RE: Equipment illustrations; was: Re: How do hiring companies view TW resumes?

["Al Geist" <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>]

Paul Goble wrote:

"...it's easy to implement something similar to the chroma key
("green screen") backgrounds used by TV weathercasters.  I've been
draping a bright red plastic tablecloth behind the product.  Then in
Photoshop, I use the color range selection tool to create a selection
from anything red.  The selection then becomes the mask for a gradient
fill layer, instantly replacing the red with a background of my
choice. This masking process is very quick, even when the tablecloth
is wrinkled and unevenly lit.

If room lighting is poor, a bounce flash, using a Styrofoam cup as a
diffuser, is often sufficient."

When your product is a multi-module system using robots to move materials
around, and it's built in a clean room environment, or when it's a piece of
large machinery, draping something with a red or green plastic tablecloth is
out of the question. In my case, a bounce flash doesn't work, but painting
with a flashlight does.

As with Technical Writing, each photograph challenge has a unique solution.
With digital cameras, the proof of concept is immediate, so experiment.
However, I also believe that in many cases, the use of CAD models offers the
best solution. I use Photoshop extensively to highlight or remove what I
don't want in my image, whether they are photographs or line art.

Al Geist
Technical Communicator, Help, Web Design, Video, Photography
Office/Msg: 802-872-9190
Cell: 802-578-3964
E-mail: al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com
Website: www.geistassociates.com
See Also:
Fine Art Photography
Website: www.geistarts.com
 
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without a destination, I figured, than to cross the wrong threshold each
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