ericamottin

Vadleany

NIKON D7000

settings

Aperture f/8 ISO 100 Shutter 1/60 Focal Length 350/10

upload_date

Jun, 2018

Views

2825

Likes

+543

Awards

Zenith Award

Legendary Award

Winner in Sleeping beauty Photo Challenge

Contest Finalist in Dresses Photo Contest

Featured

Winner in Fantasy styled Photo Challenge

People's Choice in Creative Colorful Portrait Shots Photo Challenge

Peer Award

+562

Outstanding Creativity

+48

Absolute Masterpiece

+44

Top Choice

+29

Superb Composition

+20

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Superior Skill

Genius

Virtuoso

Emotions

Impressed

+18

Happy

Upset

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken at my home studio in a small town nearby Florence, Italy. I'm a self taugth photographer and I love to be able to control light to create something magical and not ordinary.

Time

It was a set planned to be shot in a park nearby my house during springtime but me and the designer never found the right model to fit in the mood so it wasn't until winter that we actually had the chance to shoot it. It was clear that I had to shot indoor so we had to recreate in the studio the settings with a lot of fake flowers. It took almost 1 hour just to find the right position for the flowers surrounding the model. In the meantime the mua did her amazing job and we ended up shooting this around dinner time.

Lighting

This set was one of the most challenging I ever had as I never portraited someone lying down. It may be look simple but I had to use a ladder to stand right above the model and as the ceiling of my houmestudio was not high enough had to choose wisely where to put the flashes (thanks to Quadralite for the magic the Quantuum Move 400 can do in terms of light sculpting!!). I put 2 rectangular softboxes on the side of the model but a little bit above her to have a very soft and nice light.

Equipment

My equipment is really a basic one: I shot with a Nikon d7000 and a 65mm 2.8, 2 lens and Quantuum Move400 flash lights with 2x2 feet softboxes for the main and rim light.

Inspiration

The inspiration came from the dress and headdresse the designer, Elaine's Couture, created. The headdress is inspired by the gigantic wedding crowns of the Hungarian brides so we decides to mix the fairytale vibe of the dress with the Hungarian folklore and we discovered the Vadleany myth. Vadleany is an Hungarian legend, she is described as a forest spirit looking like a young girl with a light dress, dangerous for the men who follow her in the woods. That's what helped us to imagine her with this incredible gown half asleep in a bed of flowers, awaiting for men to rescue her looking as innocent as possible to finally strike on them.

Editing

Color toning was a big help in this set. Image was edited with Fine Art Actions created by Bella Kotak and Pratik Naik. Her set of Photoshop actions are really incredible and helps you to create this magical vibes in all your photos. They can be tweaked in something very personal with adjusting every layer so they have an infinite amount of combinations.

In my camera bag

I tend to shot only in studio so I never forget my Quadralite Quantuum Move400 flashes and softboxes. I love my 65mm lens which is always with me even the few times I shot on location. I know it's not the recommended lens for portraits (it's very good for macro indeed) but I love the look it gave to my shoots. This is basically all I need, as well as a background holder which used to be a cloth hanger made with iron pipes by my superhandy boyfriend.

Feedback

To shoot someone lying down on the floor make sure to stand right above them or you will get a sense of distortion on the model's face. Model's security is a priority: when standing above her/him always have a steady ladder and someone right next t to you to help you with things so you don't have to climbe up and down any minute to fix lights or props. Put your camera around your neck so thst you avoid falling right into the model's face. Remeber to choose a long lens if you don't have the right ambient (high ceilings are a plus) or your model won 't fit in the image. In cade you forgot or you don't have one you can always use the 50mm and take singles pictures of a portion of the set to be united later in photoshop. I recommend to watch The Kiss' backstage vide by Bella Kotak if you are planning to do like this, she explain very well how she did her shot.

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ericamottin

Vadleany

Behind The Lens

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