The explosion.
Oct, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was part of a series which were all shot in an abandoned metalworks factory. I had done a previous shoot at this location and felt it would be the perfect location for what was a very messy shoot. Had this been shot in a studio it would have needed to be completely covered in some type of protective material (Plastic sheets etc) to protect the floor and walls. By shooting it in an abandoned building this problem was avoided and it also meant I didn't need to clear up the mess we left behind as the building was listed for demolition.Time
The shoot took place in the early afternoon. this was for several reasons : 1. It gave the model time to get to the location as she had a distance to travel in order to get there. 2. It gave me and my assistant time to test the lighting setup as this was my first attempt at a powder shoot. 3. The 3rd reason was more by luck than anything else. Due to the fact that the building was abandoned it meant there was no heating. By shooting in the early afternoon the ambient temperature was at it's highest making it a bit more comfortable for the model (who was nude).Lighting
As this was my first attempt at a powder shoot I did a lot of research into lighting. I worked out that I needed to light my model (with my key light), but also needed to backlight the powder itself and also add a small amount of cross lighting to pick out the definition within the plumes of powder and also the models figure. I decided to go with 3 flash heads in the following positions : Light No1 - Key-light : This was placed left of camera approx. 6 foot from the model and at a 45 degrees angle. It was slightly raised above her head height and angled down to directly light her. This was fitted with a 70cm beauty dish Light No2 - Back/side light : This was placed to the left of camera/model and approx. 2 foot behind her and at the same height as her. This was fitted with a 120cm strip box Light No3 - Back/side light : This was placed directly opposite Light No2 mirroring it's position. This was fitted with a 120cm strip boxEquipment
The equipment I used was : CAMERA : My old but trusty Nikon D3 (This was set to manual mode with a shutter speed of 1/200sec and ISO of 400) LENS : Nikon AF-S 24-70mm 2.8G (This was set at a focal length of 35mm and f4.5) TRIPOD : Manfrotto 055XPROB with a Manfrotto 804RC2 3 way pan and tilt head FLASH HEADS : 3x Bowens GM500R studio flash heads powered by 2x Bowens travelpaks DUSTPAN : A cheap plastic, hand held dustpan which contained the powder ready to be thrown at the model by my assistant.Inspiration
I had seen many other photographers shoot this type of photograph using a variety of different methods, from powder to milk and water. I loved the power and movement these shoots invoked and wanted to see if I could achieve the same impact myself.Editing
I did most of post-processing in Adobe Lightroom and then in Adobe Photoshop. The first thing I needed to do was remove the arm of my assistant and this was caught by the key-light as he threw the powder. this also meant I darkend down the background to make it totally black. This also helped to make the powder stand out more. I then did some minor tweaks to the overall exposure adding a touch of clarity, contrast, brightness and saturation (On the powder) The main post-production I did was to add 2 plumes of powder to the image. If you look at the final image, the 2 plumes positioned at 10 and 11 O'Clock are the ones I added. While some people would say this is 'cheating' I felt it important to do this in order to give the image a more balanced look/feel.In my camera bag
I now specialise in sports and fitness photography which includes shooting in a studio, a gym, on location or at sports stadiums (for football/soccer etc). Therefore my kit bag very much depends on what I'm shooting and where. MY MAIN KIT INCLUDES : 1x Nikon D5 1x Nikon D850 1x Nikon D3 1x Nikon 50mm f1.4D 1x AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8G 1x AF-S Nikkor 18-35mm f3.5G 1x AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8GII ED 1x AAF-S Nikkor 300mm f2.8 G ED 1x AF-I Nikkor 400mm f2.8 D 1x Nikon AF-S TC-20Eii 2x teleconverter Manfotto MM290C4 carbon fibre monopod 6x Bowen GM500R studio flash heads/stands A pair of Pocket wizard Multi Max transmitter/receivers which I use to fire my studio flashes and also to allow me to shoot a remote camera behind the goal at football matches. 1x Nikon SB-800 speedlight 1x Nikon SB 5000 speedlight A large collection of softboxes/beauty dishes etc Lots of spare batteries for both cameras and speedlights Lots of various bits and pieces including tape, allen keys, light metre, white balance card etcFeedback
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone wanting to capture a similar image (Or any image for that matter), is to do some research and then just give it a go. We all learn the most by actually shooting so don't be scared of trying something new......NOTHING VENTURED, NOTHING GAINED Happy shooting
