marcoborzacconi

Nymph

NIKON D800E

settings

Aperture 28/10 ISO 400 Shutter 1/640 Focal Length 850/10

upload_date

Jan, 2017

Views

276

Likes

+43

Awards

Top Shot Award 22

Member Selection Award

Outstanding Creativity

Superb Composition

Peer Award

Genius

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Choice

Superior Skill

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 30 rank

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in a little pond near my town. There is an archeological Etruscan city, called Vulci, that is touched by the Fiora river. During is course, the Fiora fall for 10 meters circa and create this little pond that it's called the Pelicone Lake. Lake is a big word, but it is a photogenic place, indeed.

Time

It was around nineteen o' clock. I was waiting for the sunset, but the sun was behind the stone walls, and this created a light nearest to twilight.

Lighting

The lighting was simply the ambient light, adjusted in post-production to make the model brighter than the background

Equipment

For this photo, I only used my D800E and my Nikon 85 1.8 D.

Inspiration

My wife (the model) wanted to make a poto with the classical drops ring created by the hair movement. I wanted to use a white cloth instead of the swimsuit, just to be a little different than the masses. When I started postprocessing the photo, I found that all the atmosphere suggested me a fairy-tale mood, so the image born, trying to reproduce the covers of the old Heroic Fantasy book (Dragonlance, Conan, and so on).

Editing

After working with the dodge and burn to crate the right depth, I boosted the clarity of the cloth (something I always do because in my opinion it increase the hand drawing effect), retouched the skin and the light on the body, changed the color of the background to give a more nightly mood, and add the wings. Make the wings realistic was the worst part, I used some brushes just to start, then I found the correct opacity and layer mode until it became realistic and look pleasing.

In my camera bag

From the time of this photo, I changed a lot in my equipment. Now I have only my XT-20 with my Fujifilm 18-55 f-2.8/4 and my Fujifilm 50-300 F4.5/6.7. Sometimes I bring my Godox flash (I own a TT685 and a TT350). I want to stay light, and maybe in the future I will take some better lens, even if the one I own give me big satifasctions already. When I want to go back to my reflex, my Bag become very different. I have my Nikon D800E, the Tamron 28-70 2.8, the Nikon 85 1.8D, the old Nikkor 105 2.8 Series E, the old Nikkor 50 1.8 Series E, and something and Autofocus-broken Sigma 105 2-8 Macro, with my SB600 as a flash, the F90X and the FE-2 if I need to shot film. But in the last times my reflex tools are used very seldom.

Feedback

The light is the most important thing. You need to have a low contrast to create a fantasy mood and capture the more possible information without burning the light or closing the shadow. You will add more light and shadow after, in post production. If you don't have a big contrast, it is easy to work to create a daily effect or, like this case, a night effect. If you have big spot of light, you will never try to create a nighty image starting from the photo you took. The composition is important, as always. When your model is so distant by the lens, you don't have so many margin to crop, because the detail in the captured person is little and the bigger he or she become, the more he or she will pixellate. Try to shoot with an idea of what the final image will look. This will help you to reserve space for what it will be added in post production (like the wing, in this cases). Always study with attention the works of the masters of what you want to create. In this case, I am not talking only about the masters of photography, but I studied a lot of Vallejo, Franzetta and Rojo images. And try to understand when enough it's enough. When you start postprocessing, it's always easy to overdo!

See more amazing photos, follow marcoborzacconi

marcoborzacconi

marcoborzacconi

Nymph

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow marcoborzacconi

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.