Photoshoot stuffs
Feb. 19th, 2009 03:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tugrikI just announced the posting of the FC2009 photoshoot images in a post in the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
furcon community.
There are a few changes this year compared to last. For one, the gallery software is a custom written application by my buddy-in-crime![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
revar. We were both tired of using Gallery2 as it couldn't understand the concept of one person who appeared in multiple different group photos. This new software is much better equipped to handle it. It's a direct part of the custom-written app we use at the shoot itself.
Before each person gets photographed they give their name to one of our photo assistants. As their first photo is taken the name is associated with the image. From there it's easy for us to tag every appearance of that person in any subsequent photo. This is done realtime as the wi-fi equipped camera uploads each picture to the main server (usually only 5 to 10 seconds after the frame is actually taken). If a large group steps in front of the camera, all the names of the group's members are associated. This way we can find any one person in the photo database, no matter what groups they wandered in or out of.
The new web-gallery code now uses the same system and dynamically builds pages for each 'client' who had their photo taken. If you browse a group photo you should get a list of names. Click on any one of them and you'll find all instances of that person in the photo database. This should make it a lot easier for people to find themselves and their friends. The software is also seriously faster than Gallery2 ever was. IMHO Revar deserves a huge amount of thanks for developing this software so quickly and having it come out as nicely as it did.
If you want to find yourself the best way is to use the search box. If you have CoolIris' "PicLens" browser installed you can use it to browse the gallery instead, which I find rather nifty. Other features are being added one by one as we go. There is actually a cart ordering system for purchasing prints and posters. It's all ready to run -- I've just got it turned off for now. I'll wait until people have had a week or two to browse the site before I turn it on and get busy with print-making. Expect a detailed "about prints" post here and on the Furcon list when the cart gets enabled.
There are two negatives to bring up about this year's images, though: First of all, I must apologize for a few of the exposures not being as consistent as previous years. I unwisely swapped to a new camera body too close to the convention's date and did not get enough practice with the equipment. There were a few 'gotchas' that had me hunting through exposure ranges to try and match the rented studio strobes. Most things have been fixed and look fine, but a few are a bit out of whack. I'm doing my best to correct the real problem ones and re-upload them as time permits.
The other issue is the actual size of the raw photos. As I'm using a Canon EOS 5DmkII, each original image is over 21 megapixels in size. This is a crazy amount of data. This also means that some of the originals show almost too much detail. Not only can every little imperfection be seen, but things like the fine print on name badges can be read. I suspect that some folks might take issue with that, so I'm playing it safe. As a result we downsized the images in the web gallery to a maximum of 2048 pixels tall. These are more than big enough for web use and letter-sized prints, while saving us a ton of server space and bandwidth.
The full sized images are still free; they're just more limited in distribution this time around. If you're in the photo, you can ask me directly (tugrik@gmail.com) for the specific images you want and I'll either email them to you or send you a link with an account name you can download them from. You can then re-distribute the full sized version on your own if you so wish. Similarly, if you want me to take down any individual photos you're featured in, just let me know. Group photos, however, will remain online unless all members of the group ask for the group shots to be removed.
Oh, sidenote: If you're ordering prints (once we open that up in a week or two) be assured that they will be made from the full sized images and not the ones you see in the gallery.
If there are any questions you'd like answered or comments you'd like to make about either the shoot or the new gallery software we're using, please just leave a comment on this post or email me directly. Thank you!
--Tugrik and Revar, Monoceros Media
furcon community. There are a few changes this year compared to last. For one, the gallery software is a custom written application by my buddy-in-crime
revar. We were both tired of using Gallery2 as it couldn't understand the concept of one person who appeared in multiple different group photos. This new software is much better equipped to handle it. It's a direct part of the custom-written app we use at the shoot itself.Before each person gets photographed they give their name to one of our photo assistants. As their first photo is taken the name is associated with the image. From there it's easy for us to tag every appearance of that person in any subsequent photo. This is done realtime as the wi-fi equipped camera uploads each picture to the main server (usually only 5 to 10 seconds after the frame is actually taken). If a large group steps in front of the camera, all the names of the group's members are associated. This way we can find any one person in the photo database, no matter what groups they wandered in or out of.
The new web-gallery code now uses the same system and dynamically builds pages for each 'client' who had their photo taken. If you browse a group photo you should get a list of names. Click on any one of them and you'll find all instances of that person in the photo database. This should make it a lot easier for people to find themselves and their friends. The software is also seriously faster than Gallery2 ever was. IMHO Revar deserves a huge amount of thanks for developing this software so quickly and having it come out as nicely as it did.
If you want to find yourself the best way is to use the search box. If you have CoolIris' "PicLens" browser installed you can use it to browse the gallery instead, which I find rather nifty. Other features are being added one by one as we go. There is actually a cart ordering system for purchasing prints and posters. It's all ready to run -- I've just got it turned off for now. I'll wait until people have had a week or two to browse the site before I turn it on and get busy with print-making. Expect a detailed "about prints" post here and on the Furcon list when the cart gets enabled.
There are two negatives to bring up about this year's images, though: First of all, I must apologize for a few of the exposures not being as consistent as previous years. I unwisely swapped to a new camera body too close to the convention's date and did not get enough practice with the equipment. There were a few 'gotchas' that had me hunting through exposure ranges to try and match the rented studio strobes. Most things have been fixed and look fine, but a few are a bit out of whack. I'm doing my best to correct the real problem ones and re-upload them as time permits.
The other issue is the actual size of the raw photos. As I'm using a Canon EOS 5DmkII, each original image is over 21 megapixels in size. This is a crazy amount of data. This also means that some of the originals show almost too much detail. Not only can every little imperfection be seen, but things like the fine print on name badges can be read. I suspect that some folks might take issue with that, so I'm playing it safe. As a result we downsized the images in the web gallery to a maximum of 2048 pixels tall. These are more than big enough for web use and letter-sized prints, while saving us a ton of server space and bandwidth.
The full sized images are still free; they're just more limited in distribution this time around. If you're in the photo, you can ask me directly (tugrik@gmail.com) for the specific images you want and I'll either email them to you or send you a link with an account name you can download them from. You can then re-distribute the full sized version on your own if you so wish. Similarly, if you want me to take down any individual photos you're featured in, just let me know. Group photos, however, will remain online unless all members of the group ask for the group shots to be removed.
Oh, sidenote: If you're ordering prints (once we open that up in a week or two) be assured that they will be made from the full sized images and not the ones you see in the gallery.
If there are any questions you'd like answered or comments you'd like to make about either the shoot or the new gallery software we're using, please just leave a comment on this post or email me directly. Thank you!
--Tugrik and Revar, Monoceros Media
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no subject
Date: 2009-02-19 05:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-19 05:23 pm (UTC)Tug: I have a possible project (could really use your printer). In the show I am currently running, there are three beheadings. We want to keep it light. The actors are chased off stage, then the beheader comes back on with a christmas style ornimant of their head to hang on the set. I'm also doing props...which means I somehow need to get three headshots printed life size and at decent quality (don't think my cut and paste home printer will handle it.)
Is there any way I can commission (or beg in exchange for a mention in the program or something) three life size head prints? I'm fine cutting them out and mounting them, I jsut need the quality prints themselves (even three on one big paper would be fine).
The time frame would be in the next week and a half or so. If you can help me, awesome! If you don't have the time, I'll figure something else out. You're the first place I'm checking.
~Shadow
*grins* Twas a blast doing this this year...
Date: 2009-02-19 06:22 pm (UTC)New camera or no, there were some pretty impressive shots going up on the preview screen, and I suspect that the 'bad' exposures are a tiny portion of the really good ones you otherwise got. Plus you were 'shooting from the hip--' taking the bad with the good, knowing that some of the shots were going to come out right.
What was the final count of images taken/data size? How well did the camera perform versus previous incarnations in post-production/tweaking?
Some thoughts on next year -- there's got to be a way to automate the name tagging process -- if people got their name spelled wrong on the gallery, it's probably my fault for mistranslating someone's name. And is there a way for people to send in corrections/additions? (We had a handful of pictures where we didn't know who someone was, but maybe you and Revar already fixed those.)
All in all: the two of you do a metric ton of work, and I really hope people appreciate the work that goes into the photoshoot before, during, and after the con.
-Trav
Re: *grins* Twas a blast doing this this year...
Date: 2009-02-19 08:18 pm (UTC)Yeah, we have a few Unknown clients, and a few mislabeled photos, but we always seem to find a few errors afterwards. Par for the course. Right now corrections are handled by email. the new gallery makes it easy to fix name spelling, and re-associate photos.
We had over 3500 photos, taking up about 17GB of disk space.
I'll let Tugrik discuss camera performance.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-19 07:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-19 08:13 pm (UTC)I gather the new iPhoto can do facial recognition on cats as well as humans, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for fursuit heads.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-20 05:34 am (UTC)Wow.