Daily Photo – Laura In Between
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.
Laura poses against the wall, between the shadows of two window frames.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/500
- Aperture: f/2.8
- ISO: 200
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM
Composition and Processing
- I considered posing Laura away from the wall for this shot, but felt that would turn the background into “wall with shadows”. By moving her directly against the surface, she’s effectively in the same plane as the shadows themselves. The wall almost vanishes as a background, and the shadows now surround her, framing her in the shot. In addition, the angled shadow of the window sill glues the two frames together, along with Laura’s shadow, and breaks up the otherwise north-south lines of just about everything else.
- The shoot with Laura was on a windy, partly cloudy day. That meant constant shifts in exposure, sometimes by as much as three stops. More important, the light was constantly changing from soft to hard and back again, revealing shapes that were otherwise not there. This shot was taken moments before this one, where a passing cloud completely wiped out the shadow frame and turned one edge into a smooth gradient. So while it helps to pay attention to how the character of light changes, it’s worth watching how it reveals or creates new subjects and backgrounds.
Original:
April 08 2009 04:44 pm | Photography
meduza-perduza on 15 Apr 2009 at 1:27 am #
The original tones are splendid also.
KG on 15 Apr 2009 at 11:13 pm #
Thanks. It’s always nice to have good light — there’s so many more processing options later.