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Psychotic
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Psychotic



behind the lens badge
cameraCanon EOS 60D

settings Aperture f/9 ISO 100 Shutter 1/10 Focal Length 14/1 

upload_dateJan, 2016

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9 Comments |
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 January 16, 2016
Very cool shot!
William_Harding
 
William_Harding February 06, 2016
Very dark (not in lighting) - great composition says so many things at a multitude of levels depending on how one wants to interpret it.
Asicit
 
Asicit February 18, 2016
Here one can see the tragedy - it is visible.
christianbrogi
 
christianbrogi February 28, 2016
My compliments. Shared on https:// facebook.com/viewbugfun
DeonHamilton
 
DeonHamilton June 19, 2016
awesome work
lizvantonder
lizvantonder June 22, 2016
Thanks so much Deon!
BrunoHeeb PRO
 
BrunoHeeb August 01, 2016
loooove your style ,amazing shot
lizvantonder
lizvantonder August 02, 2016
Thank you so much Bruno!
amalrajphotography
 
amalrajphotography October 27, 2016
very nice composition
lizvantonder
lizvantonder August 28, 2017
Thanks so very much!
LAMONTEMA
 
LAMONTEMA July 19, 2018
Well done!
ARUNASPINIGIS
 
ARUNASPINIGIS November 05, 2020
Fabulous

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in an abandoned house in Pretoria North. It must have been a beautiful four story home once but now it is home to the homeless, rats and bats.

Time

Early to mid morning Morning

Lighting

I wanted to emphasize the dirt and filthy nature of the house and the dim light inside the building was ideal. I used a wide angle lens to get the shot at low aperture.

Equipment

Camera: Canon EOS 60D Aperture: f/9 ISO: 100 Exposure: 1/10 Focal Length: 14/1

Inspiration

Cornelius Gerhardus van Rooyen or 'Gert van Rooyen' was a South African paedophile and serial killer (although never convicted) who, together with his female partner Joey Haarhoff, abducted and apparently murdered at least six young girls between 1988 and 1989 Their victims were never found as the pair committed suicide when faced with arrest after the escape of their last kidnap victim. This story and the girls he abducted was the inspiration behind this photo. I grew up when this story was in all the newspapers and it made a big impact on me. I always wonder what happened to the girls Gert abducted. Are they still alive somewhere or did they die and are now trapped in an abandoned house of hell. The house the photos in this series were taken is a few houses down from where Gert's house stood (since demolished).

Editing

Some lightroom adjustments. I bumped up the clarity a bit and did some Dodging on the model and some burning on the background.

In my camera bag

I normally carry a Canon 5D Mark III with kit lens. A 50mm fixed and a 100mm Macro lens. When I go into dirty and dangerous places I prefer the Canon 60D since it is much lighter to carry around. When I shoot with the Canon 60D I use the kit lens or the 10mm wide angle lens.

Feedback

Don't be scared to get dirty and try new angles. Lie down in the dirt and (possibly animal or human excrement like I did for this photo). Try different lenses and see what effect they give you. I find that wide angles give a nice creepy feeling to photos. When going into dangerous, abandoned building take other people and photographers with you. This way you have more fun and you are a lot safer since there is safety in numbers. On this day we were two photographers, 3 models and the models brought their boyfriends and family with. Don't waste money on elaborate make-up and costumes if you have a location with lots of character let it be your canvas.

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