Stranger
Aug, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This shot was taken only a short walk away from my home near an oil terminal. It's always quiet there so I know I won't be disturbed when I'm trying to take self portraits.Time
When I'm planning to take self portraits, the day always starts by me waking up at the crack of dawn to chase the sun. I believe this was the last shoot I did before I left my first ever retail job, which sent me in and out of depression. Self portraits at that time and to this present moment, continue to be a way for me to express how I'm feeling without having to speak about my troubles. It was in these moments where I would wake up early and do some photography, that I felt like I could fully breath for the first time in ages and appreciate life. Taken on the 15th of August at around about 7amLighting
It was a beautiful day, and as it was getting brighter I realised I had to find shade. This particular image was taken under a bridge and I thought it might have been cool if the sun could filter through the planks above my head. Unfortunately that didn't happen, but I do love how the light is filtering through from behind to illuminate little strands of hair. To be truthful with you I love using natural light, it's a challenge for me and I feel like there's a dreamy quality to images where natural light is used.Equipment
As always I used my trusty Canon 60D with my Sigma 35mm f1.4 lens. Two essentials that I also took on the day where my tripod and wireless remote.Inspiration
As always I never plan a shoot. On a very rare occasion I will have an image in mind and then I'll just take other photos while I'm at the location where I'm shooting. On this day I didn't have anything in mind, only that I just had to take pictures with my new haircut and hat. It's safe to say that on this day I felt empowered and in all honesty I was just sick of sitting around and making excuses not to shoot.Editing
I always shoot RAW!. Trust me on this, your photo could be badly over or underexposed and you could still manage to salvage a great picture. On any photo including this one, I always start by tweaking the basic settings e.g. Exposure, contrast, shadows ect. After that step was complete I then went on to my custom made photoshop actions and decided which one fit the image more. Sometimes I'll just sit around for hours and just tweak curve layers, colour layers and whatever other layers I can add to an image without even bothering to look at my pre-made actions. That was pretty much all I did to this image and any other image I take, although it does take me hours sometimes just to edit one image.In my camera bag
Of course my Canon 60D is always ready to go as well as my wireless remote, it's a lifesaver!. The next thing I always make sure to pack are some extra batteries because you never know what could go wrong, and there is nothing worse than a wasted photography trip. I only have two lenses that I take with me, in fact I only actually own 2 (not including the kit lens, but I don't use that). First I pack my Sigma 35mm 1.4, which is honestly such a great lens especially when I'm out and about and want to get shots of buildings and other things where I might get into a tight space. The second lens I'll pack is my nifty fifty (Canon 50mm 1.8) as it's know to everyone, a very very cheap lens but can produce incredible images. I've just started to use it again and I forgot how much I love using it.Feedback
Be spontaneous and chase the sun!. My biggest piece of advice is just to get out there and shoot whenever you can. Be inspired by some of your favourite photographers and honestly just practice, practice, practice. If it's too bright out, find some shade!. Also never delete any images until you can get home and see them on a bigger screen. Most of the time what I think are good images won't be as good as I thought they would be, and the images I didn't even think twice about tend to be the ones I edit and upload.
