dardur

uncertainty

Sveta, being beautiful and confused, as always.

Sveta, being beautiful and confused, as always.
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EZ Controller

location

Netanya, HaMerkaz, IL

upload_date

Apr, 2022

Views

145

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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo on the cliffside near the ocean of Shoshanat Ha'amakim, Sharon District, Israel. It's one of my favourite spots in Israel, I learned how to surf there and have spent most of my late childhood\early adulthood hanging around here. It was my first time meeting Sveta, the model in this shot, and I knew a place that's familiar to me would suit me best to try and get her emotions across. When trying to capture an emotion of a person, I belive you need to know your surroundings and feel comfortable whilst shooting. There's no place better for me, as I knew those shores and cliffs better than the palm of my own hand.

Time

I remember taking this shot right after the sunset, so it probably was around 19:20 or so in the evening. It's that time of day when the sun is out, so no direct sunlight, but you still have the blue, natural lighting reflected off of everything.

Lighting

As we walked across the shore on our way to that cliffside, I saw there were no clouds at all over the horizon. It's pretty rare at these times of the year in Israel to get no clouds or fog and just a clear blue sky. I knew that If I went to a higher place I could get a shot of Sveta, The ocean and some plants. I believed that after the sun would rise, the light would reflect off of everything - The ocean, The plants, The sand, Her hair. It would make her blend into the background a bit, whilst still hanging off to a depth of field that would seperate her emotions. The lighting was, to put it simply, perfect.

Equipment

I used a Nikon F3 35mm film camera. The film used was Ilford Pan 50, A low ASA B&W film That has great contrast when the light is direct, but also keeps some grain when the lighting starts to dim off. I took this shot handheld. I believe that when trying to capture motion, you need to be as free as you can to move and try to sync yourself with the model.

Inspiration

About a week ago I went to the studio I normally work with for development & scan of film. One of the workers there, Tom, a good friend of mine, showed me a colored shot he took of his girlfriend from a low angle with his Pentax 67. In the shot, her blonde hair was flying in the wind and making her look messy. I felt like it got across her feelings. The moment I ment Sveta and saw her blonde hair, I knew I wanted to take a similiar shot. Not as close as he did, less focused on her hair. A simple portrait in B&W, a bit futher off. Something that would both capture her face, her emotions, her hair blowing in the wind, and the atmosphere of the ocean and of nature.

Editing

I did a bit of dusk cleaning. When developing and scanning a B&W film that's got a low ASA, you normally get a lot of natural dust on the photo, especially when shooting near the ocean. I didn't want all the white dust spots on her, so I took some time cleaning them up in Lightroom. I tried touching the contrast a bit, but eventually decided that the shot was perfect as it was, so I decided to drop off anything except the dust cleaning.

In my camera bag

I normally carry with me two analog cameras: - My Nikon F3, a dependable 35mm film camera that has apeture priority, A light meter, A changable viewfinder that allows you to either look via a point level viewfinder or a waist level viewfinder. It's shot best in Manual Mode. The film I carry for it are normally a low ASA B&W, either by Kodak or Ilford, a high ASA color film, normally a Cinestill 800T or a Kodak Portra 800, a medium ASA color film, normaly a Fuji C200 and a roll of an expired color film, normally a Kodak Gold 100. - My Mamiya M645, a great lightweight 120mm film camera that's completely manual. I normally use a waste level finder and shoot either Street Photography, Nature Photography or Portraiture Photography with it. I normally carry a B&W film - either an Ilford HP5 400 or a Kodak T-Max 400, and a high speed color film, the same ones I used for my Nikon but on a medium format.

Feedback

There are many advices I could give. The biggest two, I reckon, would be to look at other's work for inspiration, we can never know everything and it's nice to learn from others and find a muse in other's work. I would also recommend to take your camera with you everywhere you go. You never know where you might find a great shot, It could be whilst taking your dogs out, whilst going on a date, just hanging out at the beach or even at the grocery store. It's always great to be Prepared.

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dardur

dardur

uncertainty

Sveta, being beautiful and confused, as always.

Behind The Lens

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