Ocean Princess
Feb, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I am a self taught photographer and image processor. I took this shot at Portobello in Edinburgh on a cold windy winters dayTime
As this photo is a composite we originally we arrived in Portobello just after midday in February, as it magically became a nice sunny day but still stupidly cold!! I didn't have access to a tripod that day and my hands were shaking as the wind was cutting like knives but made it work with a balance of iso and fast shutter speeds. But we did alright considering it was starting to get a little cloudy.Lighting
The original photo with Senay jumping had some great ambient light as the sun was slightly behind me and facing towards the sea. It was starting to get a little cloudy and the light softened a little which was nice. The reason why I chose to composite the beach was that the picture I found I felt gave it a bit more punch and the sand was untouched and smooth which didn't distract from the eye.Equipment
For this photo I shot using a Canon 6D using the brand new 16-35mm L f4 which is absolutely amazing especially on a full frame camera.Inspiration
The image was inspired by my fascination of fine art and other photographers like Joel Robison who create stunning and imaginative images by compositing. This is still only my second composite photo ever and I am quite happy with it.Editing
With all composites there is always a lot of post processing involved. I cut Senay out of the original and put her on the beach that you can see in the picture. I used curves and selective colour in photoshop to add some dramatic colours to the image to give it a warmer feel (even though it was freezing!) For the birds I added each individually and added motion blur to create the feel of movement and kept one in focus to keep things interesting. Finished off with a bit of dodge and burn.In my camera bag
My bag always consists of my trusty 50mm 1.2L prime as this was my first ever L Series purchase it has a special place in my heart and my kit. Along with my 85mm 1.2 L prime which is just seriously on another level for portraiture. As I travel a lot with my job I have my 16-35mm f4L which seems to fit in the whole earth! My Canon 6D is my current camera and my first full frame and a wicked upgrade from my trusty Canon 500DFeedback
Even though I am still new to composite photography, the first thing I have learnt is to have a plan. It doesn't have to be overly detailed at first but it helps to have at least some kind of idea of what you want at the end. Another piece of advice is to not be afraid of experimentation and making mistakes. A lot of what I have created has been due to experimentation and happened by accident. The possibilities are endless and so is your imagination!
