Heroes and Villains of Kimono Troop Command

I was wondering what you used for background. Looks so natural and not like some photos I've seen where the figure is superimposed so obviously onto the background. Wonderful!

Melancholia wrote:

I was wondering what you used for background.  Looks so natural and not like some photos I've seen where the figure is superimposed so obviously onto the background.  Wonderful!

There sixare things to be remembered when attempting this technique.

1. The background should be printed on mat paper so as to avoid unwanted reflections.
2. The background needs to be sufficiently large that it can be placed at 10-12 inches behind the figures so as to provide depth of field.
3. The lighting direction needs to match what is in the background photo.
4. Lighting must be placed in such a was as to not cast shadows from the figures or foreground images onto the backdrop.
5. The backdrop itself must properly lit.
6. The photo must be shot using the same relative perspective as was used to shoot the background image.

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

Melancholia wrote:

I was wondering what you used for background.  Looks so natural and not like some photos I've seen where the figure is superimposed so obviously onto the background.  Wonderful!

There sixare things to be remembered when attempting this technique.

1. The background should be printed on mat paper so as to avoid unwanted reflections.
2. The background needs to be sufficiently large that it can be placed at 10-12 inches behind the figures  so as to provide depth of field.
3. The lighting direction needs to match what is in the background photo.
4. Lighting must be placed in such a was as to not cast shadows from the figures or foreground images onto the backdrop.
5. The backdrop itself must properly lit.
6. The photo must be shot using the same relative perspective as was used to shoot the background image.

Great tips and photos!

The ble effect works really well in those pics Gary!

BAMComix wrote:

The ble effect works really well in those pics Gary!

What is "ble?"

Fantastic shots Gary .

The Hasegawa Twins, Suki (left) and Hoshi (right)

The Hasegawa twins are late arrivals to Kimono Station, having been assigned there by General Nishizumi of SIMON HQ; Hoshi, because it was thought she could be of  genuine help to Commander Takahara, and Suki, just to send her some place far away and be rid of her.  Their family and most of their friends were vaporized in a Kaiju attack , which was covered up in the world-wide news as "a severe earthquake," and Hoshi further lost her boyfriend during a zombie outbreak, which was covered up as a Tsunami.  Both are experienced Kaiju fighters and zombie killers. They are also both nosy, snoopy types who think nothing of spying on others, and are both fairly convinced that Alexandra (Lexxi) Scott of Field Station 42 is a long-lost cousin unaware of her Japanese roots.

Of the two, Suki is the more troublesome, having severe anger management issues and a tendency towards kleptomania.  She holds a masters degree in geology, is a trained photographer who used her credentials as such as cover in her role as a SIMON agent. She habitually dresses like a Japanese school girl, even at the age of 26. Despite her often crazy antics, deep down inside she is a very sweet, somewhat damaged individual who craves a normal life.

Weapons of choice: Supressed Walther PPK, M4 carbine, naval cutlass, fragmentation grenades.

Alignment: Chaotic Good.

Hoshi is somewhat more grounded than Suki, but nonetheless has issues of her own. Unlike Suki who deeply craves a normal relationship with a single male, Hoshi tends towards sexual promiscuity, hard drinking and partying.  She is friendly, outgoing, evenly tempered and committed to keeping Suki, whom she loves very much,  out of trouble as much as she can, though often ends up being a willing part of Suki's antics.  

Weapons of Choice: M4 carbine, Glock 17, M20 "Super Bazooka,"

Alignment: Chaotic Good.

Note: Both are remorseless about killing enemies, and very efficient at it, which is why Commander Takahara tolerates them.

Happy-go-lucky, sexually promiscuous, remorseless killers -- wow!  Kinda makes me wish I'd made more adventurous choices earlier in my life.

Reality seems so dull by comparison.

I see you are using the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) personality alignment system. It occurred to me to apply it to one of my characters, and then I decided it might be a useful way to summarize the personality types of all my characters.

FIELD STATION 42 wrote:

Happy-go-lucky, sexually promiscuous, remorseless killers -- wow!  Kinda makes me wish I'd made more adventurous choices earlier in my life.

Reality seems so dull by comparison.

I see you are using the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) personality alignment system. It occurred to me to apply it to one of my characters, and then I decided it might be a useful way to summarize the personality types of all my characters.

I’m copying off you. You’ve copied so much off me, I figured it was my turn.

Really nice shots Gary of K-Troop.

Did no-one notice the grenade in Suki's left hand? We've seen what she does with guns already....does anyone want her playing with grenades?

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

Did no-one notice the grenade in Suki's left hand?

 Errr... no, actually, I didn't notice, even though the dark-coloured grenade is nicely centered and framed by the light shades of the waterfall in the background. Photographically, the grenade is well presented, and the figure is posed as though she is casually toying with the explosive, tossing it lightly up and down like one does with a baseball... sorry, cricket ball.

Effectively presented though it may be, I must admit that I find my eyes inevitably drawn to Hoshi's camo-pattern bikini briefs; in particular, to the flirty way in which the tie strap sits low on her right hip (screen left).

If I try to analyze my own eye movements, when I click on to this pic I first see Suki's cute face. Her head tilt and the angle of her chin should, in theory, lead the eye directly to the grenade; but my own eye "skips over" the middle part of the photo to Hoshi's belt. My eye lands on the hip, moves up the belt (screen right) and back, taking in the camo brief, then proceeds down the slim, sexy leg with the thigh holster. The leg leads the eye out of the frame at the bottom.

Again, in theory, there is a well-designed 1-2-3 visual pattern here: face - grenade - belt-on-hip; perhaps it is the "busy tangle" of straps on the thigh holster that tempts the eye to gloss over the grenade at screen center as attention shifts to Hoshi.

That's my attempt to analyze how I "see" this picture. Obviously, anything as subjective as "seeing" is influenced by many factors, including personal interests, sensitivity to colors, and the relative abundance or scarcity (in my case) of real-world super-hot babes in one's life.

Oh, and... this forum (and all the others) is DEADER THAN DEAD on the weekends - Friday, Saturday, Sunday - with Saturday afternoon through all of Sunday being the absolute slowest - so there's really no point in posting anything you want to be seen or interacted with on those days.

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

Did no-one notice the grenade in Suki's left hand? We've seen what she does with guns already....does anyone want her playing with grenades?

I noticed the grenade in Suki's left hand.


I definitely wouldn’t trust Suki with grenades

Great shot Gary or Diablos, and a really cool character bio. I think Nick would've been proud to see his character live on .

Fantastic and fascinating back-story you've created! This is exactly the type of character that would have completely captured my imagination when I was eight or nine years old... which means I am completely captivated by your version of Doctor Diablos today! Such a cool-looking interpretation of the figure, and a riveting backstory for the character!

That is a great backstory.

Kim-Jong-Dong