The Colosseum
My little twist on the traditional Colosseum shot.
My little twist on the traditional Colosseum shot.
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Oct, 2013Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took a quick trip through Europe about a year ago, and spent a few days in Rome. I spent time all around the city and this shot was obviously taken at the Colosseum.Time
This was taken in the late afternoon, before I needed to push my ISO too high or drop my shutter speed too much. It was taken at around 4pm on an early Autumn day.Lighting
I used all natural lighting for this shot. The sun was getting quite low in the sky so I was able to stand in the shade, while still allowing for the Colosseum to be in full sunlight. I really wanted to capture as much detail as possible in the architectural detail and I used the direct sunlight to achieve this effect.Equipment
I used my trusty Canon 600D and my kit 18 - 55mm lens. Shot at an aperture of 5.6 to achieve that separation between my subject and background, and using a crystal ball to create a different type of shot. Completely hand held and no unnecessary gear used. When I travel, I like to travel light!Inspiration
Everyone has seen those typical shots of the Colosseum, and I wanted my work to stand out from the rest. While living in South Korea I noticed this fantastic high quality crystal ball in a Buddhist prayer shop. I noticed how when you look through it, whatever you look at is inversed and I knew I had to buy the ball. When I travelled through Europe I was always looking at different ways to capture those iconic venues, with my little twist. This shot came together through putting some creative thought into capturing a beautiful scene.Editing
I do not do too much to my images. I used Lightroom to do some basic exposure editing, and I did some spot editing on the ball itself to bump the clarity and sharpness, to further improve the way the building stands out from the rest of the image.In my camera bag
I usually have my Canon 600D, a 50mm 1.4 (LOVE this lens), a 55-250mm zoom, an 18-55mm, a 430EX Speedlite, and a range of other gear including Cokin filters and ND filters. I have a good quality tripod and a very sturdy camera bag to keep my gear safe while on the road.Feedback
Think outside of the box when you want to be different. There might be a scene that you want to capture, but you know it has already been shot to death by thousands of others before you. Change your angles, get low - lie on the ground, get up high - climb on a wall or ladder. Sometimes all it takes is to capture a moment with a person and have the scene as your background. Think outside of the box and push what you know. You can never stop learning and if you try and be different you just might pull off a great shot and surprise yourself with what you can do.
