Photo Discussion
Category: How'd You Do That?

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C R Y S T A L P L A N E T

BetterPhoto.com All Time Best Photo Contest Editor's Pick

BetterPhoto.com Photo Contest SECOND PLACE Winner

C R Y S T A L P L A N E T

"Look deep in to my crystal ball ..."

A crystal globe I borrowed from a friend at work just so I could take this shot.

If you want to know the secrets of the pic, all one has to do is ask, and the keeper of the orb will reveal all ...

Beau Hudspeth Photography

Isabel L

Hmmmmm very interesting shot Beau!
I really like the colors in the shot and the lighting.
How did you do this??

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August 30, 2004

Beau Hudspeth Photography

THE "HOW TO":

I created a small box from foamcore stock so that I could control the light as well as reduce the amount of shadows cast by the lighting - the foam core is good and reflective without creating harsh lines.

The light stand is a spare mic stand that I have in my studio so I put it to work. The lights are a 500wt halogen and two 60wt desk lamps place in the front and rear of the subject in order to reduce shadows and give a greater overall brightness to the pic.

Behind the ball is some black fabric to help reduce the background light generated by the foamcore box.

The rainbow was created by placing the ball on top of an old CD. The reflections it cast off were transmitted through the ball and gave it the light spectrum you see here.

I did some minor adjustments in Photoshop to reduce the contrast between the bright & dark areas as well as one of my trademark steps. And because you asked, here it is:

I duplicated the main layer, gave it a gaussian blur of 35 or so and then set it's layer mode to screen. This helps to do two things: 1) it brightens the overall look of the picture and 2) supplies it with a subtle "soft focus" effect.

Flatten, downsample, add a border and there you have it!

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August 30, 2004

Beau Hudspeth Photography

Here is a shot of the layout above ...

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August 30, 2004

Susana Ms Heide

Awesome close up! Very creative way of using a CD. Thanks for the explanation.

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August 30, 2004

Donald K. Cherry

This is a very nice and creative close-up image, Beau. I like the comp, colors and detail, however, it looks a little too "hot" around the S for my liking!

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December 28, 2006

Beau Hudspeth Photography

Thank you for the compliment!

As for the brightness, I agree, but as it is, that portion of the images has been darkened some in order to make the text appear at all -- it was originally fairly blown-out. :)

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December 28, 2006

Donna La Mattino Pagakis

Very creative finalist image, congratulations!!!!!

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January 24, 2007

Beau Hudspeth Photography

Thank you Donna! I appreciate it

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January 24, 2007

- Kay E. Mahoney

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