Sunday, November 1, 2009

October 30, 2009 - Happy haunting!

1/30f2.0ISO 320050mmRAW

I know I am still behind in posting, but I got such a great photo last night I couldn't wait to share it. Hopefully, this will help motivate me to get fully caught up.

Tonight I got a great photo of one of the youth at our church's Halloween Trunk or Treat party. He had his face painted as if it was stitched up, and had fun walking around, staring and pointing at people in a quiet, yet menacing way.

I wanted to get a photo that I thought would portray his behavior in a more sinister way. Here's how I did it.

I set him up in a dark hallway beside an open door where the light was spilling from the room into the dark hallway. This illuminated him from the side, but it still left the hallway dark. The light coming from behind him is about 100 feet away. This light is reflecting on some of the woodwork and art along the walls.

I shot this with my 50mm f1.8 lens with the camera set in aperture priority mode. I set the aperture to f2.0 to get a fast enough shutter speed (at 3200 ISO) to get the photo sharp and clear without using a flash (which would have totally destroyed the lighting effect).

Finally, I edited the photo to be a little soft (in other words, I didn't do any sharpening) and off-color on purpose. I thought it made it look like more like a dream (or nightmare) type state.

There are two things that really bug me about the shot. First, there is a chair in the hallway, which you can see in the lower left of the photo. I wish I had noticed it and moved it first. Second, he hand is much blurrier than I thought it would be. I wish it had gotten into focus a little more.

But what's done is done. What do you guys think? How would you rate the photo?

2 comments:

Pey-Jing Li Mehrinfar said...

I absolutely LOVE this photograph! First off, the hand being blurry doesn't bother me after your explanation because it kind of adds to a more dream-like quality. I did immediately notice the chair, but I know it would only take a little time to Photoshop out the chair, which would be a cinch for you. The boy's costume reminds me of calacas from Dia de los Muertos. I like the effect you made with the hallway. Awesome photo!

Chris said...

Thank you, I really appreciate your feedback. It's always nice to listen to what other established photographers say, even if it isn't always positive. But in this case, it is!