Shooting in a busy public space at night brings with it a unique series of challenges. Human quantities, movable traffic, mixed lighting and time restrictions make it difficult to get a clean, well -composed picture. Add a model, a reflection and a three -minute window to capture the perfect shot, and the level of difficulty is cleared.
This fantastic video comes from Peter Evans from Peter Evans and records the process of taking up a striking nightly image in Bordeaux famous Miroir d'Eau. Evans had to reconcile several factors – the model and the background in sharp focus, removed distractions and worked against the clock before the city's lights were switched off. His solution included the use of a 10-second exposure to blur or eliminate moving pedestrians and vehicles. In order to keep everything from the foreground to the background, he shot F/16 to ensure a deep field depth. But mixed lighting was another problem. The golden incandescent lamps in the buildings did not match the cooler tones of his flash, so that he gave his speed light with orange filters to create a consistent color temperature.
Another important challenge was to secure the perfect shooting position. The best viewpoint for symmetry was a highly competitive place that was often packed with other people who try to take their own pictures. Evans arrived hours early and worked slowly. He used adhesive tape and characters to keep his place while he was still allowed to shoot other photographers temporarily from the place. The planning was decisive-had a limited number of options to get the shot, with just three minutes of perfect mirror conditions every 15-minute cycle. Every mistake meant waiting for another window.
The color of the dress of the model was an unexpected hurdle. The concept required a gold dress, but Evans only had access to white, black and patterned options. His solution was to shoot with the white dress and to change the color in post-processing with the color replacement tool from Photoshop. It was a small but necessary adaptation to achieve the final vision. Take a look at the video above to get the full overview of Evans.
If you would like to continue learning about the art of portrait, be sure to read our tutorials on this topic in the FSTOPPERS business.