Behind the Shot: The Warrior
And a Featured Android App:
Photo Studio Buddy
This is a shot of my latest studio session featuring model Liz Manalo. Aside from an excellent model, some cool props and a good composition, the shot features some killer lighting. Knowing about the lighting setup is the key to getting behind the shot.
When it comes to lighting diagrams there are the cocktail napkin variety and the new tech. I have watched as many photographers, thinking of Flying with Fish and Rick Sammon’s recent blog entries, have been touting various photo-related apps for the I-phone. I am not part of that group, being more loyal to my mobile carrier’s network strength than the gadget by which I access it.
So my readers, I am featuring an Android App today that runs on my Motorola Droid. The App is called Photo Studio Buddy from PixVision Software.
Photo Studio Buddy allows you to build a lighting diagram on your Android-based phone and share it with others via standard social networking sites or email. There seems to be a generous listing of standard studio equipment and the interface is reasonably easy to use. I still don’t have the hang of rotation, however.
The App has a “lite” version available but I went for the paid version, which is currently $5.99 from the Android App Store. I think it is well worth the price for the easy of building a diagram on the fly and getting it to potential clients, staff, and for teaching uses such as this.
The entire point of the app is to create diagrams that show you what happened behind the shot-which, after all, is the point of this feature. Aside from some tweaking, the diagram says it all. It outlines the setup of the lighting, the relative power, and the in-camera settings. Conversion and initial processing were done in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom with final retouching performed in a standard pixel-based editor (including a little content-aware anti-cropping to add some room beyond the sword point). Find out more about anti-cropping by visiting the Holy Crop! blog.
You can purchase your own signed print of “The Warrior” by clicking the button below. The print 8×16 inches and the $39.95 introductory pricing does include shipping to US and Canada customers.
Rikk Flohr © 2010
