icey1962
FollowViews
383
Likes
Awards
Zenith Award
Legendary Award
Top Shot Award
Member Selection Award
Featured
Featured
Staff Favorite
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Superior Skill
Genius
All Star
Top Ranks
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This was a combination of studio ( bedroom) and outdoor shots. The girl and raven were shot in the bedroom on a chair against a green screen, lit by flash. I made a couple of visits to the wood to get 3 or 4 shots that I could combine. I also took leaves from the ground and shot these using a macro lens to use later. The same was done with the butterflies.Time
I used a smartphone app (TPE) The Photographers Ephemeris which allows you to calculate and show you the angle of the sun at a given time of day. So I knew I needed to be at the wood around 9.30am for the sun to come through the trees from the right hand sideLighting
To help all the photos to gel together I made sure I lit the model from the same side as the light was coming in from the trees (right hand side) otherwise things would just look weird if the shadows on the model we differen to the ones cast in the wood.Equipment
I used my Nikon D700 and 24-70mm lens for the studio shot of the girl. Then shot the wood using a combination of the Nikon 14-24mm and 24-70mm Lens. The Raven was shoot using my Nikon 60mm micro lens. Bowens Gemini Studio flash with a Brolly. The leaves were shot with my Fuji Xpro1 & 35mm lens in macro mode.Inspiration
Inspiration came from day dreaming on an Autumn day in this wood. The sound of the birds and the wild life all send my mind in a spin of creativity. Soon afterwards I purchased a red dress and wig from China on ebay for £10. I have had a few other ideas but this was the one I wanted to do first. As it was Autumn the colours of the trees and the dress w.ere perfectEditing
Did I do any post-processing? Oh Yeah! First of all I had to do a mock up of all the photos to see if the idea worked...which it did :). Sadly I wasn't happy with the way the arm on the model covered her face so I had to re-shoot her head and arms and combine them in photoshop. The end result was over 80 layers in photoshop to achieve the look I wanted and I lost count of the hours I spent tweaking it, very hard knowing when to stop. For me Photoshop allows me to create things in my mind that I could never do in camera, to take my photography hopefully into the realms of artIn my camera bag
These days It's my Nikon D810 which I love as it so quiet compared to my D700.The Nikon 24-70mm lens this is my walk about lens. Often I take with me the 14-24mm or the 70-200mm and my 60mm micro. There will also be my 10 stop ND filters, maybe a SB-800 and Gorilla pod if I need a bit of light.Feedback
When doing this type of work I try and sketch out my idea first of all. I have started to sketch all my idea as I have a memory of a goldfish and use to forget some great ideas. Now I just flick through mt sketch pad to remind me of what I want to take. Also draw or write down a shot list so you get the shots you want, it so easy to forget in the excitement to take a specific shot you need. But the main thing is to have fun :)