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Steve22

Weary soldier

Canon EOS 7D

settings

Aperture f/2.8 ISO 125 Shutter 1/320 Focal Length 175/1

location

Chatham, Kent, GB

upload_date

Nov, 2019

Views

1065

Likes

+114

Awards

Contest Finalist in Portrait Poetry Project

Contest Finalist in Monthly Pro Photo Contest Volume6

Peer Award

+27

Absolute Masterpiece

+10

Top Choice

All Star

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

Superb Composition

Superior Skill

Virtuoso

Emotions

Impressed

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Behind The Lens

Location

The image was taken at a 40's 50's re-enactment event in Chatham's Historic Dockyard, London, England.

Time

The image was taken in early afternoon however I negated the sun which was quite bright by asking the chap to "indulge me" by taking to a dappled shade area nearby.

Lighting

The natural sunlight of the time was too harsh for what i wanted from the image so I took the chap to nearby trees for some shade & had him stand just on the edge of what I would term as dappled light, by that I mean not a sharp shadow of light but an out of focus sort of shadow of light, diffused if you like.

Equipment

Canon 7d with an f2.8 70-200mm lens As I had no tripod with me and wanted a tight portrait & was shooting at 175mm I increased the ISO slightly to get a better shutter speed so as to get 320 nearly double the lens length to ensure no camera shake and a good clean sharp image.

Inspiration

The inspiration was really all down to the chap you see, I mean who wouldn't want to shoot him he had it all going on with his attire and little extras the half smoked roll up which he nearly discarded was just perfect. My only real contribution to the image was taking him to the right light which was fortunately only about 50m away turning him around to use an old style tent as a back drop, what I wanted was a look as if he was looking at the aftermath of something unpleasant, I hope it was achieved.

Editing

This image was decreased in exposure, increased in contrast then desaturated with an increase on the black then heavily sharpened to get that really "gritty" feel that I think it now has. A black vignette was also aded to focus the viewer.

In my camera bag

On trips like this I could "probably" do it with one camera one lens which would be "today" the Sony A7III 7 with a Tamron 70-200 f2.8 lens although I would also have a Canon body with a sigma 105 f2.8 attached and a Tamron 28-75 f2.8 in the bag for a reason I don't know other than I take it everywhere.

Feedback

When attending events like these the participants are 95% expecting to have their photos taken either candid or asked. I will & do shoot candid images and these can be totally amazing "but" you have to make sure that the background is sympathetic to the image a lamppost set of traffic lights a bin someone else with bright clothes and a backpack would ruin it so scanning the area is always my first move, I'm like a sniper waiting on my prey. If like in this image you find someone you want to shoot pick your location first decide on all the details then engage with your subject they rarely say no as you come across as knowing what you are doing and professional so directing them should be easier. I asked this man to look at a jeep the first thing he did was face it which is a non no, so I asked if I could move him & he was ok with that (always ask) so manoeuvred slightly side on with a slight turn of the head and I asked him to "day dream" he tried and couldn't do it so I said look at the jeep and relax your eyes until you make it "fuzzy out of focus" that nailed it, with just enough roll up left I had my shot! Whilst this might sound like an epic amount of effort to take a photo it all took a matter of 2 minutes for maybe 4 images although I then spent some time chatting to him as that is a polite thing to do when they have invested their time for you, so if anyone wants tips and tricks please feel free to message me & ask if I have an answer I'll pass it on. Steve

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Steve22

Steve22

Weary soldier

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow Steve22

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