Day #4 of 365 Challenge

A little about today's photo. It was an experiment on several levels. The cars are four model cars that my husband received for Christmas. They're replicas of police cars from different eras. From top left, clockwise: 1949 Mercury; 1964 Ford Galaxie; 1940 Ford Deluxe Business Coupe; 1958 Ford Fairlane 500.

First, I've never, ever tried to do any kind of staged photography. The kind of photo where you set up the entire shot from lighting to positioning. It was interesting to say the very least. Being fairly new to this, my equipment list is short. Very short. A camera, a few lenses, some filters. That's it. No backgrounds, no lights, no softboxes. In fact, until about 4 months ago, I'd never even heard of a softbox! So, my setup was very basic. For a background, I put a black silk shirt over a barstool. I used the other barstool to balance the camera. Big mistake. I should have taken the time to use the tripod, but it's in the garage and it is C.O.L.D. in there! I also should have used additional lighting. Lesson learned.

Next came creating the collage. Another adventure into unchartered territory. I think it took longer to create the collage than to actually take the pictures. I use Corel PSP X. It's what I have used for years and while I'm not an expert, I am familiar with it, and it's cheap. I managed to get the four photos collaged, but as you can tell, there is some distortion. I cannot seem to resize without this problem. Trial, error and practice, I guess.

I learned a lot from this experiment. First, I need A LOT of practice! Second, I'd rather spend 30 minutes setting up a shot properly than spend 30 minutes fixing a photo with editing. And finally, I have so much to learn but I'm having a blast in the process and that is what matters. And, when I lack the "correct" equipment, I can make do with items I already have - it pushes me to be creative.

Oh, and always use a tripod...even if it's in the very cold garage.