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Archive 2022 · So Real It's Unreal

  
 
Peter Figen
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · So Real It's Unreal


gdanmitchell wrote:
A technically fascinating and very competent image. What photography of subjects like this is supposed to look like! Though I'm concerned that now I may have nightmares about being attacked by an army of these things...

Not related, but the title of the thread ("So Real It's Unreal") got me thinking that a certain genre of landscape photographs might warrant an inversion: "So Unreal It's Real!"

I'll close the door behind me on the way out... ;-)

Dan


I borrowed/stole that phrase from my musician friend Rick Chelew in Monterey when I posted this on FB. Rick gets all the credit, but I think for far too long photography in general has been accused of being too real or not real enough, when in fact, it's neither of the two. It all comes down to how we translate a three dimensional subject into a two dimensional medium, 3-D not withstanding.




Jul 01, 2022 at 12:16 PM
JWilsonphoto
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · So Real It's Unreal


Excellent as usual Peter! While I know you create these images just to push yourself, I've found corporations more than willing to part with large sums of cash for your brand of excellence. Yes, that tool sells for ten bucks, but they sell hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of them, pretty soon we're talking real money............ I own two of them, but your image makes me want to go buy another one.........


Jul 02, 2022 at 09:50 AM
JohnSil
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · So Real It's Unreal


WoW, beautiful shot and work! That focus is incredible seconded only by the lighting!! Great job!
John



Jul 04, 2022 at 02:54 PM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · So Real It's Unreal


JohnSil wrote:
WoW, beautiful shot and work! That focus is incredible seconded only by the lighting!! Great job!
John


Thanks John. Just keep trying to push the limits of what I've done in the past. The lighting was pretty simple - a Chimera small softbox, a sheet of Fomecore as a reflector and a small plexiglass mirror underneath on an articulated arm for the highlight from below. The background is entirely crafted after the fact.




Jul 04, 2022 at 05:46 PM
macwest
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · So Real It's Unreal


Great Work!


Jul 05, 2022 at 09:04 AM
rico
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · So Real It's Unreal


Awesome work, Peter, as always. Even though I'm a software engineer, the stacking methodology doesn't attract me. No question that stacking can render subjects in a way that stumps T/S. Of all the photogs around, I consider you the Master of Highlights. Am always scrutinizing those parts of your images.


Jul 05, 2022 at 01:40 PM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · So Real It's Unreal


rico wrote:
Awesome work, Peter, as always. Even though I'm a software engineer, the stacking methodology doesn't attract me. No question that stacking can render subjects in a way that stumps T/S. Of all the photogs around, I consider you the Master of Highlights. Am always scrutinizing those parts of your images.


Thanks Rico. Master of Highlights? I don't know about that but I'll take it. I just try and tell the story how I see it or feel it, and usually that means including highlight detail. I guess it is sort of a thing with me. More than anything the overall vibe has to be there. You should give Helicon a try sometime. It can be addictive.




Jul 05, 2022 at 02:54 PM
leonasj
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · So Real It's Unreal


same photo can make gfx50r+gf120?


Jul 05, 2022 at 03:52 PM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · So Real It's Unreal


leonasj wrote:
same photo can make gfx50r+gf120?


Could you? Well, yes, it'd be possible, I suppose, if you had the patience, the software and the Photoshop chops. But actually, the Fuji macro is a 1:2 half sized macro and this was closer than that, a bit closer than 1/3rd life size, so you'd never get the optimal image quality with the Fuji and if you used an extension tube that would further lower the image optimization of the lens for the distance by putting the floating elements in less than the most optimal position.

So the short answer is a qualified yes, but more like a maybe. It was a very complicated shot to do, and as I said earlier, it was 248 individual focus slices, all processed from the Fuji raw files into 16 bit per channel tiffs and compiled in a combination of Capture One, Helicon Focus and Photoshop.




Jul 05, 2022 at 04:13 PM
elwappo99
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · So Real It's Unreal


Great composite! Real question is how long did it take for the computer to stack that many exposure


Jul 05, 2022 at 04:23 PM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · So Real It's Unreal


elwappo99 wrote:
Great composite! Real question is how long did it take for the computer to stack that many exposure


I didn't try and stack them all in one shot. I did seven sub stacks each of about thirty or so images at a time and each of those took maybe 30-40 minutes on a five year old iMac. Then those seven sub stacks would not blend in Helicon without double images, so I blended those manually in Photoshop, which probably took an hour or hour and a half. Then the real fun began. Lots of hours of that I call fun but what some call drudgery.




Jul 05, 2022 at 05:13 PM
elwappo99
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · So Real It's Unreal


Peter Figen wrote:
I didn't try and stack them all in one shot. I did seven sub stacks each of about thirty or so images at a time and each of those took maybe 30-40 minutes on a five year old iMac. Then those seven sub stacks would not blend in Helicon without double images, so I blended those manually in Photoshop, which probably took an hour or hour and a half. Then the real fun began. Lots of hours of that I call fun but what some call drudgery.



I think I'd go for drudgery. Would be fun for the first 15 minutes or so for me



Jul 05, 2022 at 05:26 PM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · So Real It's Unreal


elwappo99 wrote:
I think I'd go for drudgery. Would be fun for the first 15 minutes or so for me


It gets to be sort of a zen thing for me. It's not for everybody. Almost like a puzzle.




Jul 05, 2022 at 06:33 PM
butlerkid
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · So Real It's Unreal


Truly an impressive image! Well worth the time to figure it all out!


Jul 06, 2022 at 07:18 AM
jpto
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · So Real It's Unreal


Excellent image and lighting!


Jul 06, 2022 at 02:26 PM
keepclicking
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · So Real It's Unreal


Peter, truly an amazing piece of work. Commend your patience and skills. You definitely brought the old tool to life! Great work as usual👍🏻


Jul 07, 2022 at 10:05 AM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · So Real It's Unreal


keepclicking wrote:
Peter, truly an amazing piece of work. Commend your patience and skills. You definitely brought the old tool to life! Great work as usual👍🏻


Parul - That's a brand new pair of vice grip wire cutters. Going to Lowes soon to see what they have that might be fun. Stay tuned.




Jul 07, 2022 at 11:55 AM
airfrogusmc
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · So Real It's Unreal


Peter this is as good as table top commercial work gets period. Dean Collins couldn't have done it any better.


Jul 07, 2022 at 11:59 AM
Peter Figen
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · So Real It's Unreal


airfrogusmc wrote:
Peter this is as good as table top commercial work gets period. Dean Collins couldn't have done it any better.


That's so nice of you to say, although Dean, in his day, did not have to tools we have today. I hope each generation keeps pushing the boundaries.




Jul 07, 2022 at 12:20 PM
airfrogusmc
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · So Real It's Unreal


I'll bet you large format table top stuff was really exceptional to. You portraits sure are.


Jul 07, 2022 at 12:42 PM
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