But I can't see her face!

[Black Ricco]

If I had a dollar for everytime I heard that.
THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! She can be anything or anybody you want her to be.

[softfocus]

What a cool bike shot! The lighting, colors and fog are cool. And the model's leg adds a sexy touch. Did you use a gog machine?

[Black Ricco]

Did you use a gog machine?

I'm going to assume that was a typo and you meant "fog" machine. One of the best tricks I learned from a fashion shooter I once assisted was a cheap way to generate smoke and fog. A $30.00 bug sprayer filled with mineral oil. Puts out a llamaload of smoke. I used that to create a haze so I would get a definable ray from the headlight, and a homemade dry ice generator for the floor effect.

[chucklyman]

Yes! Totally hot shot. Smoken and that's the bike + leg.

[jimmyd]

Originally Posted by Black Ricco

Did you use a gog machine?

I'm going to assume that was a typo and you meant "fog" machine. One of the best tricks I learned from a fashion shooter I once assisted was a cheap way to generate smoke and fog. A $30.00 bug sprayer filled with mineral oil. Puts out a llamaload of smoke. I used that to create a haze so I would get a definable ray from the headlight, and a homemade dry ice generator for the floor effect.

the bug sprayer fogger/hazer is the way to go. puts out a finer mist and stays in the air longer. a lot of people don't understand there's a difference between fog machines and haze machines and their applications are different as well. haze machines are definitely more expensive. but the bug sprayer rules and you can get either effect with it. dry ice is a pain to work with but you can get cool effects with it.

[Blinky]

Either of you guys want to elaborate on the mineral oil thing? Any heat involved? I'm just wondering much fun it is to clean the oil off everything after using it?

Chip

[softfocus]

Originally Posted by Black Ricco

Did you use a gog machine?

I'm going to assume that was a typo and you meant "fog" machine.

Sorry, I meant fog.

Sometimes my gingers hit the wrong keys when I type too gast.

[Bonner]

Hey chip, this is the kind of picture that former GG'er Mike (Dynamike) went bananas over.* *I know he is not on this site or we would have heard from him about the bike! -Jim

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by Bonner

Hey chip, this is the kind of picture that former GG'er Mike (Dynamike) went bananas over. I know he is not on this site or we would have heard from him about the bike! -Jim

That's true. He could wind up here soon enough. The GG folks keep trickling in... the peaceful ones tend to stay and the hagglers wander off.
I don't know if this was his sort of bike though... or girl. He did a lot of stretched out on the custom chopper type shots if I remember right. It would be nice to have him around now that I think about it, he had a balance about him.

Chip

[Jon]

Nice looking Geezer Glide, really dressed and presented well. I enjoy the lighting contrasting with the paint.

[jimmyd]

from time to time, i look at some of the magazines dedicated to riding enthusiasts--make that harley riding enthusiasts. (indians, of course, are way cool too!) i'm often struck by the general lack of creativity and photographic know-how and techiniqe of many of these rags' contributing photographers. even the full-page shots of highly customized bikes with beautiful and sexy and scantily-clad women adorning them often seem like glorified snapshots. one would think that people who devote so much time and money to their two-wheel obssessions would also be looking for photographers who can capture their rides with a bit more expertise and craft. but then, Maxim is one of the most popular rags in the world featuring some incredible women and a lot of the photography there, IMO, kinda sucks.

go figure.

p.s. not seeing her face works ok but the hand sticking out kinda bugs me a bit. i think i'd like the image better if her hand were hidden and not covering part of that sexy leg.

[Black Ricco]

Either of you guys want to elaborate on the mineral oil thing? Any heat involved? I'm just wondering much fun it is to clean the oil off everything after using it?

Yes, there's a heating coil that the mineral oil is forced into which is what creates the smoke. They make water based fog juice, but it's pretty worthless. Clean-up has never been a problem for me. It's not like there's an oil residue on everything after I've used it. I guess if I used it in a very small space for days at a time it might present a problem, but for an hour ot two, no sweat.

but then, Maxim is one of the most popular rags in the world featuring some incredible women and a lot of the photography there, IMO, kinda sucks.

MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY!!! Good example, among many, is the January 2006 cover. The photographer actually managed to take a bad shot of Eva Longoria. That not only takes a lack of talent, that takes some effort.

[Black Ricco]

i'm often struck by the general lack of creativity and photographic know-how and techiniqe of many of these rags' contributing photographers. even the full-page shots of highly customized bikes with beautiful and sexy and scantily-clad women adorning them often seem like glorified snapshots. one would think that people who devote so much time and money to their two-wheel obssessions would also be looking for photographers who can capture their rides with a bit more expertise and craft.

Yup! Look at those photos of Lux Kassidy I linked to. Terrible photography; I'm not even sure you could call them "glorified" snapshots as opposed to "run-of-the-mill" snapshots. I think it's a question of the "rags" and the "photographers" knowing their audience. Why waste fine champagne on a beer palate? For most of those guys it's just a question of, are the tits in focus, and is the chrome polished?

[Blinky]

Originally Posted by Black Ricco

...
I think it's a question of the "rags" and the "photographers" knowing their audience. Why waste fine champagne on a beer palate? For most of those guys it's just a question of, are the tits in focus, and is the chrome polished?

Well said.

Most of the biker rags are the only pubs still requiring JPEGs for ad photography. A one month ad in New Yorker is about the same cost as a month of ads in every major biker book in the US... and you get more sales and repeat customers from the one New Yorker ad.

Chip

Ps. Thanks for the fog info.

[Black Ricco]

p.s. not seeing her face works ok but the hand sticking out kinda bugs me a bit. i think i'd like the image better if her hand were hidden and not covering part of that sexy leg.

My original concept was to have her hand on the hand grip because she has gorgeous hands, but it just didn't work. It looked too forced. I also tried it without the hand but it looked like a leg growing out of the bike. There had to be some other part of the girl showing besides the leg, and since I didn't want to show her face, the hand was it.

[jimmyd]

Originally Posted by Black Ricco

My original concept was to have her hand on the hand grip because she has gorgeous hands, but it just didn't work. It looked too forced. I also tried it without the hand but it looked like a leg growing out of the bike. There had to be some other part of the girl showing besides the leg, and since I didn't want to show her face, the hand was it.

yeah. i was armchair quaterbacking without being there. i figured you tried it different ways and what you ended up with was the only thing that seemed to work. body parts jutting out from non-living objects can be pesky to get right... except maybe if you're working with androids.

[Black Ricco]

I'm so glad I've never done that. *G* It's sometimes amazing how llama can look so good in your head and on paper, but throw it front of a camera and the first thing you think is, what the f*** was I thinking?