Before and After — Doa at the Rail
The Before and After 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.
Doa leans on the railing in downtown Austin.
Exposure
- Shutter: 1/125
- Aperture: f/2.0
- ISO: 400
- Camera: Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III
- Lens: Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM
Composition
- The background was intentionally chosen for two reasons: first, to set the subject in context and suggest height; second, to make use of the blue pool as a contrasting color (which separates better from Doa’s skin tones than the reddish concrete). The various background and railing lines were convenient too, converging on the upper right corner where Doa’s face is.
- Punching up the exposure did more than just improve subject visibility. It completely changed the perception of the environment. This was shot after the sun went down, but looks as though it’s simply an overcast day. With all the new high ISO SLRs, I imagine we’ll see much more of this (and more extreme).
Original:
February 28 2010 07:08 pm | Uncategorized
Felix on 04 Mar 2010 at 5:10 am #
I really like your work… it is an inspiration!!! :)
KG on 05 Mar 2010 at 10:30 am #
Thanks, glad you like it. There’s been a bit of a lag this week due to travel, but I’ll have another one up tonight.