Creating a complex illustration for publication

[ddd]

For those of you who do not frequent the photography sub-forums, I thought it
would be interesting to see a complex knife full page illustration in the making....

In all my books I create every page from the beginning, using knives that are either
already part of a good photograph or knives shot especially for these projects.

Most of the knife pictures in my books are based on Eric Eggly's (PointSeven) original
pictures. Without his amazing high quality knife photography I would have never even
considered beginning to create my books on the world of modern custom knives....
We have, over the last 6 years, created a very special relationship that sometimes
occurs between two professionals who think alike and work together to create
the ultimate end product.

I have made things easier for Eric in my books, "The Great Collections" and more
recently in Edmund Davidson's book as well as in Tim Hancock's forthcoming
publication. Eric shoots for me each knife on a smooth grey background with
a ruler, using his sophisticated illumination techniques and a 39 MP camera...
He then sends me these RAW files that hold in them a quality beyond words,
to deal with myself.

Taking the knife pictures from there, I plan and design each page layout, combining
several separate images "picking" them off their grey backgrounds, color-contrast-brightness
correcting them, creating their shadows and a new background.
Sometimes, like in the samples below, this process of creating one page is complete only
after several hours. Here it took longer because it was quite a challenge to fit four knives
and two neck sheaths on one page. I actually had to shorten and twist the lanyard
cords to fit everything in nicely...... Look at the 4 original shots and try to imagine how
I enjoyed finishing this visual puzzle, one of many hundreds I have been involved with
in my books on custom knives.....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

From my forthcoming book: "Tim Hancock, the Art of the Western Bladesmith"

 

[allankidd]

Thank you for that fascinating explanation. The end result is awesome! By the way, I have 4 of the 5 books in your signature and am looking forward to buying the Edmund Davidson book soon. I was fortunate enough to buy a knife from Edmund last year. It is one of my favorites.

Best regards,
Allan

 

[ddd]

Here is one more example of building one page layout over a period
of two months....
At first, among the pictures I received from Eric, I found three of these
knives that design-wise looked good together. So, I created the page
with three knives and an enlarged view of one of them.

Later on I received the picture of one more knife that just had to go on
the same page - so I changed things around and added a 4th piece.

Two months later I added the 5th knife to complete the full page illustration
for Edmund Davidson's book....

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

From my book: "Edmund Davidson, The art of the Integral Knife"

 

[Joss]

David,

That's interesting. Does Eric take the pictures on a neutral grey background, like the cards used for metering and color balancing?

Also, do you try to keep more or less the knives' orientation as is? If not, how do you deal with perspective?

Thanks,

Joss

 

[Ben B]

maybe a dense question, but where are the photography sub-forums?

 

[Patapsco Mike]

DDD- The images and layout are beautiful, but I'm a little surprised that you don't scale the image sizes to reflect the knife sizes (relative to each other). For instance, on the top image, the top two knives look to be very different in size, when in fact their size is nearly identical. The bottom two knives appear to be about the same size as the biggest of the top two, but in fact they are 2" shorter.

I'm not implying that you are doing anything deceptive. You aren't selling the knives, and there is nothing to be gained by you in what you are doing. I'm sure it helps with getting the layouts to look good- and in some cases it's obvious (like in the last image where one knife is pictured twice). But I just assumed that if you put 6 knives together on a page, they would be sized on the page as they would appear in real life (were they truly all together at one time).

 

[ddd]

DDD- The images and layout are beautiful, but I'm a little surprised that you don't scale the image sizes to reflect the knife sizes (relative to each other). For instance, on the top image, the top two knives look to be very different in size, when in fact their size is nearly identical. The bottom two knives appear to be about the same size as the biggest of the top two, but in fact they are 2" shorter.

Mike, I try my best to have the knives placed together in correct relative sizes.
In the case of these four small knives by Tim Hancock, I think you
are right!!! I moved things around for such a long time that I also
mistook the true relative sizes of two knives!!!
Then I got my eyes used to the final illustration and neglected to re-check.

I shall of course correct this! Thanks for using your keen senses and for
pointing this out to me!!

Please bear in mind that the bottom two knives are closer to the viewer
as the knives were photographed at a slight angle and not directly from above...

See attached...

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[ddd]

David,

That's interesting. Does Eric take the pictures on a neutral grey background, like the cards used for metering and color balancing?

Also, do you try to keep more or less the knives' orientation as is? If not, how do you deal with perspective?

Thanks,

Joss

Great questions, Joss.

1. Eric shoots the knives on a texture-less light grey background. Not as
dark as the photographic neutral grey card. Texture-less so that the
background is reflected evenly from polished surfaces of the knife.

2. There are times when I have to change the angle of the photographed
knife so that it will fit properly on the page. I very carefully use several
of Photoshop's amazing tools (Distortion corrections and Liquify) to
correct this and end up with an eye pleasing result.

But I rarely need to do this as I usually plan the illustrations with knives
that are photographed from very similar view angles.

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

 

[Joss]

Thanks David. I'd love to see a photo of Eric's set up...

 

[ddd]

Joss,

Here is a self portrait Eric made of himself, his 39 MP camera and part of
his knife photography setup.
The trick, among many others, is to understand lighting and to know how
and when to move the lights around....

And of course to have many (MANY!) years of experience as a professional
all around photographer, way back from the days of film.

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)

From my book: "Edmund Davidson, The art of the Integral Knife"

 

[Joss]

Thanks David - this gives me some ideas of the set up. Of course, this is staged and probably not the way he does when actually taking pictures. I wonder how that grey thing is called.

 

[PhilL]

David, I think your work is beautiful, and although my work doesn't compare with yours it is of particular interest to me. I was a professional photographer for many years that had to depend on the skills of a Retoucher to complete my compositions. With Photoshop I can now have complete control over my compositions. To be perfectly honest, it's the work in Photoshop that I prefer more than the photography.

I will often use a closeup of the subject knife as the background for the composition, and work in different views of the knife to make as much use of the space as I can. I try ot get as much information into a single image as I can. I sometimes overdue it and the image can become too busy. But, as long as the composition flows and holds the viewers attention, then I'm pleased.

Most of the time I just try to amuse myself.

 

[ddd]

I will often use a closeup of the subject knife as the background for the composition, and work in different views of the knife to make as much use of the space as I can. I try ot get as much information into a single image as I can. I sometimes overdue it and the image can become too busy. But, as long as the composition flows and holds the viewers attention, then I'm pleased.

You are an artist PhilL. Your subjects are knives and your beautifully used
brush is Photoshop....
Your professional experience shines through, and believe me I understand
your joy in dealing with digital media using Photoshop!

All the best,
David Darom (ddd)