150. Hello Dali - April 24-30, 2016
Byron-
I did a search for Dali images, both paintings and photos. I ran across a documentary that was very interesting. When a movie camera was on him, he would always wear a mask or costume of some sort and put himself in an unusual situation. He was a big fan of Alice Cooper. He really enjoyed the stage show they did. I decided to take a mundane object but put unexpected items with it. I also needed an unusual person overseeing the situation. Here is my submission-
ISO 100, f8, 1/60 sec, light through a softbox from the side.
I did a search for Dali images, both paintings and photos. I ran across a documentary that was very interesting. When a movie camera was on him, he would always wear a mask or costume of some sort and put himself in an unusual situation. He was a big fan of Alice Cooper. He really enjoyed the stage show they did. I decided to take a mundane object but put unexpected items with it. I also needed an unusual person overseeing the situation. Here is my submission-
ISO 100, f8, 1/60 sec, light through a softbox from the side.
Deron-
This topic was a hard one and unfortunately (or fortunately), I pretty busy this week with work. What extra time I had, I ended up making a Gatorade gourd and a 7UP gourd to go with a previous WPOTM prop, Coca-Cola gourd. Shooting those three together wasn't enough, so I put my purple burro on stilts (Dali used elephants). Nope, still no good. I ended throwing in a bunch of stuff I had in the house; my Nacho Libre Bicycle Warrior, Mohawk Head (a sculpture I did in high school), Chewy Egg, a papermache' fish I received as a gift and finally, my 'No Stopping Anytime' painting. I used the Nikon, but with my limited time this week and upcoming weekend, I... Umm, used the camera on my phone for this shot (no 'net at home).
This topic was a hard one and unfortunately (or fortunately), I pretty busy this week with work. What extra time I had, I ended up making a Gatorade gourd and a 7UP gourd to go with a previous WPOTM prop, Coca-Cola gourd. Shooting those three together wasn't enough, so I put my purple burro on stilts (Dali used elephants). Nope, still no good. I ended throwing in a bunch of stuff I had in the house; my Nacho Libre Bicycle Warrior, Mohawk Head (a sculpture I did in high school), Chewy Egg, a papermache' fish I received as a gift and finally, my 'No Stopping Anytime' painting. I used the Nikon, but with my limited time this week and upcoming weekend, I... Umm, used the camera on my phone for this shot (no 'net at home).
Kevin-
I’m not certain if this is a WPOTM effort or a science effort gone wrong. I am leaning toward the latter.
When I think of Salvador Dali, the images that immediately spring to mind are the paintings he created of watches and clocks, drooped, draped, melted and not flat in nearly every imaginable way. The most well known of these is probably The Persistence of Memory. But I have always been drawn to Soft Watch at the Moment of First Explosion and it’s the image I wanted to interpret, as my own.
But how? And what would I melt. Obviously one can’t actually melt a pocket watch. And warping something in Photoshop is a WPOTM no-no. But then I thought, a Pepsi bottle should melt easily!
Wrong! Okay, I figured it would probably only take a hair dryer to warp a bottle. Nope. I didn’t want to put it in the oven, as who knows what kind of toxic smells would come out of the softening plastic. But the gas grill is outdoors. I went to a Dollar Store and bought a throw-away baking sheet, emptied a Pepsi bottle and fired up the grill. I expected the plastic to soften after which I would lift one end with tongs and hold it while it cooled. I closed the grill cover, gave it 30 seconds and the barely lifted the cover again. Hmmm, not much yet. So I did it again, and again, and again and again. But the bottle never became flat like I expected it to. Finally I turn the grill off and really opened the cover to discover that rather than melting, the bottle had shrunk! Yet there was the logo, still mostly intact.
I tried a couple of other ideas to warp the bottle, but none of them worked. Still I used the now tiny bottle in my WPOTM image. I found a block of wood to serve as the surface, a blue card to be the sky behind, a jagged rock to serve as the cliffs and a can of air spray, held upside down to create the cloud behind and hopefully did a pretty decent job of reproducing the lighting of Dali's 1956 painting.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. Three studio lights. 105mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens. ISO 100, f/16 at 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
I’m not certain if this is a WPOTM effort or a science effort gone wrong. I am leaning toward the latter.
When I think of Salvador Dali, the images that immediately spring to mind are the paintings he created of watches and clocks, drooped, draped, melted and not flat in nearly every imaginable way. The most well known of these is probably The Persistence of Memory. But I have always been drawn to Soft Watch at the Moment of First Explosion and it’s the image I wanted to interpret, as my own.
But how? And what would I melt. Obviously one can’t actually melt a pocket watch. And warping something in Photoshop is a WPOTM no-no. But then I thought, a Pepsi bottle should melt easily!
Wrong! Okay, I figured it would probably only take a hair dryer to warp a bottle. Nope. I didn’t want to put it in the oven, as who knows what kind of toxic smells would come out of the softening plastic. But the gas grill is outdoors. I went to a Dollar Store and bought a throw-away baking sheet, emptied a Pepsi bottle and fired up the grill. I expected the plastic to soften after which I would lift one end with tongs and hold it while it cooled. I closed the grill cover, gave it 30 seconds and the barely lifted the cover again. Hmmm, not much yet. So I did it again, and again, and again and again. But the bottle never became flat like I expected it to. Finally I turn the grill off and really opened the cover to discover that rather than melting, the bottle had shrunk! Yet there was the logo, still mostly intact.
I tried a couple of other ideas to warp the bottle, but none of them worked. Still I used the now tiny bottle in my WPOTM image. I found a block of wood to serve as the surface, a blue card to be the sky behind, a jagged rock to serve as the cliffs and a can of air spray, held upside down to create the cloud behind and hopefully did a pretty decent job of reproducing the lighting of Dali's 1956 painting.
Nikon D4s, tripod mounted. Three studio lights. 105mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens. ISO 100, f/16 at 1/250th of a second (flash sync).
Paul-
Hello Dali, huh? A toughie. I‘ve come to think of him as both a descendent of Hieronymus Bosch and an inspiration for H.R. Giger. You know, one of those painters loved by high-brow folks who like to stand a back from canvases at SoHo galleries, pose as though deep in thought, and nibble a bit artisanal goat cheese to complement their Merlot.
This theme had my stymied. I haven’t felt this way since my ignominious submission for “Petrichor.” (Year 1, week 22.)
So let’s just say I had no real idea of what I was trying to pull off. And trust me…I tried to emulate Salvador Dali. Do you know how hard it is to get local authorities’ consent to set a herd of giraffes on fire so you can photograph them? Or try and melt a huge clock face with an acetylene touch?
(Painting) by the numbers: 18-55mm lens set at 18mm; aperture priority; ISO 800; center-weighted average, 1/4 sec. at f/22. Two lights set directly above the light tent. The camera was tripod-mounted.
Hello Dali, huh? A toughie. I‘ve come to think of him as both a descendent of Hieronymus Bosch and an inspiration for H.R. Giger. You know, one of those painters loved by high-brow folks who like to stand a back from canvases at SoHo galleries, pose as though deep in thought, and nibble a bit artisanal goat cheese to complement their Merlot.
This theme had my stymied. I haven’t felt this way since my ignominious submission for “Petrichor.” (Year 1, week 22.)
So let’s just say I had no real idea of what I was trying to pull off. And trust me…I tried to emulate Salvador Dali. Do you know how hard it is to get local authorities’ consent to set a herd of giraffes on fire so you can photograph them? Or try and melt a huge clock face with an acetylene touch?
(Painting) by the numbers: 18-55mm lens set at 18mm; aperture priority; ISO 800; center-weighted average, 1/4 sec. at f/22. Two lights set directly above the light tent. The camera was tripod-mounted.
Jerry-
I kept my Dali-esque photo very simple, using some bright white plastic ware and a snappy red paper plate for a background. I used my old Wagner hot air gun (useful for removing floor tile) to warp the fork and knife into some twisted shapes. Everything was placed on a chair in the garage where the South facing door was wide open to provide my sophisticated yet subdued lighting.
Nikon D750 with 105mm Micro Nikkor, 1/250 @ f22, ISO 1600.
I kept my Dali-esque photo very simple, using some bright white plastic ware and a snappy red paper plate for a background. I used my old Wagner hot air gun (useful for removing floor tile) to warp the fork and knife into some twisted shapes. Everything was placed on a chair in the garage where the South facing door was wide open to provide my sophisticated yet subdued lighting.
Nikon D750 with 105mm Micro Nikkor, 1/250 @ f22, ISO 1600.
Don-
I will first say that this is an artist that I dislike. I care
not for his art of for him, hence the lack of enthusiasm.
If one must try to replicate the concept of his art I believe
that this mans art lends itself to photographs with Photoshop
alterations. I gave it a truly half-hearted attempt and shot
some pics. No, that's no true, I looked and looked and did
a bunch of pics and I chose this.
Then I did this to it with f/22 @ 1/13 sec in and ISO of 100.
Pulled the zoom in to get the effect I wanted.
I will first say that this is an artist that I dislike. I care
not for his art of for him, hence the lack of enthusiasm.
If one must try to replicate the concept of his art I believe
that this mans art lends itself to photographs with Photoshop
alterations. I gave it a truly half-hearted attempt and shot
some pics. No, that's no true, I looked and looked and did
a bunch of pics and I chose this.
Then I did this to it with f/22 @ 1/13 sec in and ISO of 100.
Pulled the zoom in to get the effect I wanted.