Before I get into the discussion on Lighting Boot Camp Assignment #6, I want to give a heartfelt thank you for everyone who participated in this first-of-its-kind event.
You all have done some amazing things as a group in the past three months. If you do not believe me, take a look at the Headshot Assignment results and scroll right through to the takes from the subsequent assignments.
I spent far more time choosing the photos to bump up to the main site on this final effort. Both because the stakes were a little higher and because the work had much more quality and depth.
I hope the CD covers showcased here speak for themselves. But I will also post my thoughts on why they stood out at me and how I reacted to them.
As for the final selection, suffice to say that the choice was very, very difficult.
I had it down to three or four for a long time, and finally chose the one that I would have been happiest to turn in to a creative director had I been given the assignment.
Before I get to the final choices, I would like to acknowledge Chris Garrett, of
DSLRBlog.com, for being such a good sport about accepting my challenge and going through his shooting process in such an open way.
That's not an easy thing to do when you are just learning new skills. Chris is to be commended for his tenacity and creativity.
So, without further ado:
The Finalists
This is one of the more interesting photos I have seen in a long time.
In reading the comments, it is clear that the photographer had zero idea that flash capacitors are routinely step-up charged to
300 volts DC. Neat photo, but it also could have been a grisly scene for the paramedics to come upon.
I could not really equate it to a music CD in my mind, but it certainly commanded my attention.
This was an absolutely wonderful photograph with which to launch a career.
It is beautiful in its simplicity and makes me want to hear her perform.
I was not judging typography, but I would like to see the wording done in a way that did not blend in with the hair so much.
But that is a minor and correctable issue on a such a stunning photo.
At the other end of the tonal scale is this effort, in which the photographer had the courage to compress the entire tonal range downward. Lighting control gives you the ability to make a choice like this without it looking like a mistake.
Celebrity portraitist Annie Leibovitz uses the technique to great effect. Very nice.
Similarly, this photo gives me the feeling that the photographer had command of the rules (with respect to tonality) but chose to break them.
Simple, understated, and with a "look." The lighting, expression and body attitude combine for a strong package.
The photographer produced this photo almost immediately after the assignment was given. It was as if he read it, and walked over to a corner to set up and shoot.
It is a testament to the overall look that I first actually thought he cheated and snapped a copy shot of a CD. I even googled the band name to check him out.
His outtakes proved without a doubt that it was his hasty - yet high quality - work.
I could
so see this in a record store.
Technique. Tonal scale. Simplicity. Attitude - this one has it all. A slight rim light coming from far back camera left would have made it even better, with a controllable three-dimensionality to the image.
Ditto this low-key effort, which combines clean with depth - not an easy thing to do.
This looked like an album cover from the 70's, and offered the viewer a great connection with the musician. The lighting was elegant, too, with the glasses' reflection having been totally controlled without forcing the lighting angles.
Not quite sure how he did it. But nice.
And finally, the two I agonized over for the final selection.
Runner-up by only the slightest of margins was this warm-toned rocker cover shot.
It had composition, light, energetic stray light and the feeling that the artist was transcending the shooting session and lost in his music.
I would be very happy to have my name on this album as a photo credit. It is edgy in a controlled way - a hard target to hit.
And finally:
This is the one that would not leave me.
I could remember in my mind it a week after I saw it.
It's a one-of-a-kind photo that both reveals and conceals. It is at once literal and conceptual.
The lighting is simple - a speedlight fired into a ceiling and wall. This gave both the shadowed, textured lighting on the face and the smooth gradient on the background. Nice double duty.
A self-portrait that is not camera conscious - the subject is at once intimate and yet unapproachable.
This photo strikes a balance in so many ways, and yet there is very little there in the way of actual subject matter.
So, as I closed the photo windows from the Flickr finalists one-by-one, this is the last picture that remained.
Kim, if you would please send me your full mailing address via your Flickr account, I will be happy to send the Collins DVD's to you.
Congrats.
Again, thanks to all who participated for such a strong effort. I hope you found the process as enjoyable and as much of a learning experience as I did.
Finally, I would like to thank
Midwest Photo Exchange for sponsoring the Lighting Boot Camp.
It was a real hoot.
If you are like me, you want to experiment with specialized lighting techniques. But those "looks" sometimes remain specialized because of the cost associated with the gear.
There's not much to it, technique-wise. Just stick someone up against a colored wall and nuke away. 
Click here for a more readable version of these instructions, and you'll be on your way to building one for yourself.
