Peace be still
Feb, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo location was a wonderful accident. I was driving with my friend when we saw this amazing group of trees that were so neatly in rows and seemed to go on forever. We pulled over to investigate and I fell in love. I got my gear and went on an adventure with the model. It is to this day my favorite location I have stumbled upon.Time
After the initial investigation we had lunch and got my gear to go back around 2pm. The location was off the side of a busy road but once we walked into the forest area it was the most serene and peaceful moments.Lighting
lighting was all natural. The sunlight at the time of day was peaking through the trees and created such ambient and almost angelic lighting. I like to say the lighting reflected the peacefulness of the location and how it perfectly danced on her face and hair.Equipment
I had my Nikon D7100 with a 35mm lens. no tripods no flash just me laying on the ground and getting that angle.Inspiration
I walked into this location with a set idea in mind to shoot. I was doing colored smoke photography with an umbrella and my model. This particular photo however was taken before when we both sat down in the silence of the trees to just listen....It was in that perfectly quiet moment, nature at its finest that I noticed my model looked completely at peace. She was still and taking in the ambient rustling of the leaves and I knew that would be the best photo of my day. I snapped it and I am so so glad I did. 100% not posed just candidly enjoying the moment. I titled the photography "Peace Be Still" because of it.Editing
I always do a post photo polishing if you will with Lightroom. For this photo in particular I wanted to add a preset to accent her hair color while not having the rich greens of the forest portrayed. I wanted a almost reddish/brown dull with enough contrast that it still read as a forest while making my model pop out from the background. I played with the saturation and contrast until it created the finish product.In my camera bag
on a normal adventure I usually have my Nikon 7100 body, my 35mm prime, my 50mm prime, my 70-300mm zoom, my tripod, my standard flash and most importantly some props. on most days I have my lens ball with me and my prism to get some more out of the box photos. Don't forget Lens cloths too!Feedback
As a photographer I have always been drawn to street photography style of shooting. Capturing moments as they're happening without interrupting; basically a fly on the wall approach to photography. It is simple to pose a model and have them create what you want to portray and I do that as well but to be able to anticipate those unexpected moments is such a great quality to have. Like I mentioned earlier this particular shoot was completely candid but it was a moment for me. I didn't have a vision for this shoot beforehand but as I laid on the ground in the silence and looked over at her with the lighting and all I knew it was a shot I couldn't miss. I also knew it had to be vertical.....the way I wanted the viewer's eye to trail into the distance. I wanted her larger than life yet encompassed by the grandness of the trees surrounding her. So my best advice? pay attention to the small things, sometimes they become the best things.
