Libby
Libby in flight
Libby in flight
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Feb, 2015Views
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bjornhermansen
March 18, 2015
This photograph is appealing in every way!! At first glance your eyes pop wide open and you continue to admire ever aspect of it.
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in the living room of my small apartment, with the floor all covered with tarp so that we didn't make too much of a mess. I usually shoot with my little 50mm, but there wasn't enough space so I ended up just using my zoom to get a wider focal length.Time
We did this in the afternoon, but it was all indoors so natural light didn't really play a factor.Lighting
I've been really inspired by David Hobby's Strobist blog lately, and wanted to try my hand at a complex lighting setup for this shoot to make it kind of dramatic. The flashes helped freeze the movement in the shot, as the sync speed for them is only 1/200. I learned a lot on this shoot--one thing that wasn't too obvious to me as a beginner at studio lighting styles is that battery type and charge really affect the flash recycle times. I felt really bad watching my model Libby jump around and do all this crazy dancer stuff with flashes not firing, knowing we'd have to try again.Equipment
I used a Canon Rebel XSi for this shot. The lens was a 28-105 3.5-4.5, and three Neewer flash heads triggered by Yongnuo triggers. The powder in the shot is flour.Inspiration
I was inspired by photographers like Benjamin VonWong and Thomas David. They've created some really incredible images using this kind of technique.Editing
I did a high-contrast black-and-white conversion in Lightroom, then cloned out the light stand holding the flash in the bottom right.In my camera bag
I've normally got my Canon XSi, 50mm 1.8, 28-105 3.5-4.5, my Neewer flashes, Yongnuo triggers, flash gels, an ND filter, extra camera batteries and SD cards, some business cards, and duct tape in my bag. I'm a college student right now, so I can't really afford a backdrop stand and seamless. Poster board and duct tape works almost as good!Feedback
To get this shot, I put a big tarp (the kind that covers truck beds) on the ground and up the wall, so that any flour would be easily cleaned up after the shoot. We had Libby bend down in a crouching position to get her ready for the jump, and covered her with flour. When you think you have enough flour on your subject, add more! Everywhere, especially in her hair. The test shots weren't coming out dramatic enough, and we realized that more flour really helped out with that. My roommates Tim and Austin helped a ton with throwing flour at her during the jump, too. Some people asked me if there's a pad that she's falling on, but actually we shot with Libby jumping straight up. With the powers of Photoshop, we rotated the image after--don't tell anyone!
