GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

This is my first attempt of using a Tallat Filter I bought on e-bay about a year ago. Marketed by Plume Lighting, it splits flash exposures so you get a hard exposure with a softened one. http://www.plumeltd.com/talins.htm
My subjects were a mechanic and a '37 Chrysler AirFlow.
One problem- it was after hours and the "adult beverages" were flowing a bit too much.
Camera was on a tripod and didn't sway with the subject, if you get my drift. Hindsight says I should have stopped down to at least f/8 or more to keep him in focus. I may go back and reshoot.
Questions I have concern lighting suggestions: open to any ideas you have. I think it needs some other warm light in the background, perhaps a warm shafty streak coming from upper right and maybe gel the light under the car warm as well?

1/2 sec @ f5 ISO 1000 Nikon D800 with 24-70 at 44mm.
4 Nikon Speedlights- one with amber gel on face in a small beautydish reflector, others gelled blue in softboxes aimed at car and subject's back. Light under car was an LED battery-powered work light. All the blue lights were synced to fire when the soft filter was in place. The only adjustments I made were in Adobe Camera Raw.

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

I really like how you handled all the lighting and do not feel you need any warm light added anywhere. Cool tones go very well with metal and there's plenty of metal here. The man has a great expression on his face. It makes me wonder what he is about to do with that large wrench. The composition is good. I find this well done and interesting.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

When I saw your posted picture, I wondered about the amount of light versus shadow on Rob's (mechanic) face, but downloading the picture proved that any more light on the right side of his face would be too much, i know you wanted to put the car in better light, and I'd like to see it there just out of curiosity as to what the car looked like. But quite honestly, if you do anything to edit the image, I hope you save what you have. I think the blue adds a mysterious effect to the picture. The blue highlights, if considered individually, might be a bit too much, but in the overall contect of the photograph, they just become a part of the natural reflection.

Could you do more to make this a more powerful image of the car with regard to Rob's face? Yes. Could you do more to present a portrait of a man with a materializing ghost car behind him - a part of a wish come true? No!

Simply put, as much as I'd like to see the car, I wouldn't do anything to this particular photograph. I love it!

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Thank you all for your comments, I appreciate it.
Mogul- I think you are right about the shadow on Rob's face. It does need more fill. I wanted to keep the lighting hard. sort of simulate the look of a work light. I may try a small softbox instead, but keep it at the low spooky-lighting angle. I'll bring a monolight if I get to do this over. I handicapped myself by wanting to use only speedlights. The modeling light would have helped a lot with focusing.
Tomato- the tool was his Idea, but honestly, I can't imagine what he would use it for either. If I get to do this over, I'll look for something more believable.

Nightski

Goofy, this looks amazing to me. I don't have the chops to criticize, but I hope you will keep posting on this thread so we (the newbies) can see how it evolves.

I think you have the story telling thing down here, btw...LOL

Heirloom Tomato Loc: Oregon

The big wrench added a touch of humor or possibly mania. :P

BigDaddy Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

I also really like the photo as it is. At first, I thought the face needed a tad less brightness on the right, so I downloaded it and lowered the brightness a tad on just the right side of the face. I got it to look a less bright, but it seemed to detract a bit from the over all effect you captured so nicely.

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

There is a lot to like with this evocative photo. The contrast between the blues in the background and the warmer colors on the face, his expression, the hint of his reflections on the car, the feeling you were able to convey that garages have where old cars are 'cared for' and worked on - why, I can almost smell THAT smell of old grease and oil that seems to permeate old garages like this. Well done.

So, here are my minor suggestions or recommendations - anyone who has ever worked on a beloved old car would cringe at the thought of using pliers that size (or any size, for that matter, as pliers are usually the tools of last resort) on an old classic, so seeing the mechanic hold up those 'mondo' pliers with that intensity on his face makes me a little uncomfortable and concerned about the safety of the car, if that tension was what you were trying to create, you were certainly successful - but I would probably rather see him contemplateively looking at a set of tools trying to decide which to one use to fix a problem on his old 'buddy'. I also agree with the earlier comment that the bright side of his face is a little too 'hot' and maybe a little too white, but I'm not totally sure because warming up his face might take away a little from the somewhat ghostly effect. I also might try to open the 'vingette' on his upper body just a few degrees so it doesn't look quite as posed, and maybe I'd tone down the work light under the car, either that or I would try to make it look like it was a cast light from a streetlight outside the garage so it would fade into the foreground, There are a few verticle 'bars' of orange behind and to the left of the mechanic that are a little distracting, so if it were my image, I would probably clone them out. I might also try a little sharpening, maybe even what some would say was a little too much sharpening to give it that 'illustrated' look that can potentially be so effective if done correctly (and just plain ugly if overdone). My final suggestion (and I feel kinda funny about making so many suggestions about an image I really like, but if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have spent so much time looking at it and thinking about it) is that there's a lot of blue, and just maybe your thought of adding a snoot camera right aimed at the car with a little 'warmth' would give a little relief from the blues.

I can't wait to see what you do to this photo as you try stuff to make it even better (feel free to disregard all my suggestion), 'cuz, after all this is a pretty darn good photo just the way it is (I cleaned that comment up for you, Nightski)

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Some interesting comments and suggestions to consider, jonsommer.
I'll play with it some in photoshop and try some of those.
I need to fix my triggering device. The Tallat filter uses a standard double cable release and I had to adapt an electronic one to make it work (the Nikon DF has a std release), but it misfired more than half the time. Back to the drawing board.!
After spending three hours in the garage, my wife made me change my clothes when I came through the door.
Thanks for all your comments.
And a BIG thanks to NightSky for starting this section!

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

So, ok, I give up, what is a tallat filter, anyway?

Edit: never mind, I was finally able to find some references, so now I know. I'm even more impressed with this photo now!

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

I too found it amusing. I'm reminded of a picture of a watchmaker with a watch on his bench and hid hand hovering near a rack of large hammers. The only thing that might have been of amusement from the other end of the scale would have been the mechanic holding up an extremely small (⅛") open end wrench. As to the picture as poster, try substituting an 8 pound single jack sledge. Either this or the original emulates the introduction to a horror show, perhaps enhanced with a sardonic grin on the mechanic's face.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

The link is in the first post, but you already found that.
It's kind of a poor man's Turbo Filter.
http://www.foodportfolio.com/howdedodat/pages/bluetony.html
I'm trying to get back to film days when we shot this stuff w/o any post processing manipulation. jonsummer-I have just done some pseudo HDR to make his face a bit more edgy, a lot of sharpening and I took the distracting yellow things out that were on the left side of the shot ( I planned on doing that anyway)
"Are we there yet?"

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

"Jest as soon as I use these here pliers to straighten the hood ornyment thingy."

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

Sounds jest like him! LOL!

OnDSnap Loc: NE New Jersey

Great separation of subject and background.