Beauty and the Beast
Kristina at Printemps, Paris
Kristina at Printemps, Paris
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Jul, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was shot at Printemps department store in Paris. There is a beautiful semi-abandoned staircase there, which is not easy to access. We (Sunny, the model, and me) used one of rare possibilities to go there for shooting.Time
It was afternoon of a week-day, there were nobody at the place, so we went to to the upper floor where there is a small square near the exit to the roofLighting
Light was 100% natural: daylight coming from two oval windows under the roofEquipment
I used my old Nikon D90 with a wide-angle Sigma 10-20mm lens at 10mm, so 35-equivalent focal length was 15mm. I used a chair to stand above the model and hold the camera raised above my head to get both the model and the staircase in the frame. I did not see neither the viewfinder nor the screen, so the shot was done blindly.Inspiration
My idea was to to combine the model with architectural details of the staircase. I knew, this staircase sometime looks like a snake or a dragon, and I was thinking of it as of the beast, who wants to catch the beauty. So I wanted to make the shot in a way where the model is seen through the iron lattice. It was not easy: the camera had to be not only above the model, but over the central staircase hole.Editing
most post-processing was converting to b-w. I think this scene is dramatic enough to avoid colours.In my camera bag
Currently: Nikon D7200 with Nikkor 50/1.4 for portraits, Sigma 10-20 for architecture and Nikkor 18-200 for the rest Also Olymus EP-5 with Olympus 35/2.8 (street photo) and Tamron 14-150 (travels)Feedback
I think the key point here is finding visual rhythms between human body and architectural environment: curves, angles, shapes... The more, the better. Pay attention to the composition, it should be balanced and could be even decorative.
