Here it is Sunday, my usual day to hike down around Ballard Park and Gooseneck Cove, and it's pouring rain, windy, and temps in the mid 40s (F, which would be roughly 7º - 8º C). Obviously, the hike is off. So I've been trying finding things to keep me amused.
Indoor photography won out (of course!). I decided to drag out the guitar and the dulcimer, drape a cloth backdrop across my media center (so the background wouldn't be distractingly busy), and get to work. Some poses with each instrument, adjusting to keep everything in the frame while keeping unwanted objects out, lighting, etc. (no flash; between my glasses and the polished surfaces of the instruments, there were just too many reflective surfaces). By the end of the shoot I had a couple of shots I figured would work.
In Photoshop I picked the best shot with each instrument, tweaked lighting and focus, and then also created a black & white version of each as well. Here are all four shots.
[A note on the instruments - The guitar is an off-the-shelf Yamaha that I've beaten into submission in the course of about 20 years, so that it plays the way I want it to. The dulcimer is something special, a handmade CSH series teardrop made by Folkcraft Instruments on 10/31/1989; it sounds as beautiful as it looks.]
Indoor photography won out (of course!). I decided to drag out the guitar and the dulcimer, drape a cloth backdrop across my media center (so the background wouldn't be distractingly busy), and get to work. Some poses with each instrument, adjusting to keep everything in the frame while keeping unwanted objects out, lighting, etc. (no flash; between my glasses and the polished surfaces of the instruments, there were just too many reflective surfaces). By the end of the shoot I had a couple of shots I figured would work.
In Photoshop I picked the best shot with each instrument, tweaked lighting and focus, and then also created a black & white version of each as well. Here are all four shots.
[A note on the instruments - The guitar is an off-the-shelf Yamaha that I've beaten into submission in the course of about 20 years, so that it plays the way I want it to. The dulcimer is something special, a handmade CSH series teardrop made by Folkcraft Instruments on 10/31/1989; it sounds as beautiful as it looks.]
PS - In case anybody's wondering... I was playing a four-bar blues on the guitar, and "Norwegian Wood" on the dulcimer.
© 2009 by A. Roy Hilbinger
My you're a man of many talents! And the second person I know who actually plays a dulcimer! Perhaps you should start busking until the new job comes along! You've already got the instruments and the hat!
ReplyDeleteWhere's the audio, man?
ReplyDeleteGreat shots Roy. Looks like man and instrument in perfect harmony to me.
ReplyDeleteI like the first shot best, Roy. Beautiful dulcimer!
ReplyDeleteThese are great shots. The eye goes straight to your hands.
ReplyDeleteisn't it amazing that just by changing the colour to black and white the whole mood changes?
ReplyDeleteSo cool!