Leaping into the sunset
The Skink Dyno at Rocklands, South Africa
The Skink Dyno at Rocklands, South Africa
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Jan, 2015Views
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chriswhittington
March 23, 2015
fantastic shot - i believe he is bouldering - my son does a little climbing - but this is fantastic with the setting sun
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in Rocklands, South Africa. It is a world renowned bouldering (type of rockclimbing) area, located in the harsh and ruggedly beautiful landscape of the Cedarberg. The particular 'problem' (this is what a bouldering 'route' is called) is named 'The Skink Dyno' (7B). This was taken on my first proper rockclimbing trip and I fell in love with the dynamism and emotion one can capture when photographing this sport. The subject in this photograph is a good friend of mine, who introduced me to the sport and who happens to be a photographer as well.Time
Well, as the title suggests, it was dusk. I'm not sure what the time was, but it was a clear sky winter sunset. There were many attempts to get this shot, but finally I got one that was crisp enough and timed correctly before the light faded too much. Capturing the motion, with a good body position, not too much motion blur and the hand actually making proper contact on the hold was challenging, especially with the time pressure of the sun going down.Lighting
With the backlighting and not being able to use fill-in flash (wanted the silhouette), combined with having to capture the motion without too much motion blur, I had to play around a bit to get the settings I needed. Requiring the fast shutter speed meant having to open up the aperture to its maximum (f/3.5) and push the ISO beyond what I would normally be comfortable with (800 on an entry level aps-c body from 2008 creates a lot of noise). Luckily the shot didn't require the most detail, so I could get away with the noise. The main problem was the shallow depth of field and it being so dark with backlighting, I really struggled to get proper focus to get a sharp silhouette. Many, many attempts later...Equipment
This was shot with a Canon 400D (Rebel XTi for those in North America), using the 18-55 kit lens. Just the basic kit.Inspiration
We were spending time at this particular boulder, as my friend really wanted to stick this dyno. Maybe I should mention that a dyno is a dynamic movement in rockclimbing, where the climber essentially jumps upward, breaks contact with the wall and catches a hold that was too high to reach through normal static motion (this is not a foolproof definition, but it suffices for the purposes here). So as the sun was setting, I realised there was potential for a very interesting silhouette with the subject dangling from the rock by one hand, backlit by a beautiful sunset. Some clouds would have been great, but it was a first time, spontaneous attempt at something like this, so I am very happy. Maybe someday I'll go back and attempt to recreate and improve on this shot. I'm writing this 11 years later and it is still one of my favourite bouldering photographs.Editing
Yes, by this time I shot everything in RAW, so some processing was necessary. Typically this would just be some tweaking in lightroom, nothing extravagent, basically just some 'digital-darkroom' edits to try and recreate what was visible with the human eye at the time.In my camera bag
At the time I always had all my equipment with me (which was not that much). This was a Lowepro Slingshot, containing my Canon 400D, the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens, an EF 70-300mm USM and a Canon Speedlite 420EX II. That entire bag with kit was stolen, but I have managed to upgrade significantly in the meantime, I now carry a Dakine Sequence backpack with: - Canon 7D mk ii - EF-S 18-135 IS STM kit lens - EF-S 60mm Macro - Tamron 70-210mm F/4 When I deem it necessary, I take my Vanguard Alta Pro 263AT tripod with GH-300T Pistol Grip Ball Head. It's big and not light, but it works really well for certain purposes, especially wildlife and macro, which are my main focuses.Feedback
Just keep shooting and don't be afraid to experiment with angles and "looking stupid" doing that. I was crammed as far back into a tiny crack between two large boulders when shooting this. Every so often I would twist and turn to cram myself even deeper in there, as I just couldn't get far enough from the subject to capture the perspective I wanted. By the end I was cramping and in pain with a loooong walk back to the vehicle in the dark, but I got the shot, so I was ecstatic. Also, take your gear with you, always, everywhere, have it with you, charged and ready to go. You never know when you will need it. My greatest regrets, from a photographic standpoint, are always not having my kit in a moment where I could have (potentially) captured something amazing.
