Ascension I
Part of an escapist series I started during the first corona-lockdown.
Part of an escapist series I started during the first corona-lockdown.
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Jan, 2021Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this image during the first Covid lockdown of 2020 and as such, I didn't have many options for locations. However, I really wanted to get this shot out of my head and into the real world so I started going over the places that were accessible to me and ended up shooting the main components for this composite in the underground parking garage of the apartment complex we live in. The sky part of the image was taken in a wooded area close to where we live in Brussels called the Sonian forest.Time
I probably shot this somewhere during the afternoon, but as you can imagine, being in an underground parking lot I might have shot it at any given hour of the day or night.Lighting
The image I had in my had called for a light coming from straight above for the principal character to ascend into. I've done some compositing before (though nothing quite as elaborate as what this one eventually turned into) so I had a fairly good idea of what I thought it needed for lighting. I used a Nikon SB900 on a simple light stand pointing upward to already give the illusion of the hole that would eventually be there and to get most of the ambient light I needed for the scene. In order to light myself, I used the same flash but shot it into a small silver umbrella pointing straight down onto me. It was a bit hit and miss with the self-timer, but I eventually got the two shots I thought I'd need.Equipment
I used my Nikon D90 (it sadly gave up on me by the end of the year after 11 years of trusty service) with a Tamron 18-270mm - f/3.5-6.3 to capture all images I used for this composite. As this is a self-portrait, but mainly as the alignment of the two images needs to match for easier compositing afterward, the image was shot on a heavy Manfrotto tripod. To light, I used a Nikon SB900 flash on a stand and a small silver Elinchrom umbrella.Inspiration
This image has been with me in some form or other for many years. If I really had to think about it, it probably stems from a combination of a catholic upbringing with a lot of fantasy novels, video games, and alien abductions thrown in for good measure.Editing
To be quite honest, I had no idea what I was getting into, getting this image to look how I wanted it. I knew that I'd need several images that would eventually form the final scene as you see it now and I had a basic idea of what it would take to get them all fitting together. In short, I cleaned out the backplate by removing the light stand and flash. I then cut out the principal character from the second image and overlaid it onto the cleaned backplate in a floating position. Since both images were taken in the same conditions I had no colour matching to worry about. Getting the perspective on the skylight to work was one of the more tricky bits and took me quite some time to figure out. Once that was in place I had to somehow create a beam of light coming down from it causing shadows under the character. Some colour grading finished it off. Suffice it to say that yes I did do post-processing. I roughly estimate having spent 48h on the image learning lots of new things in the process.In my camera bag
Well at the time I made this image I was still happily shooting my Nikon D90, which has since been replaced with a shiny new Z6 II and we're still getting to know each other. I have a Nikon 50mm F/1.4, a Tamron 18-270mm (which is a Dx lens so it will likely not be finding a lot of use anymore), and a Nikon Z 24-200MM F/4.0-6.3 which came as a kit with the Z6. For lights, I have 3 yongnuo flashes somewhere in a drawer and a Nikon SB900 that I borrowed from my dad years back and somehow never got around to return to him. Sorry about that dad!Feedback
Most importantly, just do it and worry about what it'll take to get to the result as you're doing it. If you start overthinking it beforehand you'll never actually get to laking it. Secondly, get yourself a cheap, infrared or other, remote trigger for your camera. Even on a 10-second delay, it's no fun running from the camera to position trying to get there on time and assuming the pose. I ordered one for 15€ after I finished this image.
