POTM [09/07] Body Technology

[Hwulex]

For me this is a compromise of a shot due to lack of resources this month. Ideally I needed a model to work with, and preferably someone like my brother who's in better shape than me. He was home for a week recently on his way back to South Africa from the triathlon world champs but we just didn't have the time to do anything like this.

My original idea didn't feature the bike either, more of just a toned form displaying contrast across a muscular physique. I was thinking something along the lines of these marketing shots from X-Socks (briefly when page loads or downloadable as wallpaper), only perhaps not quite that good (or explicit).

Well it's late now and I must rest.

[ajack]

Really great shot, the lighting is fantastic. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the crop, I think it's just a little too tight. I'd have maybe been tempted to crop out the top of the leg to cut out the bend. B&W conversion is cracking though and it's a good take on the theme for sure.

[Mother-Goose]

Another interesting take on technology, I love the colours (I know it sounds moronic being that it is black and white lol) the shades and shadow work really well!

[Hwulex]

Thanks for the comments. I would have preferred a wider angle, and in fact this is a crop, but I couldn't get enough uniform dark background to make it work. I started getting nasty bits in the frame which would have resulted in a whole load of cloning, of which I don't like to do too much.

Lighting wise I'm quite pleased, though there should be a little more detail to the right hand side. In a couple of later shots I added a reflector in front of my leg to highlight the front of the shoe and remove the pure black shadow on teh crank arm but I lost too much definition in the muscle and it was getting too late to keep fiddling.

[unrealhippie]

That taken on a turbo trainer then?

[Mother-Goose]

Originally Posted by Hwulex

Lighting wise I'm quite pleased, though there should be a little more detail to the right hand side. In a couple of later shots I added a reflector in front of my leg to highlight the front of the shoe and remove the pure black shadow on teh crank arm but I lost too much definition in the muscle and it was getting too late to keep fiddling.

I can see why you would have liked to have done that, I don't think it should detract from the image as a whole.

I like the mechanical and biological technology working together in this image, it's a brilliant idea.

[Da Dego]

I think this one is awesome, hwu. What I'm really impressed with are the strong lines present in the image - the way the leg and the wheel brace are nearly in-line, the spokes, the visible gears. There's very little to describe this aside from "flawlessly assembled".

TBH, I'm not fussed about the crop, either. I think it adds to the shot. If you were to widen this out at all, I think you would lose the effect you're looking for. Right now, I see a human piston pumping gears, a hybrid man and machine. Were you to widen the spread, it would look...well, more like just a dude on a bike.

[Hwulex]

Thanks for the comments guys, that's really kind. I'm also glad, Da Dego, that I've managed to portray what I was hoping for when starting out with this shot. I guess as the photographer I will never really be happy, but it's immensely pleasing when it does click for other people the way in which I intended and to get comments like teh above, thank you.

As for the wider crop, it wouldn't have been too extensive. Just enough to take in the rear mech (more shiny gears) and perhaps the knee with more muscle definition reinforcing the impression of 'piston'.

@unrealhippie: Yeah, bike held by the turbo in my front room. Unfortunately due to no compact camera these days I forgot to snap my rig before I started taking it all down (had to ride to work this morning).

[notatoad]

hairy legs? wtf?

(sorry i don't have anything to say about the pic, i'm a reformed bike nerd, not a photography nerd)

[Firehed]

I quite like the shot. The only thing I'd have done differently (and you may have tried or just not had the equipment to pull it off) is to go for a touch more lighting on the bike. You have that fantastic contrast going against the solid black background, so lighting that area where the leg shadow is (left side of the main gear mostly) and a touch more by the seat post would have really made this go from great to spectacular for me.

I might have cropped it a touch differently as well, but that also depends with what you had to start. Either a bit lower on top to eliminate the knee bend, or even higher to really bring it in, so you really get that kind of Z shape with the leg and foot. It worked out really well horizontally IMO, with it going right to the tip of the knee and the heel of the foot. I wouldn't play with the width at all.

[Hwulex]

Yeah, agreed Firehed. As said above, I did introduce a reflector later which addressed the lighting issues mentioned but it took away something else from the shot and it was too late to persevere.

@supertoad: It's winter dude! And in actual fact I did sod all racing this season through injury so they've been that way all year.

[Tomm]

Plus shaving your legs is a bit, uh, gay?