![[ reach out ] This is my favorite shot from the entire shoot! Check out to t](https://cdnpt01.viewbug.com/media/mediafiles/2018/07/26/80248933_widepreview400.jpg)
[ reach out ] This is my favorite shot from the entire shoot! Check out to t
[ reach out ] This is my favorite shot from the entire shoot! Check out to the full shoot we did with @neckandtieco modeled by @iammikeweber. ( link in bio )...
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[ reach out ] This is my favorite shot from the entire shoot! Check out to the full shoot we did with @neckandtieco modeled by @iammikeweber. ( link in bio )
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Jul, 2018Views
1290
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Awards
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Featured
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Genius
Superior Skill
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Relaxed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This was shot In this swampy area right outside of a small town in grove city, PA. I lived in the area for 7 years, and everyday I would pass this location and imagine how epic a scene would be here at sunrise. I still can’t believe we pulled this off after 2 years of imagining!Time
We shot this at sunrise, sometime around 5am to 6 am. It was right off the interstate, and in some murky water! I know we definitely looked a little sketchy, 3 guys, one with a tie, camera, smoke bombs, and a gas mask. Random side note: but 1hr into the shoot, and some older bald buff guy in a truck got out and started yelling at us about how we need to get out of there and how it’s not our land! Yo.. being filipino in a small town, I was ready to go! ????Lighting
As I’m sure most know, for photography, golden hour is the period of daytime shortly after sunrise or before sunset, during which daylight is redder and softer than when the Sun is higher in the sky. So, we got there before Sunrise to set up and waited for the colors to show, but didn’t take into account that there was a tall tree line behind us obscuring the suns beams from coming in when I’d like. Wanting to make sure I got the shot I wanted, I had the subject hold the colored smoke bombs in his face with hopes the orange and red would go well with the colors in the sky. Well, unfortunately it didn’t go as planned at all, the sky was turning blue, the sun was coming over the tree line, and I thought I missed my opportunity. But as the sun started coming over the tree line I noticed how the smoke from all the smoke bombs filled the surroundings and made the sun rays more dramatic. Because of the smoke and the sun barely peeking over the tree line, the rays covered the area and added this nice orange hue to the smoke, like clouds in the sky. It was a perfect unplanned golden mistake. But I learned a lot that day!Equipment
At the time I was shooting with a canon 6d mki and a canon 5dmkii with a Canon 70-200mm 2.8. I didn’t have a tripod or flashes. In hindsight, I do wish I had a reflector though!Inspiration
Well actually a friend was starting up a tie business, and wanted to shoot an apocalypticish scene with his ties. He gave me free reign and I took this opportunity to shoot at this location I’ve always wanted to shoot at! I was too afraid to go by myself, so now I had people to go with that I didn’t have to convince or pay them to come with me haha. So, I asked a friend if they had a gas mask, and his dad had one from his work they used in the laboratory that made this scene feel a little more believable. At the time I was in love with smoke bombs and wanted any reason to use them in creative ways. I was just getting into portraiture and was following different Instagram accounts that inspired me. The funny thing is, at the time it was so popular to take pictures with your significant other in epic locations and holding each other’s hands. I always thought it was a creative way to show where you are while not relying on someone else to capture you, but tells this story of love, exploration, and discovery. I think at the time this became a bit of a subtle commentary of where the world was at the time and still is. This idea of instagram, travel, love, and these wild expectations of being cool, accepted, and adventurous. It did something to me and to others. It built resentment for their lives, themselves as people, and everyone including myself was seeking adventure outside of what was in front of them. Something important to me then and now is being able to capture and find the beauty in the everyday things, the adventures in our own backyard, to be free of comparison and like who we are. This was also me as a person of color, as a minority in a small town, reaching out for help. One, for acceptance of self without having to look or be a certain way and two, It was a representation of a more complex everyday occurrence, there isn’t a face to it, but there is a pain with the differences of melanin. It was and still a plea to help, to see, the damage that is being done. It may be beautiful around most, but the destruction that plagues us, surrounds us, and not all of us are fortunate enough to have gas masks to protect/shield us from the realities of this life.Editing
I put it into light room, and used a preset and then edited to my preference and style, while maintaining the story I wanted to tell.In my camera bag
I usually carry a canon 6d, canon 5d mkii, C100, A go pro, canon 70-200mm, canon 16-35mm, And an old 50mm 1.8 German film lens with a canon mount adapter. Of course with extra batteries and memory cards!Feedback
You will need friends, smoke bombs, sunrise, or sunset, a gas mask (the more dramatic and unique the prop, the better the photo will be.), a cool safe swamp haha, and some willingness to make mistakes and take risks. I think after contacting local authorities, the best way would be taking a fog machine with you in an area with trees. Make sure there is space for the sun to break through and fill the area with smoke! Place your subject in it or around it to add drama, character, and style to your shot! Get to your location an hr early to set up and be ready for the sun to rise or set!
