A week ago, I posted a blog on my other photography blog site, in which I talked about the power of pre-visualization using the sketch exercise. Click here if you missed it.
The sketch shown above is the one I have pre-visualized only after I made my first trip to the old school playground. Hop right in as I would show the final image I made on my second trip.
It was far more challenging in making the super low angle exposure than I expected. Arriving at the playground, the ground was littered with wilted leaves. While waiting for my friend, I quickly got into work, setting up the camera and sweeping the wilted leaves with my feet. Then I placed the camera on the ground, trying to find the best vantage spot. At such super low angle, the best tool to use for easy composition through the view finder is to use an angle finder as show here.
Adjustments were made on tilting the lens upwards with some plastic boxes for support so as to get the composition right. When I viewed through the angle finder to compose, the perspective is way different than the illustrated sketch shown above. It all depends on what lens is used. The lens I used is Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens, the popular DX lens used for architectural photography. The low angle perspective view is fascinating.
Adjustments were made on tilting the lens upwards with some plastic boxes for support so as to get the composition right. When I viewed through the angle finder to compose, the perspective is way different than the illustrated sketch shown above. It all depends on what lens is used. The lens I used is Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens, the popular DX lens used for architectural photography. The low angle perspective view is fascinating.
It goes to show that pre-visualization using the sketch exercise helps a lot. Here's the final result.
The Bunny
© Martin Liew Photography
First off, a red gel on my Fenix flashlight, snooted with a black foam paper, on the bunny's eye. Followed by light-painting on the bunny's internal body. Some neutral LED light-paintings on its forehead, ears, legs (the low structure on the far lower right of the frame) and external body behind the weed plant. The little weed plant was light-painted to make it more 3-dimensional and poppy. Finally with a few sweeps of LED light on the foreground to complete the 199 seconds exposure.
Well, I say I'm pretty happy with this result. It's much closely resembles to this sketch I did.
Since I got what I wanted, it wouldn't hurt to make another exposure of the bunny's other side profile, right? Why of course I did. Same techniques were applied for this 165 seconds exposure below.
Night of the Fiery Bunny
© Martin Liew Photography
I don't usually compose and make my night images at such super low angle. But somehow, I want to portrait these playgrounds in the eyes of a little child, say, about five to ten years old, at their average height of 1 meter to 1.5 meters tall. It's like reviving childhood memories and seeing things we, as a child, used to see, at child's eye level. It would be more interesting to do it that way than making pictures at our eye level.
I will be doing more nocturnes on old school playgrounds. Do check out my website for more new work or subscribe to my blog for new updates. Thank you for reading.
