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How to Create Dramatic Portraits in Your Garage

15 Aug

The post How to Create Dramatic Portraits in Your Garage appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Nick Fancher.

The setup

1

If you want to take dramatic portraits on a black backdrop (without even needing a single light), a garage is your new go-to spot.

This is the simplest (and most makeshift looking) setup that I use. As you can see in the image above, all I am using is a piece of black foam core, folded into a “V,” set inside a garage on a sunny day.

While you can accomplish this setup on overcast days, having a sunny day helps to increase the brightness of everything outside the garage, thus increasing the catch light in the model’s eyes. The sunny daylight scene outside the garage essentially acts as a giant reflector, which illuminates the area under the subject’s chin to soften shadows.

2 copy

The reason why a garage is great for this kind of setup is that it allows you to place your subject closer or further away from the bright, outdoor light, depending on how much light you want in your subject’s eyes or how even you want the light to appear.

For example, if the subject is right at the edge of the garage, just out of the sun, the exposure will be very bright, requiring a very fast shutter speed and/or a small aperture, but they will have large catchlights in their eyes. Note that the smaller aperture will cause the image to be sharper from the front to the back. Also, the closer the subject is to the bright outside, the darker the background will be once you’ve adjusted your exposure for their skin tone.

Alternatively, if the subject is placed deeper into the garage, it allows you to use a wider aperture or slower shutter speed, which can create a flattering, softer, shallow depth of field look, though the catch light and overall light quality will change.

3 copy

Shooting in a garage is the equivalent to a one-light studio portrait since the only light source is the open garage door. This increases the appearance of the image being a studio portrait, as it mimics a large softbox or octabox (though an open garage door is larger and less expensive).

If you want to have more light, such as hair light and rim light, to create separation between a subject and the background, there is another option available to you. Simply place your subject on the shaded side of the garage, allowing the sun to light just the edges of your subject’s hair and shoulders, as seen below.

3

The one downside to having a huge wall of soft light in front of your subject is that it can flatten out the subject, which can make the lighting appear flat or boring. One remedy for this is flagging off portions of the light, as seen in the image below. Note that any object you place in front of the model to flag the light will also change the shape of the catchlights in their eyes.

4 copy

For portraits like this, you will want to use a focal length of at least 50mm or longer. Anything wider angle will lead to distortion of the subject’s features. Since you are shooting outdoors, you have unlimited space to back away from the subject. So I like to use my 70-200mm lens for these types of headshots.

5 copy

The other perks that come with shooting outside or in a garage are that you have a free hair fan and plenty of ventilation, which comes in handy when you’re shooting smoke.

My buddy Colin is a drummer in the band House of Heroes. He approached me to shoot the cover of their latest EP, Smoke. He wanted a dramatic, close-up of a girl’s face with smoke all around. I knew that my garage would be the perfect spot to conduct the shoot (as it’s open-air with bright light).

I placed whiteboards on either side of Courtney, which helped to not only fill in any shadows under her jaw but also add catchlights to her eyes. In addition to the images of Courtney, I also shot several frames of smoke being exhaled by Colin (try doing that inside a studio) isolated on the black backdrop, which was later overlaid on the final image of the model in post-production.

6 copy

Have you tried doing portraits in your garage or other makeshift location? Have any additional tips? Please share in the comments.

How to Create Dramatic Portraits in Your Garage

The post How to Create Dramatic Portraits in Your Garage appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Nick Fancher.


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Pop-Up Parking Garage & Rooftop Green Space Rises Higher When it Rains

05 Oct

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

Stormwater flooding, too few places to park and a lack of green space are three of the main issues plaguing every major city, and this strange but kind of brilliant building concept attempts to solve all three at once. ‘POP-UP’ by Danish architecture firm THIRD NATURE places a five-level parking garage topped with a public park on top of a stormwater reservoir, with the building’s height changing depending on how much it has rained lately.

On a dry day, all that’s visible of the POP-UP structure is the rooftop park, which essentially sits at ground level. But when rain falls, it fills the underground reservoir, causing the parking structure to rise higher in the landscape, highlighting its adaptability in the face of changing weather. The architects present it as an alternative to constructing a rainwater reservoir that’s empty most of the time or a mono-functional parking facility that takes up valuable urban space.

“By 2050, the Earth’s population is expected to grow to over 9 billion people,” says THIRD NATURE. “The migration to cities is on the rise and urban spaces are under pressure from the growing numbers of cars and traffic in the streets. With the quest for green, livable and human-scale cities cars and car parking have become an increasing challenge fighting for m2 in the dense cities – often at the price of urban areas and parks.”

“At the same time, climate changes require cities to handle huge amounts of stormwater generated by more and more powerful cloudbusts – this by building large water reservoirs under roads and squares. The situation calls for a rethinking of the way we establish parking, storage of stormwater and new urban spaces.”

They compare the building to a piece of cork in a glass of water. Hydraulic and mechanical lifts would help balance the weight ratios of parked cars in the structure to make sure it’s able to move up and down smoothly without changing the water level underneath. The two lowest levels of the parking structure would be off-limits, remaining underground to ensure the stability and buoyancy of the building.

Though an approach that reduces the number of individual vehicles allowed into a city would arguably be more practical, it’s also true that many places (especially in the United States) are likely to remain car-centric for the foreseeable future. Is this a realistic compromise?

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[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

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World’s Largest Bicycle Parking Garage Stores Over 6,000 Rides in the Netherlands

03 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

The Netherlands, where bikes outnumber citizens, is well known for its cycle-centric transportation infrastructure. In Utrecht, over 100,000 cyclists ride through the city every day, connecting between home, school, work and public transportation. Now open, this newly-built bicycle parking lot can already house 6,000 rides at a time, but is aiming to more than double that capacity by the end of the year.

It actually looks a lot like a conventional parking lot, filled with ramps and arrows pointing cyclists through the structure, crisscrossed with walking paths for people traveling to and from their personal vehicle. Dense stacking allows for layered storage across the multiple levels of the structure.

Eventually, the parking structure will store a remarkable 33,000 bicycles by 2020, which, to most people, might sound like a lot of bikes. But the design, patterned after Tokyo’s amazing underground bike parking station, has people worried — not because it could be overbuilt, but because the capacity might not match the demand.

As popular as cycling already is in the region, the number of people on bikes continues to grow and the Netherlands has long had storage space issues related to this growth. One cycling organization quoted John Lennon to make the point: “life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” They say politicians are still being too slow to make decisions and implement plans to increase bike-supporting infrastructure. Still, too many riders and fewer seems like a good problem for a city to have.

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Modular Remix: Parking Garage Picked Apart, Reassembled Like LEGO

31 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

As autonomous vehicles begin to roll out on city streets, adaptive reuse projects like this one could help old parking structures readily find new and productive urban purposes. This award-winning design by Dutch firm Studio Komma and The Men of Foam for The Hague features a mixed-use program built on the bones of an existing parking garage, with a twist: parts can be moved around like modular LEGO blocks.

And the LEGO piece is no idle comparison — the team used actual bricks to mock up their designs, focusing on how individual modules could play larger roles in the overall scheme. They also considered how these same re-situated units might later be shifted around to serve other functions.

Ground floors commercial and social spaces are fit into the framework of the extant garage, using the old second-story parking level for overhead shelter. Above the existing second level, new levels reuse ramps and other elements to grow the program vertically — these mostly-indoor third and fourth floors shelter an outdoor public zone left open in the middle.

Colors and details in the proposed scheme highlight elements of the adaptive reuse while aiming “to create an iconic building that is an accelerator for the transformation of an industrial area into a new energetic urban district.” Pieces of the old structure are preserved and made modular, fitting into the new program where useful but retaining aspects of their original shape and character to illustrate change over time.

In developing the ZIP2516 scheme, which subsequently won the Lot 2 Urban Lab Challenge, the architects were “challenged to think about temporary structures that have a permanent high quality.” Its modularity is intended to extend into the future as well — additional elements (like glass cladding and structural supports) are made to be moved as the needs of the site and city continue to evolve.

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World’s Sexiest Parking Garage Has a New Competitor For the Crown

23 Mar

[ By SA Rogers in Architecture & Public & Institutional. ]

parking garage cliniques 1

It may not be as jaw-dropping and awe-inspiring as Detroit’s decaying Michigan Theater parking garage, nor quite as multifunctional as the stunning Herzog de Meuron structure at 1111 Lincoln Road in Miami – but this new structure in Belgium is definitely one for the books. The undulating wooden slate facade of this staff parking garage for the Cliniques Universities Saint-Luc hospital in Brussels is beautifully fluid, with a clever design that disguises most of its bulk underground while remaining architecturally interesting.

parking garage cliniques 5

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Modulo Architects and De Jong Gortemaker Algra Architects were charged with creating a functional industrial structure capable of holding 985 cars that would also serve as a welcoming introduction to the hospital itself, incorporating daylight, natural materials and a striking look. Taking inspiration from natural canyons, they created a stepped design that brings sunlight down into the first two subterranean levels.

parking garage cliniques 9

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parking garage cliniques 10

The two above-ground parking decks “bridge the terrain gradient” between street level and the green roof, which is designed to be both a functional outdoor space and something pleasant to look at from the higher floors of the adjacent hospital. The parking garage effectively raises this green space above street level for a sense of privacy, avoids obscuring views of the surrounding architecture and manages to be pretty cool to look at, itself.

parking garage cliniques 7

parking garage cliniques 2

parking garage cliniques 3

“We challenged ourselves to also make the underground decks clear and pleasant,” the architects say. “By introducing a sinuous ‘canyon’ encompassing the garage that allows light and air to reach even the lowest deck. Natural light and this (eventually green) canyon-wall contribute to orientation and ensure a positive experience for the user. The facades, made of meandering hardwood slats (FSC), naturally relate to the character of the canyon. An appealing building, nicely embedded with added value for the user is the result.”

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Close Calls: 12 Breathtakingly Creative Garage Doors

07 Aug

[ By Steve in Art & Street Art & Graffiti. ]

FINAL1

A garage door’s main function is keeping what’s inside safe from prying eyes but these creative garage doors keep all eyes focused on the outside.

creative-garages-1a

creative-garages-1b

creative-garages-1c

Sometimes great garage doors aren’t planned, they end up being thrust upon us. Such was the case of a corrugated garage door belonging to Imgur user elusive92. When the door’s owner discovered some unsightly and unskilled graffiti had disgraced his garage door one May morning in 2013, he didn’t get mad, he got even… even better.

creative-garages-1d

creative-garages-1e

creative-garages-1f

Taking the old adage “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” to heart, elusive92 hired local graffiti artist Lake13 to not only cover the anonymous scrawling but replace it with a work of graffiti art – with the emphasis on the art part. We think he succeeded rather well, don’t you?

Community Communion

creative-garages-2a

“Every time I drive by this house, I marvel,” admits Flickr user William Keckler., who titles his photo taken in early December of 2012 “The Holy Sacrament of the Garage Door”. No telling what’s parked inside… perhaps the Popemobile.

“To The Broke-Ass Batcave!”

creative-garages-3a

creative-garages-3b

Looking to produce an ultra-low-budget Batman flick? Well look no further than South St. in Philadelphia, where one creatively painted corrugated roll-up garage door says so much with just two colors. Eric from Geekadelphia snapped the bargain-basement Batcave door way back in July of 2008 – let’s hope it hasn’t been painted over by Alfred since then.

Arts Of The West

creative-garages-4a

The above creative composition was included in a portfolio of garage doors by RC Cabinets & Closets as an example of a “garage door decal”. We’ve seen garage door decals and frankly, this ain’t no garage door decal. The above tableau doesn’t appear to be a decal at all – note how the painted portions extend off the garage door itself. Odds are this exquisite door is a unique creation as well.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Close Calls 12 Breathtakingly Creative Garage Doors

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Light House: Translucent Dwellings in an Abandoned Parking Garage

24 Oct

[ By Steph in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

light house 1

With their cavernous abandoned spaces, the hundreds of stalled skyscraper projects throughout tropical Asia could serve a purpose by hosting low-budget micro-dwellings aimed at ‘urban nomads.’ Economic conditions put many high-rise building projects on hold, while the global housing crisis is making it difficult to impossible for young people, the middle class and the urban poor to find affordable accommodations in desirable cities. A project called ‘Light House’ offers a temporary solution.

light house 5

light house 4

Designed especially for mild climates, these prototype housing units consist of perforated metal grid frames, plastic-laminated plywood floors and walls made of layered textiles. “The different degrees of perforation of the walls give variation to the space within by selective filtering of external elements,” say the creators, Bangkok design firm All(zone). There are shelves for personal items, a changing room with a closet, and a bed surrounded by mosquito net.

light house 2

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Each one costs $ 1,200 to make and can be quickly assembled and disassembled, taken to a new location when the current ‘host’ is no longer available. The designers themselves lived in the prototype units to test them out. But would the average young city resident really want to live in a space like this?

light house 6

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The need for affordable housing, adaptability and reclaiming vacant urban spaces is undeniable, but flimsy structures like these seem like just one shaky step above homelessness, and might be better suited to serving that population instead. The transparency of the walls could be seen as a statement on what it’s like to live in the streets, perhaps making an even more profound statement on the housing crisis than the creators intended.

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Luxury Retrofit: New 440-Square-Foot Condo Hidden in Old Garage

17 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

box-home

Boxed in on both sides, this once-homely little garage space is now a cozy high-end condo, its rusted white corrugated metal front replaced with a still-concealing wood facade serving to hide something much more dynamic inside.

garage house interior

garage house kitchen

garage house seating

Designed by FABRE/deMARIEN, this ‘100% Box’ home features white walls and ceilings, reinforcing lightness and openness toward the front of the space, an area containing a kitchen and dining room as well as a front entry deck.

garage house living room

garage bathroom inside box

garage elevated sleeping loft

A wood-paneled box in back serves all kinds of additional functions, housing a series of desk and seating built-ins, enclosing a small bathroom and supporting the elevated bedroom with bed and storage above.

garage house before

garage reconstruction

garage under construction

garage house conversion

garage house car port

The sloping roof helps provide higher ceilings in the back spaces as well as accommodating the additional needs of the raised bedroom area, with periodic sunlights to help illuminate all of the above. Enclosed on all sides, this urban infill lot reuse manages to feel spacious and open despite the limitations of its site.

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How to Create Dramatic Portraits in Your Garage

08 Dec

The setup

1

If I want to take dramatic portraits on a black backdrop (without even needing a single light), a garage is your new go to spot. This is the simplest (and most makeshift looking) setup that I use. As you can see in the image above, all I am using is a piece of black foam core, folded into a “v,” set inside a garage on a sunny day.

While you can accomplish this setup on overcast days, having a sunny day helps to increase the brightness of everything outside the garage, thus increasing the catch light in the model’s eyes. The sunny daylight scene outside the garage essentially acts as a giant reflector, which hold under the subject’s chin to soften shadows.

2 copy

The reason why a garage is great for this kind of setup is that it allows you to place your subject closer or further away from the bright, outdoor light, depending on how much light you want in your subject’s eyes or how even you want the light to appear. For example, if the subject is right at the edge of the garage, just out of the sun, the exposure will be very bright, requiring a very fast shutter speed and/or a small aperture, but they will have large catchlights in their eyes. Note that the smaller aperture will cause the image to be sharper from the front to the back. Also, the closer the subject is to the bright outside, the darker the background will be once you’ve adjusted your exposure for their skin tone.

Alternately, if the subject is placed deeper into the garage, it allows you to use a wider aperture or slower shutter speed, which can create a flattering, softer, depth of field, though the catch light and overall light quality will change.

3 copy

Shooting in a garage is the equivalent to a one-light studio portrait since the only light source is the open garage door. This increases the appearance of the image being a studio portrait, as it mimics a large softbox or octabank (though an open garage door is larger and less expensive). If you want to have more light, such as hair light and rim light to create separation between a subject and the background, there is another option available to you. Simply place your subject on the shaded side of the garage, allowing the sun to light just the edges of your subjects hair and shoulders, as seen below.

3

The one downside to having a huge wall of soft light in front of your subject is that it can flatten out the subject, which can make the lighting appear flat or boring. One remedy for this is flagging off portions of the light, as seen in the image below. Note that any object you place in front of the model to flag the light will also change the shape of the catch lights in their eyes.

4 copy

For portraits like this, you will want to use a focal length of at least 50mm or longer. Anything wider angle will lead to distortion of the subject’s features. Since you are shooting outdoors, you have unlimited space to back away from the subject. So I like to use my 70-200mm lens for these type of head shots.

5 copy

The other perks that come with shooting outside or in a garage is that you have a free hair fan and plenty of ventilation, which comes in handy when you’re shooting smoke.

My buddy Colin is a drummer in the band House of Heroes. He approached me to shoot the cover of their latest EP, Smoke. He wanted a dramatic, close-up of a girl’s face with smoke all around. I knew that my garage would be the perfect spot to conduct the shoot (open air with bright light). I placed white boards on either side of Courtney, which helped to not only fill in any shadows under her jaw but also add catch lights to her eyes. In addition to the images of Courtney, I also shot several frames of smoke, being exhaled by Colin (try doing that inside a studio), isolated on the black backdrop, which was later overlaid on the final image of the model in post-production.

6 copy

Have you tried doing portraits in your garage or other makeshift location? Have any additional tips? Please share in the comments.

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The post How to Create Dramatic Portraits in Your Garage by Nick Fancher appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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Insane Yacht’s Floating Garage Doubles as an Indoor Pool

02 Oct

[ By Steph in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

Floating Garage Mega Yacht 1

File this one under ‘billionaire toys that will simultaneously make you envious and give you a rage headache:’ the J’ade by CRN is the world’s first mega-yacht featuring a floating garage, which doubles as an ‘indoor’ swimming pool when not in use.

Floating Garage Mega Yacht 2

The hydraulic-operated bay of this ‘flooded garage’ makes it easy to store and access smaller watercraft (in this case, an 8-meter Riva ISEO speedboat) without the need for a tender lift, drying out in just three minutes. The doors can also be closed with water in the bay to create a protected ocean pool, potentially making open-sea night swims feel a lot less scary.

FLoating Garage Mega Yacht 3

FLoating Garage Mega Yacht 4

The 60-meter J’ade has room for 13 crew members and 10 guests, with an appropriately luxurious marble and rosewood interior, four decks, an outdoor diving table for up to 14 people, an audio/video entertainment system and a marble bar in the main salon with an aquarium backdrop. There’s also a hot tub on the spacious upper deck.

FLoating Garage Mega Yacht 6

Floating Garage Mega Yacht 7

Floating Garage Mega Yacht 8

“Ready for delivery to the billionaire owner,” this insane super yacht doesn’t have a public price tag, but it’s safe to say that only the wealth hoarders of the world can even afford to get a close-up look.

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