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Matinee: 'Maserati MC20 Retouching'
5 February 2022
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 434th in our series of Saturday matinees today: Maserati MC20 Retouching.
In just one minute, A.J. Bleyer assembles five images of the interior of a Maserati, adjusting each to add some detail to the overall scene. It's a remarkable demonstration of the power of post processing.
But one minute is just not enough.
It really runs by too quickly. And the audio is just some music with no voice over. Instead, there are subtitles. So you either read the subtitles or look at the images as they flit across the screen.
Which is where we come in.
We'll give you a little synopsis of the whole thing so you can skip the subtitles and concentrate on the edits.
He starts with the observation that it's impossible to get perfect lighting across an automobile's interior. You may have noticed that. Big windows. Deep shadows. Unwanted reflections. Reflections. Specular highlights.
In this case, five photos were used to composite the final image.
The first image is pretty funny but you'll probably miss the humor. The guy who starts the engine so the dashboard screens aren't black has to duck to get out of the shot.
Then in a series of wipes, Bleyer shows you the before and after images of various details. Keep an eye on the highlights and shadows and watch for glare on the controls. And keep your finger on your pointing device so you can click back a few seconds to review what you missed. It goes by way too fast.
The end product is a completely credible environment that you will never experience. And it has none of the exaggeration of an HDR image. It just brings everything into range.
Masterfully.