BiaDumitru

DARK

Canon EOS 1200D

settings

Aperture f/13 ISO 3200 Shutter 1/15 Focal Length 55/1

location

Venezia, Veneto, IT

upload_date

Nov, 2020

Views

194

Likes

Awards

Winter Award 2020

Outstanding Creativity

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in my room in the province of Venice. It was the first time I photographed with fluorescent skin paint.

Time

There’s no specific time. A lot of pictures were taken, until I felt pretty sure of the results, so the pictures lasted about an hour. The date is exactly 25 October 2020.

Lighting

This image is made to be made in the dark. Fluorescent colours have the characteristic of being visible in the dark when exposed to ultraviolet light. The brightness in the room must be absent: I only used an ultraviolet torch to make the colors visible. The size of the flashlight radius is not important in my opinion. Of course, if you don’t want to focus on just one point, it’s better to use a wide radius to see as many details as possible of the colour.

Equipment

I used my Canon 1200d camera with 18-55mm lens. Focus not necessarily automatic, you have to calculate it based also on the movement of the tripod (if you use one). I personally for this photo besides of course the camera without which no art is created, I used an original National Geographic tripod, but if you use autofocus you can safely not use the tripod. Built-in flash of the camera active, as it will be the only source of light that will illuminate your subject in addition to the ultraviolet flashlight that is essential for taking photos with fluorescent colors, otherwise they will not illuminate. This is all the equipment you'll need. In addition to these things you obviously need a model, a person who is a friend, a sister or anyone else.

Inspiration

I wanted to create something different, I wanted to differentiate myself from other photographers I follow. I wanted to go beyond my comfort zone and create art within art. I found out which fluorescent colours are suitable for the skin and how to take these particular photos. Mostly my photographs are of landscapes, macro or nature, so it made sense to test myself. I had a person, the girl I took the picture of, who wanted to be photographed to overcome her limitations and to challenge herself, so a shot idea and an opportunity put together create a result.

Editing

Post-production is fundamental in a shot, it makes 50% of the work, so it's normal that I made some changes (not invasive of course). I adjusted the lights in various points of the shot to make the face more visible, I eliminated some mistakes inside the photo due to my lens and I fixed the tufts of hair that were visible in the background by removing them, that's all.

In my camera bag

In my backpack I have a Canon 1200d camera; two lenses respectively 18-55 mm and a telephoto 70-300 mm; a Zacro cleaning kit for SLR cameras and optical lenses; a Lavalier pin microphone; a Moukey MCm-1 microphone; two spare batteries; two SD cards respectively one 16gb and 64gb; two power cables; various cables for connections to power plugs and computers; a GoPro Hero Session and various cables useful for it. Outside the backpack but indispensable that I carry with me on special occasions I have an Amzdeal Softbox photo kit 50x70 with included 85W E27 bulb and a National Geographic tripod with 3-way head and quick release, lever closure and intermediate stabilizer with maximum height 129 cm.

Feedback

This way of shooting is certainly peculiar and not very common among photographers so it is not easy to understand how to shoot. Based on my personal experience, I recommend you first of all to select and buy the fluorescent colors suitable for the skin, because if they are not it can be dangerous. Of course, when using them do not go too close to sensitive areas such as eyes or mouth. The key thing to take this kind of photo to make the colors visible is to have the flashlight with ultraviolet rays, not LEDs because it wouldn’t work. The decision on the use of the tripod is yours, so depending on the circumstances you see, depending on its use you will have the consequence of the focus settings. Apart from this nothing important, of course the light must be turned off and the flash activated. It takes a lot of patience to take these pictures, you have to already think about the shot to be taken, in order to be able to create a specific type of painting. Carve out plenty of hours for the preparation of this shot, paint the person carefully and wait about 15 minutes before shooting, to give the color a chance to dry so that it looks even in the shot.

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DARK

Behind The Lens

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