Soulcraft

Femina for my book - link in bio

ILCE-7RM2

Aperture f/3.5 ISO 4000 Shutter 1/90 Focal Length 28/1

location

Pasadena, California, US

upload_date

Jan, 2021

Views

413

Likes

+31

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Behind The Lens

Location

This shot of @viribusfemina was captured above a stage I built in my backyard out of shipping pallets. I drilled some holes in some of the extra wood pieces to hold some candles for this magical night shoot. It was a fun experiment!

Time

It was about 9pm as far as I can recall.

Lighting

The lighting is purely candles. I was testing the concept to eventually add a ton more. It got a bit dangerous with the wobbly pallets though.

Equipment

This was taken blind via self-timer on my Sony A7rII. I held my camera high above her on a fully extended mono-pod.

Inspiration

I love the look of candlelight and wanted to do something outdoors with my muse, Femina. I was inspired by the idea of dreams as well. We didn't really have a plan but I suggested trying out the candles. We tried melting them to the stage but it didn't work, so I began making little stands for the candles out of extra wood. She settled into her cozy comforter while I figured out how I was going to capture a top down shot. I fiddled with the remote-shooting function on the camera for probably 10 wasted minutes until I gave up. Nobody knows how to do it on Sony's own website. I'll never understand why simple information has become nearly impossible to find on the internet in the last decade. In the end I settled for shooting blind. I'd set the self timer, guessed at focal depth, and would pass the camera up above her on the monopod, wait for the shot, then bring it back down and check it. Ridiculous process, I know.

Editing

I didn't do much to the image in post, just enhanced the candle glow and added a color grade to the shadows and highlights.

In my camera bag

I jump between a lot of different camera types and film stocks when shooting. Sometimes I'll shoot strictly digital, usually at night it makes sense. But if light permits it, I shoot 35mm film on my Olympus OM-2n, Polaroids on a modified Rezivot back through my Mamiya RB67 or Polaroid 600SE. Sometimes I shoot tear-off FP100c or various expired types on the same cameras using modified backs. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up to try out a Nikonos I just bought. And lastly, I have a little Nimslo 3D cam in my bag which I occasionally snap some shots on.

Feedback

Night shots take a lot of patience. You can either add more light or get a tripod and shoot longer exposures. Since I was using a monopod and holding it above my head, I needed a fast shutter speed and had to bump up the ISO a bit to get the shot to come out. But try to keep your ISO as low as you can to avoid excessive noise in the final image. Whatever you do, have fun experimenting!

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Soulcraft

Soulcraft

Femina for my book - link in bio

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Soulcraft

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