The Undefended Hour
Anne - the woman applying the lipstick - had written a book of poetry, the themes of which were all around sex, death and humour. She came to me originally for ...
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Anne - the woman applying the lipstick - had written a book of poetry, the themes of which were all around sex, death and humour. She came to me originally for an author's headshot for the rear cover, but after chatting we decided on a narrative shot photo instead, using a femme fatale, film noir styling.
I had to create 2 separate lighting pools - one for the woman in the foreground and one for the woman and body in the background. Compositionally I wanted to lead the viewer so the first thing they see is the woman looking at them, then they notice the woman on the bed behind, and only then do they notice the body with the knife in the back. It's an image which isn't understood in half a second. The more you look, the more you are drawn into it.
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I had to create 2 separate lighting pools - one for the woman in the foreground and one for the woman and body in the background. Compositionally I wanted to lead the viewer so the first thing they see is the woman looking at them, then they notice the woman on the bed behind, and only then do they notice the body with the knife in the back. It's an image which isn't understood in half a second. The more you look, the more you are drawn into it.
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Jan, 2016Views
1153
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Awards
People's Choice in Feel the Fear Photo Challenge
Winner in Scene from a movie Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Virtuoso
Magnificent Capture
Genius
All Star
Superior Skill
Emotions
Impressed
Happy
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1Categories
cyndimccoun
September 14, 2016
You totally accomplished your goal. My eyes followed the scene in exactly the way you described. Amazing photo. And now I also want to buy the book!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken in SW Scotland, in the spare bedroom of the woman putting on the lipstick. The dressing table was angled at about 30 degrees to reflect the bed behind and not capture me in the reflection.Time
This was taken in the evening, although it would have made no difference as I had complete control of the lighting set up.Lighting
I had to create 2 separate lighting pools for this shot. The light for the woman in the foreground was a Canon speedlite just off to the right of the candles, to give the illusion that she is lit by candleight.Equipment
I used a Canon 7D mounted on a tripod, with a Canon f/2.8 24-70mm L lens, and 2 Canon speedlites.Inspiration
The woman putting on the lipstick had written a book of poetry, the main themes of which were Death, Sex and Humour. Originally she came to me for an author's headshot for the book, but pretty soon we started developing an idea for a staged, narrative photo. Mirror's are great devices for adding extra elements to a story, and before long we had a murder scene in mind, but one where the woman on the bed was looking pleased with herself, rather than worried.Editing
The original image was designed with a red-yellow colour scheme. Her lipstick and dress are both a dark red, echoing the blood on the man's shirt, while the lighting had a yellow shift to give a candle-lit feel. However, in post processing, I flipped it into black and white to see what it would look like and was immediately struck by the "film noir" feel to it, which I loved. Since then I have only ever presented the image in black and whiteIn my camera bag
For nearly 4 years I was happy with my Canon 7D (which took this photo), but now I'm even happier with my Canon 7D mk2. The 3 lenses I use most are my Canon f/2.8 24-70mm, which is pretty much my workhorse lens; a Canon f/2.8 70-200mm which is fantastic for shooting live performances - getting in close in low light conditions; and finally a wide angle Canon 10-22mm for when I need to take in a lot in a small space. I also usually have 2 or 3 Canon speedlights to hand and an assortment of softboxes and modifiers.Feedback
Thethering the camera to a laptop or computer is vital for a shot like this - it allows you to get a much better sense of what is working than looking in the back of the camera. An image like this is being constantly tweaked - take a shot, move the shoulders of the woman behind, take another shot, change the expression, take another shot, move the ashtray, take another shot, move the angle of the strap of the dress - and so on. Each area of the photo gets refined until every part has hit the sweet spot.
