Willsy

Joy Ride

Canon EOS 550D

settings

Aperture f/3.5 ISO 200

upload_date

Jul, 2012

Views

1421

Likes

+54

Awards

Top Shot Award 22

Featured

Peer Award

+260

Outstanding Creativity

+15

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Choice

Superior Skill

Genius

All Star

Exceptional Contrast

Superb Composition

Magnificent Capture

Emotions

Happy

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 3

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo at the end of a long unused country road in Springvale, Central Otago in New Zealand. Few if any cars ever travel this road because it basically goes to nowhere.

Time

This shoot actually spanned most of an afternoon taking about 3-4 hours to complete, the actual chosen shot was taken around 3pm in the afternoon.

Lighting

There was nothing special to mention about the lighting my sole priority was to turn the crazy idea in my head into a comical photo parody for people to enjoy, I was just pleased it was a fine day.

Equipment

Hmmm, it's hard to know where to start with this shot because I used almost everything in my photographic arsenal going as far as flipping what some would call "conventional use" on its head with some equipment . I actually built a rig attached to my car using my own tripod, some duct tap and a rope! It's hard to describe so I took progress photos as I built it. (**Note to Viewbug; you are welcome to these photo if you wish to publish this article**) My tripod hung horizontally off the left hand side of my car allowing my camera to dangle steadily and securely about 2.5 meters out over the road whilst driving. The camera was mounted to face back toward the car and a wide angle lens adapter was used to capture as much of the scene as possible and achieve the funky wide bend look. I triggered the shutter using a small infrared remote in my hand and I used a bounce flash with diffuser to light the shaded side of the car because there was a lot of back light.

Inspiration

I actually took this photo as a creative piece for a photography competition; it didn't win but I'm more than happy with the result because the competition gave me enough inspiration and drive to produce such a wacky photo that now hangs on my wall at home and the walls of a few local businesses as a much talked about favorite. My wife Caz helped me with the shoot by driving the car as I hung from the rear window with my tongue out so I owe a lot to her for making this possible, but the real star of the show was our Samoyed dog Archie. Archie slouched in the drivers seat, paws on the staring wheel and eyes on the road like a seasoned pro; only difference being a compulsive drooling disorder.

Editing

I knew from the get go that this photo was never going to be possible without the help of post-processing but this doesn't bother me because it's suppose to be a fictional piece after all. This photo was broken up into 4 individual components for easier shooting; the background mountains and sky, the car, the dog and lastly myself. I chose to shoot each component separately so I could layer them in post production and use them to best effect; because the camera perspective never changed layering wasn't a problem, this is a similar process to that used in movie special effects. The reason I chose to do it this way was because there were too many individual factors that could go wrong or prove difficult to achieve in harmony with everything else. For example getting the dog to pose correctly was a feat in itself, this had to be done whilst parked and my wife propped Archie up through the drivers seat window. Capturing a steady and aesthetic background shot whilst moving was also a challenge, either too much or too little motion blur, not enough road in the shot or no mountains, something was always off so it took many restarts. These were just some of the many problematic factors I faced hence why they needed to be shot individually, as a result of shooting like this I ended up with about 120 photos to produce the final composite with, sorting through them was not fun. Once the best shots were selected post processing basically consisted of cropping each component on to its own layer and building the image up from the background, I also had to erase my wife and parts of my tripod which were visible in the shot. Lastly I had replaced my left hand with a another copy of my hand that wasn't holding the infrared remote. After polishing the layers I tweaked the colors and contrasts a little and called it done.

In my camera bag

I normally pack my bag according to my needs on the day but when I take everything my bag will contain my Canon EOS 550D and 18-135mm IS zoom lens, a bounce flash for those dimly lit areas, a remote shutter trigger for when I need the steadiest of shots, my very handy B-Grip belt, my tripod when/if I need it, a variable ND Grad filter and UV filter, lens cleaning kit, two spare batteries and a spare SD Card.

Feedback

This is not a shoot I'd do often, I wouldn't rule out doing another because the result was very rewarding but it required a little too much work. For anyone looking to try something similar I'd certainly suggest having a plan before you start, know exactly what you want the finished image to look like in your head first and think about the possible problem factors and how to tackle them to avoid making things up as you go. Obviously the more you can achieve through the lens the better but take note that shoots like this are not one shot wonders so expect to be spending a bit of time in front of your computer screen too.

See more amazing photos, follow Willsy

Willsy

Willsy

Joy Ride

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Willsy

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.