Since I proposed this project to Caitlyn she was so excited about it that working with her was really fun. Her photos represent water and as I said in a previous post we went to downtown LA to shoot them.
Since water was the topic of these photos, we chose a proper outfit for her. The idea was to have her dancing literally "on" the water...and I can tell you that we actually tried...without much success though. So, we decided that close to those beautiful fountains was actually good enough.
In this photo, her tutu' seems to wave on her like...water... and her grace and elegance are just outstanding.
I like the fact that she's framed by the fountains and the skyscrapers seem to be the audience of her wonderful show. Finally, one detail I really like of this photo is her profile that beside being almost completely in darkness is outlined by the blue light on her left arm.
This photo is less dynamic compared to the previous one but she's just so beautiful in her ballerina outfit. Also, the fact that she's more to the right but looking left I think makes a nice composition.
As far as technical details, in this case they are pretty simple. I exposed for the sky, dropped two stops and then fired the flash camera left with a 1/2 CTB on it. The flash was also snooted to converge most of the light on her. Its position is obvious if you look at the shadow made by her feet. WB was incandescent and the remote flash was fired by the usual on camera flash.
>> See full post and comments
In this photo, her tutu' seems to wave on her like...water... and her grace and elegance are just outstanding.
I like the fact that she's framed by the fountains and the skyscrapers seem to be the audience of her wonderful show. Finally, one detail I really like of this photo is her profile that beside being almost completely in darkness is outlined by the blue light on her left arm.
This photo is less dynamic compared to the previous one but she's just so beautiful in her ballerina outfit. Also, the fact that she's more to the right but looking left I think makes a nice composition.
As far as technical details, in this case they are pretty simple. I exposed for the sky, dropped two stops and then fired the flash camera left with a 1/2 CTB on it. The flash was also snooted to converge most of the light on her. Its position is obvious if you look at the shadow made by her feet. WB was incandescent and the remote flash was fired by the usual on camera flash.
>> See full post and comments
Posts
7 comments:
Caitlyn usually loves to dance as a vampire! She has to most gracious arms and heart and can imitate all sorts of animal's mouvements.
It is wonderful to see her as she is: a beautiful magician
That makes me think to the other "element" we had in mind for this project..."illusion"!
You know what happen when I start thinking about something right?!
Beware!
Paolo-san,
the Pasadena Arts Committee would give you
a boot just for these pictures: I love the
second one for the symmetry break and also
the skyscrapers fill out the height on the
background. Were you bent to take this one
and standing for the other?. The balance of the colors is also harmonious and makes
the photo naturally pleasant.
I enjoyed it maestro!
Looking forward to know the outcome of the
selection (... break a leg...).
Erika, thanks for your wishes, even though I would have preferred a classical "in bocca al lupo"! I think I was pretty much in the same position when I took the two shots. In both cases I was kneeling and looking up at Caitlyn.
“Caitlyn and water” … I love these pictures. Here you have water and fire, light and darkness in a beautiful contrast. Fire coming from water, that’s quite some magic! The background is truly amazing and the dancer fits perfectly in. Really nice!!!
But I’m not here to get all sugary, so I’m also going to criticize a bit. From the dancer’s pose point of view, I like more the ‘asymetric’ one, even though in that picture you miss quite a bit of the left fountain. In the one you consider more dynamic, I like more how the background looks, it also appears more in focus to me. I think I would have preferred if the dancer’s front leg was straight rather than bent. Was she holding the poses for you or were you catching fleeting still moments of a dance?
Bela, thanks again for taking the time to leave your comment.
To answer your question, she wasn't posing, just dancing freely and I was trying to catch her on the fly. Also, actually we were not supposed to be there in the first place so...we tried to hurry up as much as possible. We got there, set everything up, took the photos and left in no more than 10 min. I think.
As for the background, it might be it's a little bit blurred since I was dragging the shutter as much as possible to keep the background at a resonable level of luminosity after sunset. In those photos I was at 1/60s at f/4 and ISO 400. The flashes were freezing Caitlyn, but not the background.
They are beautiful pictures, even more so if they were done in such short time, ready to leave at any moment. It is funny ... I was almost sure she was posing. It is a harder job for you to catch her on the fly, but I think it gives you a higher chance to get something naturally beautiful. Now I have to go, but I'll be back :)
Post a Comment