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ASSIGNMENT DETAILS:
• Purpose: Ziesemer Family Publishers is looking for a cover image for a new study course they are publishing called, The Art of Hymn Playing on the Piano.
• Request: A picture of a grand piano in artistic, studio-like atmosphere.
• Special Instructions: All photos of grand pianos (baby grand pianos are acceptable as well) will be considered. However, since the title of the study course has to do with art, consider photos of grand pianos with a creative or artistic touch. Ideas include photographic things that may not necessarily even be a grand piano but that depict one, such as a painter’s easel with a painting of a grand piano on it (either in progress or completed), or perhaps a wood carving of a piano or something of the sort. Regardless of what artistic approach is taken, it should certainly give the first impression of a book on music, not a book on art or wood carving. ZFP prefers a bright, light feel; perhaps in a room with lots of natural window light.
• Orientation: Vertical. Book cover will be 9×12 inches.
• Photo Specs: Submit RAW, DNG or JPG files at least 3600 pixels longest edge. Edit however you like.
• How to Submit:
1) Upload originals or DNGs to this link. No watermarks.
2) Attach JPGs less than 8MB in size in reply to this topic (especially if you would like them to be critiqued).
• Remuneration: Lenspiration members will receive $27 if their photo is chosen!
• Terms: By submitting your photo(s) on this forum, you agree to the terms outlined in the STS Photo Assignment Agreement.
• Deadline: Midnight Saturday, December 7, 2019 (or until this topic is no longer highlighted yellow).LEARN HOW:
Watch how I shot this assignment and get related training on how to shoot it yourself at, On Assignment: In Search of a Grand Piano!WATCH CRITIQUE:
Watch the photos submitted for this assignment get critiqued live by registering for the December 10 Photo Critique Webinar!
- This topic was modified 55 years, 4 months ago by .
It wasn’t the ideal of locations, but I feel like I got some shots that could work! Maybe with a little more detailed editing, to make the backgrounds less distracting and remove the black objects in the bottom right corner? I took the same angle under different lighting in case the Ziesemers wanted a brighter look.
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Is black & white ok? Would having music on the piano work? Or would they possibly want a person in the photo? (learning how to play piano?)
Here are a couple of options. Can the vertical use a horizontal image along with other design including the name, etc. to get to vertical?
Hi @elianafranzenburg, I’ll pass these questions on the ZFP and reply back here!
Hi @thekarrzgmail-com, it doesn’t look like your photos completed uploading. If you can not get small JPGs to upload here on the forum, feel free to use this link to share them with me.
Yes, it is true that the designer could use a horizontal image when designing a vertical cover. They may not choose to use the photo to cover the entire background. So, yes you may submit horizontal photos. However, I think it would be better to compose shots vertically anyway leaving blank space where text and design elements could go, just in case the designer likes your photo and still wants to use it full page.
Ok @elianafranzenburg, we’ve got an answer from the Ziesemers!
“I don’t think that we would choose a black and white photo for the front cover of the book.
Music on the piano might work. I think that if we did that it should be a hymnal and also it would be better not to be able to see what parti piece or hymnal it was.
I don’t think that we should have a person in the picture.
If you have any other questions let me know. Looking forward to seeing the submissions.”
We had a baby grand piano at home so I moved some furniture and took a shot at it. I had a hard time with the lighting though. The light from the window was not very good, also the lamps and the flash were making bad reflections on the piano. I enjoyed trying anyway!
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That is a beautiful little grand piano @greta-kennedy! Couple questions….. Could you try shooting without flash, and use instead a tripod and a long shutter speed? Do you have a very powerful flashlight? Are there white ceilings? Also, could you shoot it at the piano’s “eye level”, instead of shooting down on it? Are you able to step back and zoom in at all?
At the risk of asking a dumb question…
Is there any way to get a longer edge on a photo other than using a higher resolution camera? When shooting in RAW and RAW + Large quality, the longest edge we could get was 3456 pixels.
If there is no way to up this resolution, either in-camera or in post processing, would ZFP consider a photo if it had less resolution than what was stated in the details?Great question, @elmullet! 3456px longest edge is close enough.
We get the 3600px number by multiplying the number of inches we want to print (12 inches) by the density of pixels per inch that’s best for viewing a printed image (300 pixels per inch). However, it could be that the designer may not actually end up using the photo to cover the entire background (thus being printed at smaller than 12 inches), and even if he does, the print quality is still acceptable at a lower ppi (so, like 250 ppi can still look pretty good). Furthermore, if needed, some images (especially if taken in RAW) can be up-sampled in post processing fairly well, which brings me to the conclusion that 3456px longest edge would be sufficient.
I was excited to see this assignment come out, no only because we happen to have a grand piano in our music room, but also because we recently purchased some music albums by the Ziesemer family, and have enjoyed listening to them.😁 Unfortunately, there is little space around our grand piano for it to look like it’s in a studio, but it was a good exercise to work with difficult lighting and placement! (Grand pianos aren’t the easiest to move…!😂) Anyways, I look forward to having them critiqued. (Special thanks to Mom for encouraging me to move all the instruments that we usually have around the piano so that I could try a second time for better composition.)
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