it create white an interesting vignette. Nicely done. 8
Very interesting composition. I have no idea how you suspended the window (but I'd love to know). One minor improvement would be to have the lower panes fully enclose the people in the background instead of having their heads cut off by the wooden slat.
6, frame is a little light and clean when compared to the darker feel to the rest of the picture. I would like to see the heads of the gyeser watchers so maybe a lower camera angle would have been good. JMO
Clever. I would like to have seen the heads of the people. It would have added greater tension to the picture - a simultaneous feeling of detachment from people yet a yearning for a connection by the act of looking at them. .
Nice take on the challenge, not a great fan of the burnt sky but its ok, I do however like the surealism here and the fact that the window is closed, almost making it Private Veiwing, overall an interesting shot. I think though that if I had gone through so much trouble to set up a shot like this I would of taken the extra steps to maybe arrange the people into the frams so it didn't look so untidy. bottom left couple should be sitting or kneeling to get them whole in frame, and the lonesome figure far right is a tad distracting.. hope this helps -7-
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