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Mark Hamilton
{K:8387} 11/7/2004
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Hi Kevin
Thanks for your comments and the link to the site regarding lensbaby's. I am certainly interested in hunting one down.
The effects I created in the Tokanui series was all done in PS. I will try and to give you a quick run down of my process without being too long winded.
The images I make are often a direct response towards my feelings and reactions to the subject that I am photographing so my intial print or proof is my blank canvas to which I add those responses.
For the Tokanui series I wanted the images to be dark as the hospital had a very foreboding presence. I muted the colours by making the image a dark sepia tone on a seperate layer I would then lower the opacity of this layer by about 60% so i would have the original coloured layer showing through with having the appearence of being much more muted colours.
I would then study the shadow & highlight areas of the image and enhance these using curves adjustment layers which I believe gives the images more depth.
I then will add a gaussian blur on a seperate layer and remove parts I don't want with a layer mask. I may also add grain and a vignette with a layers adjustment curve.
I have attached a before and after shot to give you an idea of the process.
Cheers Mark
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Mark Tate
{K:1151} 11/3/2004
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gorgeous one, mark! impressive mood
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Mark Hamilton
{K:8387} 10/31/2004
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Hi Kym
Yeah they are clear pastic bags. I have used new and used bags though I find the used bags tend to suffer even more from low contrast. Checked out lensbaby.com thanks for that I think I may have to purchase one.
Mark
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Kym Skiles
{K:1520} 10/31/2004
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Hi Mark, are you using a clear plastic bag? (I'm assuming so, just want to clarify). It's interesting that you made the comment about low contrast, I tend to have the same problem when I shoot with my Holga's. Must be something about the light loss and refraction when shooting through plastic bags or lenses.
For lensbabies, you can go straight to the source at http://www.lensbabies.com, I'm slowly working on a series using that lens..you can see one of the images here: http://www.usefilm.com/image/568492.html
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Kevin Collier
{K:19076} 10/30/2004
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Mark, here is a link to Freestyle Photo - they have the lensbaby - I have bought from them for many years, in person when I lived in LA and on line since I moved...great series - looking foreward to more - now that we know the tecnique that you used here - how did you creaet the beatiful color and focus effects in your hospital series??
Here's the link --
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/sc_prod.php?cat_id=&pid=1000000172
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Mark Hamilton
{K:8387} 10/30/2004
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Hi Kym
Thanks for your comments. I have posted another plastic bag image from my Te Puru series. As this is recent work I am still trying to refine it so I don't have a great deal to show. I find the images need a bit of tweaking as they tend to have really low contrast. The results also vary alot depending how you use the plastic bag. Holding it tight over a lens hood produces stronger images while placing the bag loosley over the lens results in much softer images. From what I have achieved so far it seems that simple graphic subjects work the best.
I have just shot some portraits using colour film this time but still have to have them processed so I'm looking forward to seeing them.
I would love to get my hands on a lensbaby but no one here knows anything about them. Are they easy to source in the states?
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Kym Skiles
{K:1520} 10/30/2004
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Mark, wow, now I'm going to have to try your plastic bag trick. I'm a big fan of experimentation and I love toy camera/lensbaby/pinhole photography the best, it'll be fun to add something new to the mix. Do you have more?
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