We are happy to feature ViewBug community member, photographer and world traveler Jacc. The awarded photo below was a contest finalist in the Reflective Selfies Photo Contest and has received plenty of Peer Awards, learn the story behind it and the tricks that Jacc used to capture this awesome moment.
Jacc, where did you take this photo and at what time of day?
I remember this photo was taken at my home. It was around middle of the day. I remember i was shooting with my 105mm nikon lens different objects in which I could reflect myself shooting.
Anything worth sharing about lighting?
I wanted this image to be a bit different from the usual reflection pictures. I wanted to reflect my silhoutte with a "taking a photo" posture. So I had to consider fast shutter speed to avoid blurness on the moving eye and a good ISO to capture the Iris without noise. For the silhoutte I decided to place a Nikon flash behind me, that was reflecting on a white wall. With the use of the camera flash I was able to trigger the flash behind me. I tried many shutter speeds till I got exactly what I was looking for.
What equipment did you use and what do you usually carry in your camera bag?
I used a Nikon 300D, 105 mm nikon lens, Manfrotto carbon tripod, SB610 nikon flash. I upgraded last year my equipment into a: Nikon D800 with a 28-300mm lens and a SB 910 flash with a gray Fong Lightsphere. That's the equipment I carry around when I'm traveling.
What inspired you to take this photo and what kind of post-processing did you do?
What inspired me was the beautiful green gray eyes that my wife has, shiny and full of live. I used Capture NX2 and Silver Efex Pro. The first software is to do the basic things (cleaning the image, light, contrast,cropping, etc) and to transform from Raw to JPG, the second software was to convert it into B&W.
Any advice for others trying to capture something similar?
Try to visualize the picture you want to see as a final result and work towards it. I advice to try and shoot, try and shoot till you are satisfied with the result. Learn to know your camera and make use of natural and flash lights.
Here are some of our favorite photos from Jacc's profile
