I Tried to Drown my Sorrows
This photo was a happy accident. I was compositing a photo of bubbles in a vase into a scene with the falling girl and noticed how great the girl looked inside ...
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This photo was a happy accident. I was compositing a photo of bubbles in a vase into a scene with the falling girl and noticed how great the girl looked inside the glass. I was experimenting with creating fake underwater photography which you can read more about at www.exposingillusions.com.
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Aug, 2015Views
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Awards
Fall Award 2020
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Ivo_Geukens
June 19, 2017
Hi :) I created a "tiny people" challenge, would be nice if you could enter an image.
You can find it on my profile under challenges/created. Thanks :)
You can find it on my profile under challenges/created. Thanks :)
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
'I Tried to Drown My Sorrows' is obviously made up of a number of different components. The glass (which was actually a vase) was photographed first on my kitchen bench in front of a black plastic chair back. I was actually trying to capture the bubbles which I did by pouring water into the vase. The floating girl is a self-portrait. It was photographed in my backyard in front of a white sheet and then I rotated it to make it look as if the girl is floating.Time
I photographed myself around dusk as I didn't want any uneven lighting which would have made it hard to composite. This also gave a bluish tinge to the white dress which mimics the look of water. The vase and bubbles were sometime earlier in the afternoon.Lighting
There was no artificial lighting used in this image. There was a skylight above the vase which has given the glass and bubbles specular highlights but I wanted flat natural light for the girl.Equipment
Both images were photographed with a Canon 5D Mark III and a Sigma 50mm 1.4 lens. The self-portrait was taken using a Manfrotto tripod and a cheap remote. The self portrait was photographed in front of a black sheet held up by a clothes rack to make the image easier to cut out in Photoshop.Inspiration
I don't have the equipment or the funds to try underwater photography so as part of my 'Exposing Illusions' tutorial blog, I wanted to try creating an underwater portrait merely with camera trickery and Photoshop. My image, 'Rosewater' was the resulting photo but I created 'I Tried to Drown My Sorrows' with other images taken during the process (it was actually a happy accident that happened during my experimentation phase). In the end I wanted the image to make a statement about our drinking culture.Editing
Yes. Using Photoshop I very carefully cut out the girl and then placed her on top of the glass image. I also enhanced the contrast and colours. All of my work is heavily processed with Photoshop but this was actually one of the easier ones because there wasn't a lot of work required.In my camera bag
Canon 5D Mark III, Canon 24-70 f/2.8, Canon 70-200 f/4. I alternate between a Sigma 50mm 1.4 and the Canon 50mm 1.8. I have a Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT trigger and the usual bits and pieces such a memory cards, batteries, a torch, waterproof bags, remotes, filters and cleaning equipment.Feedback
Obviously you'll require some understanding of Photoshop and will need to know the essential elements of compositing to create a believable image. If you'd like to try faking an underwater photo, get your model to jump around a bunch (using a fastish shutter speed) until you have some nice poses and then manipulate the image to create a watery scene, which may include rotating the model to appear as if floating. It's also advised to capture some movement in the hair and the clothes to give the illusion of floating. Adding bubbles helps create realism.
