My band's debut album cover

[Thomas G]

Tristin,
thank you for the making of explanation. That's some effort you spend there!
The picture suits your music well, as I might state after listening to the tracks.

Thanks for sharing.

[Gary]

It was a bonfire.  I found the only way to get a decent sized reflection was to be really close to the fire and the fire had to be really big.  Then for the fire to come from the pupil, the subject had to stare directly into the heart of the fire while holding their eyes open.  The we would squirt lighter fluid into the fire while we cracked pictures out and cross our fingers for a good one.  Oh, and it had to be at night to avoid unwanted reflections in the eye.  Combine all that with shooting on a stopped down 180mm macro whilst focusing on the eye of someone squirming and trying to stay still in a lot of heat . . . . haha.  Took over a thousand shots to get this one!

Good story. In this case, I think the minimalization of post is a hard row to hoe. It would have been much easier just to photoshop the image. Kudos for you and your crew to figure it all out and execute same ... The hard way.  (There are times, when getting it right in the camera, makes one appreciate post processing/manipulation.) I imagine the effort, pain and good times resulting in this album cover will generate the seeds for the songs of your next album.

[Tristin]

Photoshopping it would indeed have been easier and faster, just like using triggers, clicks and piles of punch-ins like everyone does would have made our album much easier to make.  Tech provided shortcuts and trickery has really degraded the arts.  It's not just the product of the work, it's the heart that went into it.  That seems to have gotten lost along the way when computer tech exploded. 

Will many, if any, know the amount of time and work that went into the photo, rather than it being photoshopped?  Probably not.  Sadly, most challengjng things in art that are actually accomplished now days are assumed to be fake to a large degree.  But, that doesn't change the fact that going about your art with less shortcuts and more honest work puts you in a different mindset, makes you appreciate the art more and inevitably improves your art. 

[Gary]

Photoshopping it would indeed have been easier and faster, just like using triggers, clicks and piles of punch-ins like everyone does would have made our album much easier to make.  Tech provided shortcuts and trickery has really degraded the arts.  It's not just the product of the work, it's the heart that went into it.  That seems to have gotten lost along the way when computer tech exploded. 

Will many, if any, know the amount of time and work that went into the photo, rather than it being photoshopped?  Probably not.  Sadly, most challengjng things in art that are actually accomplished now days are assumed to be fake to a large degree.  But, that doesn't change the fact that going about your art with less shortcuts and more honest work puts you in a different mindset, makes you appreciate the art more and inevitably improves your art.

I agree 100%. Most/many people look for quick and easy and think that 'good-enough' is 'good' and often it is not. Most/many photographers cannot differentiate between and when photoshop is a tool and when it is a crutch.

[Jørgen Ramskov]

Impressive shot, I like it and what an effort it took. The music is a bit too extreme for my taste.

[golunvolo]

Excellent result and work philosophy. Refreshing to hear about it. Thanks!

[Erik Lund]

Nice image You definitely didn't make it easy for yourselves shooting this...