Working project

[jjeling]

I have been given an assignment by a the Toledo, Division employees at Chrysler. This is my fathers division and Chrysler discontinued ordering calenders for individual divisions. Guys here in town wanted to have one put together, and it fell into my lap. Went there today to get some shots. The weather was not helpful today at all, and the lighting inside the building is terrible. They asked for an image kind of like this, but I have complete freedom in the creative dept. so the sky is really the limit. This is just what Ive done in the past couple hours. They are just ideas and are no final product by any means. Just wanted to get an idea on some rough copies before I put the time and effort into really focusing on one. This will probably not be the only ones Ill submit. I know the quality on these are pretty bad, it these are just thoughts, but if you have ideas, please let me know.

[Mad Aussie]

Needs the Chrysler badge


And I think a border.

Maybe a faded shot of the latest Chrysler flagship ... the 300C or maybe the ME Four-Twelve

Then I'd look at a better way to blend the people in ... it looks a bit ... hmmm ... not sure how to say this politely ... it can be done better. Maybe a gradient mask would work.

[Mad Aussie]

Here's what I mean JJ ...

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u104/Mad-Aussie/09%20photographyca/toledochrysler.jpg

Happy to help guide you through something like this if it appeals and if you need a bit of help with it.

[AcadieLibre]

Yes the first one is too drab, the Mad Aussie one is I think is the direction you should head too. Maybe not that idea but a nice sleek look. Nice look Aussie.

[kat]

Hmmm..I'm agreeing that the first one isn't going to be it. MA is on the right track. When my hubby gets home I'm going to have him take a look..he can take one look at something and get it built up as far as things like this are concerned..that is if you don't mind.

[jjeling]

Thanks guys, yeah could definitely use some help on this. Actually, this division is actually Jeep, the parent company is just Chrysler as you all probably know. I was taking pictures of the truck yard and some of the guys inside the office. The lighting inside is TERRIBLE, yeah, caps lock terrible. I would love to learn how you did that MA or any other techniques you might have. I really don't have that kind of experience with Photoshop. Its always been "take the best picture you can because you wont get much help in photoshop" kind of deal. Ill post a few of the pictures I took yesterday. Some turned out great and others turned out as garbage.
Ok, I'm doing this with much displeasure. Im going to post a couple of the shots I have of the people inside the building, then a couple of the shots I took outside the building along with a few of the trucks. The plow is something they really want in the calender. Not only that, this turns out well, the Detroit Division will also have me put together something for them as well and one of the guys here asked me to do his sons wedding Nov 7. Oh boy. This is the reason I don't shoot people much.

[jjeling]

Here are some of them. These images are good and bad. Mostly bad. haha. anyways to give you an idea of the lighting, the ceiling is about 20ft. There are industrial lights in the ceiling which I believe are flourescent(looks dingy yellow inside). With two lights for each truck, the trucks are about 70 long with the trailor and shine down on the tractor and the rear of the trailor. I wanted to get away without the flash so I did not use it the whole time. Since I will be going back several times I think this time I will have to use it. Anyways, yeah these are complete garbage for the most part but I would like to see what I can do with them.

Thanks again guys.

[jjeling]

The guys enjoyed having me there and it was a good time even if none of the pictures really came out.

The general exif data for the group pictures to give you an idea of the lighting.

Focal Length 70mm
Iso 800
F-number 5
Exposure Time 1/30 sec
Manual White balance

[jjeling]

Not going to kid myself, this group picture is pretty bad. So is the picture of the office.

[Mad Aussie]

Harsh lighting from above there in that group shot ... you needed a ladder dude so they were looking slightly up. That would have helped with the shadows.

Certainly looks like very tough conditions to shoot in!

[jjeling]

Im kind of at a loss for thoughts about these right now. I might have to go back tonight, but the lighting is so bad I might have to wait for a nice day and take everyone outside and put them in front of a truck.

[jjeling]

HAHAHAHA!!! Im terrible at this stuff. It is much easier to get things right in the camera and not worry about PP, especially at this level. Ok, this is essentially what I am trying to acheive, in a really really rough sense. I like MA's version, if anyone can explain how to go about doing things like that.
I have absolutely no knowledge about gradients, everytime I try it makes the whole canvas a two-tone gradient. :D Im familiar with lighting adjustments, cloning, lasso tools, creating layers, healing tool, history brush, dodging, burning, and thats pretty much it. I consider myself pretty good with these, but thats the limit of things. There isnt much of a reason for anything else if the picture is good. Creating images like this are gong to be a major problem.
Again, understand this is garbage and really only represents rough idea. Could really use some help. Thanks.

[kat]

Hey.

Do you have certain logos you want used? Does it have to be that background? I assume you would like to have each individual photo too..? And I'd assume that the gentleman with the glasses would be the boss man..would you like to have it showcased in that way?

[jjeling]

It can be any background. Each person as an individual would be nice as the group picture isnt that great either. I should have gone back tonight but will probably end up going back sometime this week. And yes, that is the boss man. The guy on the far left my old man. This is basically the company's carrier management for Toledo. There are another 100 guys in the division as drivers, but these guys do all the dispatch and coordination of truck loads. Reason for the pictures of the trucks is because that is what they are managing for Toledo.

[kat]

hey all

my wife asked me to whip somethin up here... although im thinkin your gonna need to get some different photo's to really make this pop. This is just a quick layout though using your group shot and then grabbing an image from google. Feel free to use any or none of the ideas. Hopefully it helps give you some direction with your calender and if i can help anymore let my wife know and she ll pass the word on to me.

Cheers

Pete Chickloski ( Kat's man hehe )

[jjeling]

Nice job Pete. This is really nice. Really would like to learn how to do stuff like this. Kat you were right, he is THE MAN. haha. I think this might be a little easier for me to try out than MA's version. Tried doing that and I felt like a crippled plane. This seems more attainable. Thanks for the help again.

[kat]

kats hubby again... thank you

easiest thing ya can do in design is to just keep it simple. Work within your limitations and if you need help... its there, either from me or im sure, others on this forum.

Cheers