ElenaParaskeva

Into The Light

Aug, 2014

Views

662

Likes

+80

Awards

Runner Up in Dust Photo Contest

Peer Award

+15

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Choice

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

One Of A Kind

Top Class Lighting

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 20 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

In a wooded area behind my house in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.

Time

It was late afternoon.

Lighting

The sun is very harsh in Cyprus and combined with the luck of tall trees and the constant haze due to the proximity to the Sahara dessert it makes it very challenging to shoot into it. In this case however, it worked to my advantage as it gave the feeling that my son was enveloped in a cocoon of light. Even the sun flare is a plus in this situation!

Equipment

I had to use a zoom lens instead of my usual 50mm 1.4 prime because my son was moving too fast. I literally had to run after him, stop for a second, compose, shoot, and then run again!

Inspiration

I had seen the kind of light this clearing produced a few days before and since I had these balloons from a different shoot I did the day before, we tied them on my son's bike and went into the wooded area for an afternoon walk...or run as it turned out!

Editing

None, the light took care of everything....which is rare for me as I shoot RAW which is always flat.

In my camera bag

3 different lenses, a Nikkor zoom, a Nikkor 50mm 1.4 prime for portraits and the Tokona 11-16mm ultra wide for landscapes. Also ND filters such as the B+W MRC 3-stop and the 10-stop and a CPL.

Feedback

Hazy afternoons can be great but if you don't want completely washed out backgrounds find at least a partially shaded area. For this "effect" your subject can't be entirely shaded though. Although I typically use spot metering for high contrast scenes, it is best to use matrix metering for something like this.

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ElenaParaskeva

ElenaParaskeva

Into The Light

Behind The Lens

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