The Icon
Feb, 2015Views
334
Likes
Awards
Great Shot
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Genius
Magnificent Capture
Peer Award
Top Ranks
Top 20 rank
Top 10 rank
Top 20 rankTop 30 rank week 3Top 30 rank week 2
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This Photo was taken on a wild meadow at the coast of the lake where I am living. The lake is called the "Starnberger See", south of Munich, Bavaria - Germany.Time
Normally everybody would answer this with: "The wrong time of the day." ;-) It was a very spontanious idea after an 3 days Photoshoot, when I had 2 hours left, before the model had to leave to another country. It was around 3pm in the mid of july, with horrible harsh light and it was very difficult for the model to keep her eyes open because of the bright sunlight.Lighting
Just natural sunlight.Equipment
Camera: Canon EOS 7D Aperture: f/1.8 ISO: 100 Shutter Speed: 1/3200 Focal Length: 50/1 handhold, no flashInspiration
The golden"halo" is actually an antique mirror i just stumbled across in my studio this day. When I had it in my hands I just got this picture of this ancient sacred icons in my head and I wanted to see if we can do something like that.Editing
Yes. Because of the very unflattering hard light from above I had to post-process the RAW more than I normally do. I lightened up the very dark shadows, lightened up and partly repainted the eyes and smoothened the skin. Because I am a big fan of analog Photography and still love to shoot on film I gave it at the end an analog look with Exposure 7.In my camera bag
Because of my love to analog and old cameras I always have my Sony A7 in my bag because I love the full frame and I can use all my vintage manual lenses I collect. This combination brings a lot of soul to my photography. But my favorite lense right now is a new Walimex Pro 85/1,4. For portraits I also like to use my Lensbaby Composer 50mm double glass. For landscape I mostly use an old manual Soligor 28mm f/2.8 Zeiss Flektogon 2.8 35mm Zebra Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 (all manual, no autofocus) If I need autofocus because of fast movement, I use my Canon 7d with several Canon lenses from 21mm for Landscape up to 300mm for Portrait. But some of my best photos I made with my iPhone. especially for street photography it's perfect, cause you are kind of invisible. As soon as you appear with a big digital camera everybody gets unrelaxed. This is another reason why I love my sony A7 with the vintage lenses. The people think it's an old Camera and just don't take it serious and don't care. And this is important if you want to transport some authentic, real emotions.Feedback
I think the most important advice is always" just do it!". The more you photograph, the more you will see light and shadow and play with them. Rules a made to break them. It's important to first understand the basics, but then it's about to feel it and not so much about thinking. In my opinion the most really touching photos are not conceptual, shot in a studio, with flash and artificial light and expensive equipment. They convey a mood - authentic feelings. It's about slowing down, freezing a moment, connecting with your surroundings.Going deep into it. Seeing the beauty in everything! The portrait of an relaxed and happy person in bad light conditions will always be better than the other way around.
