Negative and Positive?

[smoke665]

I've done a few diorama sets in the past, though not as involved as this one. To begin, this was not created in AI. This was built on 24"x20" plywood base, with layers of Styrofoam to create the raised areas, and rocks from outside. The trees, landscape elements, etc. were supposed to be sized to correspond to the truck. Lighting was (5) 5k goose necks LEDs (I suspect that I could have used a couple more). Initial background was a black poster board. The mountains in the background were from a previous shot I did. This was a focus stack with 20 layers, shot with a 50mm @ f/1.4, to maintain DOF on the truck and rail fence, but create the OOF in the background, layers were aligned and blended in PS.

What my concerns are, there weren't many comments, when I posted this on a few sites, which makes me think there might be some problems with the shot. Just to be clear, I'm interested in comments, for the future, not edits of this image.
1. I'm happy with the image, but it seems to lack the drama I intended.
a. is it lighting???
b. the set?
c. the processing?
2. There are some proportion errors...are they noticeable?
3. Any other suggestions for layout, elements, etc.

christmas truck.jpg by William Raber, on Flickr

 

[Thiophilos]

It's nice! Nothing wrong with it. It looks like a model setup and it's well done. The colors work well. The truck is nicely isolated. Sometimes when a job is well done there is not much to say.

 

[snowbear]

I like it.

Maybe the lighting. I'd try dialing it down a little. I'd even try selective darkening the background a tiny bit, letting the truck "pop." I recall doing this in PS - duplicate layer ovet this and decrease exposure to darken it a little, then carefully erase the truck in the darkened layer.

 

[smoke665]

Sometimes when a job is well done there is not much to say.

Thanks for the comment, unfortunately there is a fine line between "well done" and the next level. There's just something not quite right with it, that needs improvement next time.

@snowbear

Maybe the lighting. I'd try dialing it down a little. Coincidentally lighting was an issue that bothered me, in the the effort to light it with low power LEDs, I think I ended up with flat lighting. I definitely need more highlight/shadow.

 

[zombiesniper]

I remember seeing your original post. I remember thinking it was a cool image. I wasn't sure of the context i.e. shop widow etc. not that this should matter.
I do remember thinking I liked the shot however there was something odd about it and now that I see it again I would agree that the lighting is at least part of it.

If the lighting were to mimic reality it would come from a single source above or off to one side. There are also a couple of shadows that make it look like they were not intended to be there. (Lower left third going 45deg to the right and foreground out of focus snow).

If the lighting wasn't to be solely based on a realistic depiction a spot/point source of light on the truck just enough to accent it may also help.

 

[SquarePeg]

Love the scene. I find the background pulling my eye. Maybe some selective lighting and sharpening on the truck? Even scrolling down a tiny bit to crop the very top of the mountain and the sliver of sky above it lets my eye settle on the subject instead of getting pulled up to that peak.

 

[webestang64]

Hmmmmm. Needs snow falling. Not a lot just enough to enhance the scene.

 

[smoke665]

I do remember thinking I liked the shot however there was something odd about it

That was me, something off. I've shot studio lights for so long, I think I just assumed it would be easy to set my ratios with continuous lights.....not so, it's very easy to end up with flat, uninteresting light. I believe the LEDs can be used, but I need to further research their placement.

I find the background pulling my eye.

Point taken, I got lazy. Instead of creating a background for the set, I used an image as a composite and trying to make it fit. Another error not mentioned was my point of view, I believe it was to low. Not visible in the image is the gravel road the truck is sitting on, and the stacked fence is barely visible, both would have added interest.

Needs snow falling

I agree, and I actually tried using artificial snow, but without the benefit of flash to stop action, it looked more like blurry white lines. Also tried creating a snow layer in PS, using different methods, but nothing really looked quite right. One of the glaring "proportion errors" in the image is the "size" of the snowflakes in the image, all the artificial snow I found was either powder or large flakes. DW said the snow flakes used looked more like snow boulders. LOL

 

[Rickbb]

Lightning, I’d add some spots on the truck, needs high lights and some clear shadows. My 2 cents anyway.

 

[zombiesniper]

I really should follow the title for a hint and provide the rest of what I thought about the image since all I really posted was something was odd.

OverallI really think this is a good image. It reminds me of a claymation scene I would have watched as a kid.

 

[smoke665]

Lightning, I’d add some spots on the truck, needs high lights and some clear shadows. My 2 cents anyway.

Thank you for commenting. The nondirectional lighting seems to be the issue for most.

I really should follow the title for a hint and provide the rest of what I thought about the image since all I really posted was something was odd.

OverallI really think this is a good image. It reminds me of a claymation scene I would have watched as a kid.

No problem , I'll take a hundred serious criticisms to one like any day. It's how we improve. Claymation, that's going back in time, given today's digital wizardy, I can't believe as kids we thought they were great. I need to show Lil'Bit one, get a modern day kids view?