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a photo of the Kesslan Panther WIP. ( for 
kesslan
do photographers notice it seems to be extremely difficult to photograph black fur or fursuit ? i used some white fur here for a background, then had to lighten up the levels of the photo in photoshop to be able to see the fur texture of the black fur. :P
kesslan do photographers notice it seems to be extremely difficult to photograph black fur or fursuit ? i used some white fur here for a background, then had to lighten up the levels of the photo in photoshop to be able to see the fur texture of the black fur. :P
Category All / All
Species Panther
Size 1200 x 1071px
File Size 241.8 kB
I personally love all black suits or at least suits that are mostly black. I tend to shy away from them because getting them looking good in photos tends to be hit or miss, specially at cons. New suit idea I have might have a lot of black but need to see how to add it in and not totally look like a fur blob :P
You really just need a good lighting source from what I've found. With enough light the fur actually shines a little and thus is easy to see, otherwise if it's too dark out you get the 'blob' effect. Thus why there's not too many photos of my other suit where you can actually see anything.
Black fur (or indeed, anything black) is indeed very hard to photograph.
There's a few tricks to use....
* I've seen a few people use almost-black but not ACTUAL black, and use shades of very dark colour (airbrushed) to increase the contrast of the contours, which will help it photograph alongside normal suits I guess.
* You can overexpose the image, like you've done there.
* Or you can use the glossiness of the fur and a rimlight/hairlight to reflect off of the fur, which allows the gloss to define the shape of the critter; eg:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotowelle/4288129755/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/304921.....05/3836268147/
http://image.shutterstock.com/displ.....ng-2423330.jpg
There's "hints" of this in your above photo, actually - On the eyebrows, in particular, the glossy fur helps to define the shape somewhat. Glossier fur would have a stronger effect. (Matte black would be impossible to photograph, mind you. Probably why the F-117A Nighthawk is matte black. ;)
Cute kitty, though! :)
There's a few tricks to use....
* I've seen a few people use almost-black but not ACTUAL black, and use shades of very dark colour (airbrushed) to increase the contrast of the contours, which will help it photograph alongside normal suits I guess.
* You can overexpose the image, like you've done there.
* Or you can use the glossiness of the fur and a rimlight/hairlight to reflect off of the fur, which allows the gloss to define the shape of the critter; eg:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotowelle/4288129755/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/304921.....05/3836268147/
http://image.shutterstock.com/displ.....ng-2423330.jpg
There's "hints" of this in your above photo, actually - On the eyebrows, in particular, the glossy fur helps to define the shape somewhat. Glossier fur would have a stronger effect. (Matte black would be impossible to photograph, mind you. Probably why the F-117A Nighthawk is matte black. ;)
Cute kitty, though! :)
I so agree, hard to get a good photo of 
daemeon since he is partly black in color, and the colors show better when he is caught on the "right" side
daemeon since he is partly black in color, and the colors show better when he is caught on the "right" side 
Trust me, Firestorm is awesome to work with and worth every penny. Not to mention, unlike others I've dealt with, he's really easy to get a hold of and actually gets back to you. The builder of my previous suit flat out ignored my attempts to contact him etc and it took two years to get a basically unfinished suit from em too (Lion of the Sun).
I'm ecstatic to see what the end result of this will be by comparison.
I'm ecstatic to see what the end result of this will be by comparison.
Not at this point in time no.
The first builder I was dealing with (Lion of the Sun) supposedly tried and failed, though I've yet to ever see any real solid conclusive proof he actually did anything other than build a shoddy overpriced suit for more than what Firestorm is charging me for one that's actually decently made. Sadly Firestorm wasn't making suits at the time or I'd have gone to him first and I probably could have come up with some sort of armour with his help.
As it presently stands this is just going to be a standard fursuit I can use as a full or partial with a few spiffy things thrown in. Once I have the actual money to take another shot at it again I'll likely start talking to him about making the armour in question.
The first builder I was dealing with (Lion of the Sun) supposedly tried and failed, though I've yet to ever see any real solid conclusive proof he actually did anything other than build a shoddy overpriced suit for more than what Firestorm is charging me for one that's actually decently made. Sadly Firestorm wasn't making suits at the time or I'd have gone to him first and I probably could have come up with some sort of armour with his help.
As it presently stands this is just going to be a standard fursuit I can use as a full or partial with a few spiffy things thrown in. Once I have the actual money to take another shot at it again I'll likely start talking to him about making the armour in question.
Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind a Halo suit either. I'm a big fan of Sci-Fi armour in general, but when it really boils down to it, I actually loathe how people these days instantly say 'OMG that looks like Halo!' now when ever they see a powersuit, even though the HALO suits borrow very heavily from other stories, images and ideas that existed at least twenty years before it was even thought up.
While they certainly offer a unique setting and found ways to make their own suits more or less unique you can find many of the concepts behind the Spartan armour in the old Terminator PC video games where your going around as a powersuited soldier as well. The style is different to be sure, as is the weaponry, but for example the various technologies used to defend against enemy weaponry is very similar to identical to some of the features in the Spartan suits (Shielding, various protective layers etc). And the Terminator franchise was hardly the first to come up with it either, but it is one of many good example. Hell Starwars is also full of other good examples.
That said Halo does have a really good story behind it and I love the games, and even the books are pretty good, but yeah... I just hate that people seem to think Halo invented it all or something.
While they certainly offer a unique setting and found ways to make their own suits more or less unique you can find many of the concepts behind the Spartan armour in the old Terminator PC video games where your going around as a powersuited soldier as well. The style is different to be sure, as is the weaponry, but for example the various technologies used to defend against enemy weaponry is very similar to identical to some of the features in the Spartan suits (Shielding, various protective layers etc). And the Terminator franchise was hardly the first to come up with it either, but it is one of many good example. Hell Starwars is also full of other good examples.
That said Halo does have a really good story behind it and I love the games, and even the books are pretty good, but yeah... I just hate that people seem to think Halo invented it all or something.
Lovely work, as always!
And you're absolutely right about how much of a pain it is to photograph dark/black fur (or any other dark object with lots of detail)!
Here's a few tips this wuff has used when working his own photography:
"Spot" meter on the fur, if your camera offers the option, instead of using the wide-field automatic metering. The meter will 'weight' to the lighter/brighter areas because they reflect more light toward the viewer, and leave the dark areas under exposed.
Try to avoid bright or light-colored backgrounds. It forces your image to spread the available luminance range across the full span of dark to light. Using somewhat darker backgrounds will allow you to concentrate on the range that's most important (the darker subject) without driving the brightest levels into saturation or "blooming".
Light, light, and more light! Consider using fill flash even when shooting in daylight or brightly lit room. If you have it, side lights and back fill can highlight the subject and separate it from the background (often a problem with dark subjects and background), and the side light can pull up high lights and details a flat front light loses. Since details are easy to lose in dark subjects, that's more important than in "easier" subjects.
If all else fails, post-process and concentrate your input to output range in the darker values to pull what little detail you might have captured out of the shadows. Be careful not to just crank up the brightness, or you'll drive the lighter areas into saturation once again. Be cautious in how you apply those edits, or you can push the darker ranges into noticable 'steps and plateaus'.
Hope this is a little help.
And you're absolutely right about how much of a pain it is to photograph dark/black fur (or any other dark object with lots of detail)!
Here's a few tips this wuff has used when working his own photography:
"Spot" meter on the fur, if your camera offers the option, instead of using the wide-field automatic metering. The meter will 'weight' to the lighter/brighter areas because they reflect more light toward the viewer, and leave the dark areas under exposed.
Try to avoid bright or light-colored backgrounds. It forces your image to spread the available luminance range across the full span of dark to light. Using somewhat darker backgrounds will allow you to concentrate on the range that's most important (the darker subject) without driving the brightest levels into saturation or "blooming".
Light, light, and more light! Consider using fill flash even when shooting in daylight or brightly lit room. If you have it, side lights and back fill can highlight the subject and separate it from the background (often a problem with dark subjects and background), and the side light can pull up high lights and details a flat front light loses. Since details are easy to lose in dark subjects, that's more important than in "easier" subjects.
If all else fails, post-process and concentrate your input to output range in the darker values to pull what little detail you might have captured out of the shadows. Be careful not to just crank up the brightness, or you'll drive the lighter areas into saturation once again. Be cautious in how you apply those edits, or you can push the darker ranges into noticable 'steps and plateaus'.
Hope this is a little help.
Love this kitty! Beautiful work, highly considering a partial from Stormfire Studios. I would have no doubt you'd make Lilith into an amazing work of art, just as you have with Kesslan here. Hoping to attend FE as well so maybe I'll get a chance to chat with you in person!
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