Sunflower Dreams
Oct, 2016Views
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Awards
Top Shot Award
Contest Finalist in Eye To Eye Portraits Photo Contest
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Behind The Lens
Location
This picture was taken outside in a kiddie pool that I bought for $10 from Target.Time
The picture was taken at 7.30 pm during the summer months.Lighting
The water was colored purple with bath tabs (normally for children to make their bath time more fun, but it works well too in the kiddie pool to hide the blue ground)Equipment
The shot was taken with my Canon 5dsr, 50mm 1.4 and off camera flash (inside a lastolite softbox).Inspiration
Laura Helena Photography did a tutorial on how to shoot in a kiddie pool and it looked like a lot of fun. Sadly mine was a lot smaller (thankfully the model was petit) but it worked well for close up shots.Editing
As the pool was fairly small I painted over the edges in photoshop to extend the water and added texture to make it more realistic.In my camera bag
Canon 5dsr, 50mm 1.4, speedlights and in this case lots of flowers and towels.Feedback
It takes a lot of preparation to do such a shoot if you don't have your own garden, but it's possible: We arranged the kiddie pool in a quiet area behind our apartment complex. Getting the water down from the 5th floor was the trickiest - for this we used big cool boxes (the ones on wheels are best). We filled the boxes with hot water in our bath and wheeled them to the shooting area. By that time the water cooled down to a comfortable temperature for the model to lay in. As the model will be taller than a kid, her legs will hang out - so make sure that a) she's comfortable and b) you don't spill too much water with her weight pressing on the edge. The color tabs where purchased at Target (in the showergel section), make sure to buy tablets that don't stain the model or her wardrobe. Then I added flowers (real flowers as fake ones would soak in water and drown more quickly). Make sure (or have an assistant looking out for it) that the flowers don't turn over when the model poses. It helps to photograph the flowers up front in the water (without the model) in case some did turn over in your favorite shot - this way the photoshop fix is easy as you can just clone over the turned flowers with your original flower picture. Make sure to work quickly through your set, so the model doesn't get too cold (you also don't want to smooth out goose bumps in photoshop). It's a quick shoot but can be changed with different flowers, wardrobe and color tabs (or milk) to help you achieve a great variety.
