Canon
May, 2015Views
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Action Award
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Creative Winter Award
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Staff Winter Selection 2015
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Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
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Behind The Lens
Location
I made this image with my friend Canon who's a Modern Dancer at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California.Time
This particular image from the set was taken at the very end of the shoot at the last moments of light at sunset. The lights you see reflecting on Canon and the water are the security lights starting to turn on and light up the scene around her.Lighting
The lighting was rather simple for this....the sunset was absolutely gorgeous...a great balance of clouds with pink, blue, and red skies. I was trying to line Canon up with that light as the Security lights (Tungsten) started firing up...thus...making the image look a little strange and out of balance. After some struggles i decided to flip the image in black & white....where you can still see that great tone to the sky and the perfect balance of illumination from ambient light on the subject.Equipment
I shot this on my Nikon D800 with a Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 at 56mm 1/15 @2.8 and ISO 640. Shot handheld while laying across the little "river" in the middle of the grounds at Salk.Inspiration
I have a passion for working with Dancers. They know how to pose, hold a pose, and they know the limits and strengths of their body! The first time I photographed a dancer, I could see the smile on her face with every frame and every motion...it spoke volumes more than just the same image with a "model" In my search for more dancers to work with, I ended up meeting a group of Modern / Alternative Dancers including Canon (the subject) and after many coffees and planning sessions, we decided on this series.Editing
There was some post processing with Photoshop and Lightroom, but MOSTLY just a black and white conversion with a lot of tonal adjustments to the contrast, light and dark values. To be honest, when I took this image, i was _just_ starting my dive into photoshop and learning it's true powers....so most everything i did within photoshop was presets at the time haha! Nik Software's Silver Effects Pro was where i started for my B&W conversion, and then from there i manually tweaked back in Lightroom.In my camera bag
These days my bag is pretty loaded! I roll with a NIkon D800, D500, 17-35mm 2.8. 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.4, as well as sigma 35mm 1.4 and a sigma 70-200 2.8. Then i have some speedlights with my Magmod kit and my Profoto B2 travel kit with Photek Softlighter Umbrellas on my Savage Universal Drop Stands. Throw in a couple of old film rigs that i use on each shoot...and there you have it!Feedback
The key for an image like this is both subject matter, and timing! We knew that this time of year (summer) the sun sets almost exactly along the water line of the Salk (which is what we initially wanted). If you're going to want nature elements in your image, do your homework and find out when and where the sun sets/rises so you can plan your shot accordingly!
