Archive for June, 2009
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.
Shari in mid-movement during a KDH Dance Company rehearsal last fall.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/500
- Aperture: f/2
- ISO: 800
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
Composition and Processing
- When shooting backlit subjects, I find that shape and form figure more prominently in the composition. Even in cases like this where the foreground has been pushed up a couple stops, the detail isn’t very strong and the shot relies predominantly on Shari’s “question mark” shape in transition.
- It would be tempting to blow out the background completely and let the floor vanish into the distance. That may have worked here, but often times it leaves the shot unbalanced due to the remaining floor. So I left in faint elements of the wall. If the fade is in the shorter dimension though, it’s less of an issue and can work well (as in this other KDH Dance Company shot).
- Backlighting can sometimes help in mixed lighting situations. If you look at the original, there’s window light and overhead flourescents in the scene (along with tungsten track lights that are off). At this angle, the window light is overwhelming everything else, but the subject is being lit more by the flourescents (or a mix of flourescents and back wall bounce). That nicely separates the lighting types though and is a bit easier to deal with than shooting with the windows to the side. In that circumstance there’d be an ugly transition of light from natural (as it falls off) to flourescent, with the latter varying in intensity and color as it cycles.
Original:
June 15 2009 | Photography | No Comments »
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.
I’m back after a brief hiatus: my apartment flooded about a week ago. Nothing of note was damaged (read: camera equipment and photographs), but I was displaced for several days, and it took some time to get computers and whatnot hooked back up.
This shot: Leslie poses in front of the east wall of Lambert’s in downtown Austin.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/250
- Aperture: f/2
- ISO: 200
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 50mm F/1.2L USM
Composition and Processing
- This was supposed to be part of a composite shot using an out-of-focus background subject against the wall with Leslie in the foreground. I wanted Leslie facing the camera, but with an awareness of the other subject. To achieve that, I asked her to give me a more whimsical, light smile and to act like she knew the other person was there but was ignoring them (which led to the head tilt and shoulder posture). There wasn’t anyone there, of course, either in the original take or the final result. I wasn’t happy with the distance of the second subject, so I ditched the composite. I did like Leslie’s pose though, and since the background texture was interesting enough I thought the single shot worked by itself. Since a composite shot requires each shot to turn out well, it’s not unusual for the individual components to be good photographs in their own right.
- The slight tilt to the right in post made the shot more dynamic and even added a hint of implied motion to Leslie (she was perfectly still for this shot). It also helped enhance the the bend in the neck and hips relative to the original. Tilting right made the most sense since her head is leaning left, balancing the shot.
Original:
June 14 2009 | Photography | No Comments »
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.
Jamie casts a somewhat different shadow on an adjacent pillar.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/500
- Aperture: f/4
- ISO: 100
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM
Composition and Processing
- The goal here was to show two representations of the subject: one actual and one shadow. You can kind of see Jamie’s mohawk, but only just. Her shadow is much more revealing. Your eye starts with her as the brighter subject, then tracks over to the shadow (where more information is revealed). In hindsight, I probably should have removed the mohawk in photoshop and just let it show in full on the pillar; that would have created more contrast.
- The pose here is less about the dramatic angle and is purely functional. I placed her against the wall to get her close to the shadow and keep it sharp. Having her look up and to the left created more space for the shadow to appear unobscured, and the particular tilt of the head let the shadow fall in almost perfect profile on the pillar. The lines also progressed more smoothly from subject to shadow, starting with Jamie’s braids and proceeding through her chest and shadow representation of the same (all running from upper left to lower right).
- Cropping this tighter removed two distractions: the excessive length of the shadow and body, which were giving a heavy feel to the bottom of the image; and Jamie’s slightly protruding belly, due to the arch in her back for the shot.
Original:
June 02 2009 | Photography | No Comments »