Daily Photo – Stampede
The Daily Photo series focuses on the two or three key creative choices, in terms of composition and processing, that go into creating an image. Specific technical details about the shot have been left out — you won’t hear me talking about tone curve adjustments and whatnot unless it was a key component of the end result.
Some runners from the Nike Human Race show off their new shoes.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/2500
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 800
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM (at 16mm)
Composition and Processing
- Sometimes the original looks very little like the final product. When I took this shot, I wanted to emphasize the sheer volume of runners. Using a super wide angle lens allowed me to capture the largest possible number in the frame. However, by shooting at street level I thought I’d effectively double my crowd: there are twice as many feet as people, and at this level the feet are the primary subject. What I didn’t expect was to turn this into a panorama during post processing, where the feet (and legs) became the entire focus of the shot.
- I intentionally lined up the lower edge of the final image along the crack in the pavement. I though it made a great border to the shot and really emphasized the platform the runners are on (not to mention almost lifting the image itself off the background). It does look a little out of place compared to the other three sides though, so I burned in the edges a bit to offset. It doesn’t solve the problem, but does reduce it.
Original:
February 23 2009 08:12 pm | Photography