Time waits for no-one
Nov, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken when I was studying for my BA in photography at Alexander College in Cyprus. It was part of a broader zine project I was submitting on the subject of "TIME".Time
I had booked one of the campus studios for early morning and although I had with me various props, the image had not crystalised in my mind until I had begun to shoot.Lighting
A strip light was used as a key light on the right and a bookend reflector on the left. On the table was a 1m x 1m sheet of black perspex.Equipment
My Nikon D300 with a Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens was set up on a Manfrotto tripod with a remote shutter release. A Godox studio strobe with a vertical strip modifier was connected to the camera using a remote trigger. Laboratory clamps were used to holf the two parts of the broken hourglass.Inspiration
From my childhood I remembered the soap opera my mother used to watch "Days of our Lives" and the opening quote... "Like sands through the hourglass, so, are the days of our lives". I was toying around with the idea of the inexorable passing of time and that there in nothing we can do to stop it. I set up the hourglass and asked one of the art students in the next studio if he could help me. I had him stand opposite the camera, and asked him to cup his hands to catch the falling sand when we the glass bulb was unplugged. His hands were dirty with paint and this added to the sombre mood of the finished image. We soon realised that the sand was falling too fast because the openings of the broken hourglass were too big so I had him try, to stem the flow. The sand was overflowing out of his hands and falling onto the table and I became frustrated at the futility of trying to stop it or slow it down... something like time.Editing
Post processing mostly involved cropping-in, removing the clamp which was holding the top hourglass bulb and adjusting contrast and saturation slightly to create a more sombre image.In my camera bag
Today I shoot with a Nikon D800. My "Holly Trinity" of Tamron lenses (15-30mm f/2.8, 24-70mm f/2.8, 70-200mm f/2.8) is always in my bag as well as a Nikon prime 50mm f/1.8. When I'm out and about my remote shutter release is also always there as are my set of ND filters (Soft Gradient, ND2, ND4, ND8, ND16) and my carbon fibre tripod. It's a heavy bag!Feedback
When shooting abstract or conceptual work in or out of a studio, try to create a story that will give your message depth and substance. Do some preliminary research to have an initial idea on which to develop and build. You may want to do some test shot before to see how your ideas look on screen. When you start shooting allow your mind and creativity to travel even if it means straying away from that which you had initially imagined/visualised. Try out different arrangements of your props or poses and expressions of your models. "Play" with the light or with the shutter speed and depth of field. The creative process is a dynamic one, don't resist it when it leads you on a new path. Allow it to carry you to new directions and don't be afraid to experiment. You may find that you end up liking the new destination.
