Rate This Tutorial!  2.781    Log in to rate this! 0 = Not Helpful up to 3 = Very Helpful. NR = No Rating. Questions? Feedback? Join the Discussion on this Tutorial

In response to those who asked... here are the "How It Was Done" details for my DP Challenge "Garbage" entry!

Below is a shot of the set up, if you can make it out amongst the rest of the garbage in my basement. Come to think of it, I could have easily just submitted a shot of my basement for this challenge! :)

I first drilled a hole in the bottom of the Mt. Dew can, and ran a long piece of black thread through it. I dangled the can from a metal clothes hanger (apologies to my wife for taking all of her clothes off of it, and placing them in a heap on the dryer... I could have used her response to that for this week's challenge: "Wrath"), and I attached two fishing "split shot" weights at each end of the thread so I'd have something to hold on to.

You can see the black backdrop I used for the background. I set it a couple feet behind the can.

To execute the shot, I had to think a little backwards. The effect of the shot is to make it look as though the can is falling into the trash, but in reality, the can begins at the lowest point and moves upward.

I set the shutter for six seconds. The first couple seconds, I allowed the can to stay still. After that, I would pull the threads as evenly as possible (though the end result shows that it still swayed a bit!) to create the blur effect.

The real pain in the neck was that I could basically only get one attempt every five minutes because the can, when dangled from the threads, would sway back & forth for a while... and I needed it to be perfectly still for that first second or so of the exposure.

In all, I took dozens of shots to get the effect I was hoping for. I experimented with numerous lighting angles (I used two lights -- one a desk light, and another 25 watt bulb), different exposures and speeds of moving the threads. I had some great comments this week that would have helped make this shot better... in particular I would have loved to have used a steel garbage can as a couple folks suggested, and as one person mentioned, the can itself is lit a little "hot."

I had attempted a couple other variations of this basic idea before settling on the Mt. Dew can as a subject. Here are a couple outtakes, done using the same method:

This one (above) was my original plan. This shot was rotated to create this effect (the paper was really going vertically). I wasn't happy with the positioning of my hand, and I just couldn't keep my hand still that long! Plus my backdrop was too close in the background, and it was showing up too much in the picture.

This was the best of my second series of attempts (above) with a crumpled up piece of paper. After a while I decided it needed some color... hence, the Mt. Dew can (and a different trash can...)!

This was my final entry!

Rate This Tutorial!  2.781    Log in to rate this! 0 = Not Helpful up to 3 = Very Helpful. NR = No Rating. Questions? Feedback? Join the Discussion on this Tutorial