autumn garden
conceptual photo of me in the garden :)
I am also on facebook https:--www.facebook.com-Lucie.Ovcackova.Photography :)
conceptual photo of me in the garden :)
I am also on facebook https:--www.facebook.com-Lucie.Ovcackova.Photography :)
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I am also on facebook https:--www.facebook.com-Lucie.Ovcackova.Photography :)
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Oct, 2014Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
It was in the garden of the house where I used to live at that moment. It was a garden of my boyfriend's parents and it was full of harvest during the day but also magical at night as there were only little lights in the pavement lighting the garden. There was ivory and rose hip growing at that time and I thought it would be great to put these two together to a photo.Time
It was taken at around 9 PM because I wanted to take a picture in the dark.Lighting
The lighting was the most important thing about the picture. In my head I had this image with candles put around the model. I was not really sure if I could take a picture with light coming only from the candles but at that time I had no other good source of light that I could take to the garden to improve the picture. It was a challenge and I had to lie very close to those candles in order to be illuminated (it was a little bit scary as I had to look through them) but it was definitely worth it, as the candles created a nice genuine light.Equipment
I used my old Sony A 450 with 18-55 mm lens. The camera was lying on the ground with me.Inspiration
It was a mixture of things that gathered in my head during the summer that I spent there. Firstly, as I was collecting jars from food and used them as candle holders, I was thinking it could look really nice in a picture. Then it was that little garden I mentioned where I used to take these candles at night and everything seemed really magical at that moment. The third thing were the ivory and rose hip from which I made the wreath at that night. It all came together in my head and for several nights I could not sleep but to think of the image. I persuaded my boyfriend to help me prepare it at that night and in the end I was really happy about the result.Editing
I had to do the post processing as me and everything around me was very yellow at the original picture. So I reduced the yellow colour (although it may seem it is still very yellow, especially on some monitors), added a little bit of contrast and retouched my face. That was pretty much it, as the setting itself was good already, I did not have to add anything else.In my camera bag
I always bring my Sony Alpha 450 camera, and my three lenses. 70-300mm Tamron that is great for long distances and makes perfect blurry background, then I have my 30mm Sony lens that I use for macro and some closer portraits and I also always bring my beloved 50mm Helios 44-4 lens which is so hard to focus with but the results are always great.Feedback
As I found out, taking pictures with lights coming only from the candles is possible but you have to figure out the shutter speed - you don't want the model to be blurry but neither you want them to be too dark. It is always good to make a lot of test shots before the actual shooting and bring some other source of light if you want the model to be further from the candles. With these kind of photos I think it is very important to have the image planned in your head and prepare it in advance. I take many pictures through the year but the best ones are always those that I prepare at least a week before and think of all the details.
