Portrait of an Apprehensive Open Water Swimmer
Dec, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
Where East meets West! The swimmer... limited space in my living room in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire. The pier... at Portencross, near West Kilbride, 40 miles away in Ayrshire. Portencross is a great wee place, boasting a beach, a castle, a harbour and a pier. The pier is very popular with photographers and fishermen. The rusty metal sheets you see cover a couple of large holes and I know of one photographer who fell through prior to the covering!Time
Both early evening in October.Lighting
The final composite image hadn't been planned, so I didn't purposely set up portrait lighting with that in mind. I took a number of shots in less than 15 minutes (neither of us had much time that night) using different angles of light and a white background. It was only later that I realised the lighting suited the background image, and I liked the Rembrandt effect. The light on the back of the head was reflected from the white background.Equipment
Nikon D7000. Yongnuo speedlights for main light and white background light, Yongnuo triggers RF603. 10-24mm lens for the pier, 85mm prime lens for the swimmer. I have since learned that both images for a composite should be taken with same lens to give same perspective.Inspiration
I needed another entry for the camera club portrait competition! I had been watching videos by Joel Grimes and like his sporty composites, one in particular with a swimmer. To be honest, I wasn't sure I liked my composite or if it was suited to our portrait competition. So unsure that it was entered as a petite 9x6" print. Luckily, the judge liked it! I have grown to like the image more in time.Editing
Absolutely! The most time was spent on the cut out. I think I was using Photoshop CS2 at the time so no fancy select and refine edge, just a mask a black and white brush. Then try to match the colours of both images. I often desaturate and add a gradient map to help with this.In my camera bag
Now, it's a Nikon D810, a 50mm prime, 85mm prime and 70-200mm. I have still to replace my wide angle lens since moving to full frame. I have four various Yongnuo speedlights and RF603 triggers. I love my pop up black and white background, and also make more use of my reflector now. I plan to work on outdoor flash this summer though, and the Godox AD360II is on my wish list.Feedback
It's helpful to have a plan, to get the lighting and perspective right for both images. Practice masking and colour matching. I sometimes just take a couple of images, that I know won't work, to practice the cut out and colour. Composite images can be a lot of fun... check out John Wilhelm.
