Jim Lind Photo

While it may not come as a surprise to those that know me, I happen to be big technology “geek.” I thank my older brothers for that lovely trait. Ever since the Windows 95 Dell PC my family bought in (you guessed it) ’95, I’ve been hooked. Luckily since than I’ve moved on to bigger and better things-cough*Apple*cough-as that is the way technology rolls. My latest assignment was to create a print ad for the iPod while applying what I know with studio lighting equipment. After 2 long days of tricky lighting situations, broken wires, spilled wine glasses, upset stomach (Mexican food), and digital back failures I was able to finish my piece. And yes everything you see was done in studio with camera “trickery” and some slight composting. Which brings me to why I initially felt compelled to write this post…

Since I was in the studio from opening to a few hours before closing, I was able to hear what other student’s had to say while they were working. Unfortunately, the one phrase I heard more than any other was “Oh, I’ll just Photoshop it later…” Now I understand the power and appeal of Adobe’s Photoshop and have never condoned its place in photography BUT never have I used it as a substitution for hard work behind and in front of the camera. I composite images when it is an impossibility to capture on sensor/film or that my budget (which flat lines at a constant zero) can’t afford it. I often have no problem when it is used to achieve a conceptual goal (when done right) but not to counter sloppiness on set. And even then I would prefer not to use the computer to “create” imagery. That said, I had numerous people approach me saying “is that Photoshopped?” As much as I want to say that’s an irrelevant question I bite my tongue and explain how I achieved it and the reason why I didn’t composite everything. Here’s one of the setup’s…

My initial idea was to wire the glasses to form an inverted triangle. If anyone has ever tried this they know how difficult this is to accomplish without several assistants and ugly wire cutting into the frame. After my whole set fell apart, I went back to the drawing board and decided to shoot the glasses on the tightrope, but inverted. Then I photographed the glasses right side up with the colored water inside. It was done in stages, so that the interaction and reflections between other glasses were minimized. The color in the water is enhanced when placed to another glass, which is why I couldn’t just photograph one glass and duplicate it in post. It’s the subtleties in any photo that make it realistic (such as the changes in perspective or multiple reflections). Then I just overlay the two images, put in a shot of me holding the iPod Touch with the iHandy Level app, and add some copywriting.