Drowning
This picture was done on my 18th birthday and was the first one I have ever taken with an artistic mindset. It was done with a bad camera and was an epic pain t...
Read more
This picture was done on my 18th birthday and was the first one I have ever taken with an artistic mindset. It was done with a bad camera and was an epic pain to capture.
Read less
Read less
WB150 / WB150F / WB152 / WB152F / WB151 / WB151F
Aperture f/4.5 ISO 80 Shutter 1/750 Focal Length 40/10 
Aug, 2015Views
256
Likes
Awards
Zenith Award
Legendary Award
Staff Winter Selection 2015
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at the northern end of Lake Mineral Wells State Park when the water level was extremely low. I was a brand new photographer in a high school photography class at the time. This ended up being my first assignment.Time
I started my trek around 4:30 pm. I had to hike and shove my way through mud and extremely dense underbrush to get there so I would say that it was around 6:00pm when I finally got to the spot.Lighting
The shadows were really important as I wanted to create a spine tingling sense of mystery and intrigue. Using only the sun as lighting gives it a greater sense of reality which in turn creates a more ominous feel to the story that the picture is trying to tell.Equipment
At the time, the only thing I had was a little ISO 80 Samsung HD digital camera that I had gotten as a gift the previous summer. I also had a tiny tripod that the legs could wrap around an object. I used that to position my camera precariously on an exposed piece of driftwood that was stuck in the mud. No other equipment was used.Inspiration
I was in a photography class my senior year of high school. Our photography assignments were vague enough that there was boundless room for creativity and interpretation, but specific enough that there was a direction to start. This assignment was titled “self portrait”. I wanted to do something out of the ordinary that would catch the eye and make the viewer feel something, even if that feeling wasn’t particularly happy. I wanted my self portrait to be a portrait of the inner self as opposed to what is just on the surface.Editing
I had to edit this quite a bit. In the original photo you can definitely tell that the water I was in was less than a foot (30.48cm). Because you can see me stretching my bent arm as far as I could away from my body. So what I ended up doing in the post process is a fair amount of cropping to get the rest of me out of the picture as well as distracting brush. I also completely desaturated the colors and increased the contrast to get nice dark shadows.In my camera bag
Back when I took this picture, the only thing that I had was a little Samsung digital camera, a small bendy tripod and maybe an extra SIM card. Now I always have my Canon Rebel SL1 with my 18-55mm lens and my 75-300mm lens, extra batteries with chargers, lens wipes and a small air blower, as well as an extra SIM card. I keep it all in a Lowepro photo hatchback bag that has saved me and my camera many times.Feedback
Scout out your area so that you can get a feel of what the lighting looks like at different times of day. Bring an extra set of clothes in case the shot requires you to get into any water or anything that will ruin your clothes. Make necessary precautions to protect your equipment from accidents such as slips, trips, falls, and submerging. Be prepared to go through challenging terrain, as some of the more picturesque spots are off the beaten path. And most importantly, be creative.
