lundi 25 octobre 2010

RCBT Calendar 2011 part One: The Running

English version at the end of the post.



Concevoir un calendrier constitue toujours un énorme challenge pour un photographe. En effet, il ne suffit pas de sortir douze bonnes photos, encore faut-il qu'elles soient cohérentes entre elles. Et si d'aventure ce photographe a déjà eut la chance de réaliser un calendrier sur un sujet similaire, il doit absolument se renouveler et créer un nouveau concept.

L'idée, cette année, était de recréer toutes les étapes d'un triathlon mais prises à la verticale. Pour la course à pied, la piste d'athlétisme en tartan constituait un arrière plan idéal.

Cependant, pour que l'image paraisse étrange et que les triathlètes ne donnent pas l'impression d'être couchés sur le sol mais bien de courir, il fallait à tout prix éviter que des ombres portées n'apparaissent sur l'arrière plan. Et pour ce faire, la seule solution est amenée par le ring flash.

Au lieu d'utiliser un flash cobra monté d'un rayflash, j'ai décidé d'utiliser un alienbee AB800 muni d'une softbox et de la convertir en ringflash en plaçant l'appareil juste au centre. De cette manière, la lumière venait de toutes les directions mais était également très douce de par la taille de la source lumineuse. Le tout était fixé à un boom Manfrotto (avec près de 5 kg de contre poids!) et monté à près de 4 mètres de hauteur.



Mon EOS 40D était muni d'un tokina 12-24 f4. Le flash était déclenché par un Pocketwizzard. Et je pouvais piloter le tout à distance avec mon portable et le très bon programme DSLR Remote Pro. Je pouvais ainsi modifier depuis le sol l'exposition, la sensibilité, la vitesse d'obturation, etc. tout en visualisant mes photos en direct. Grosse logistique mais qui s'est avérée très pratique à l'usage.

Pour tirer parti de la taille imposante de mon ringflash improvisé, je ne voulais pas monter mon appareil trop haut. J'ai donc été contraint de shooter mes modèles séparément avant de fusionner les images dans photoshop.


Je suis loin d'être un fanatique de photoshop mais quand son usage est prévu dès la prise de vue, l'intérêt de ce programme est immense.


la vidéo du making of:




It's always difficult for a photographer to create a calendar. The hardest part is maybe to find a same concept for 12 pictures.

Even harder when you already made a calendar about the same subject. Then you have to find another concept at least as good as the first one. Man, what a pressure on my head!

I don't know if this concept is good but at least it is different.

The idea is to shoot from top with the ground as background. This time, I needed to avoid any 3D effect. I didn't wanted the guys look like laying on the ground. Therefore I had to avoid any background shadow.



The only solution I had was the use of a ringflash. But the only ringflash I have is a rayflash. And it's not good enough for tht job.

So I used an alienbee AB800 with a medium softbox and placed my EOS 40D centered under it. With such a giant ring flash, the shadows are minimised and the light became very soft.

The camera was linked to a laptop by USB and controled with it.

I shot the triathletes separatly so I could shoot as close as possible at 12 mm. Then I merged the pics on photoshop. The use of photoshop is very interesting when you know at the shooting that you'll need to use it. Otherwise I usually tend to avoid it.

All the pics of shooting 1 on flickr



the making of video





16 commentaires:

Elektra a dit…

very nice and funny

philippe malet a dit…

Superbe ! que d'idées !!
Philippe

David Hobby a dit…

Thanks for the heads-up! I did not moderate your comment into publication, as I am going to post about it on Tuesday instead. Awesome stuff, as usual.

David H
Strobist.com

Michel Reij a dit…
Ce commentaire a été supprimé par l'auteur.
Michel Reij a dit…

Very nice concept! I created a calendar for my (Dutch) track & field club in 2009, also using strobist techniques in most photo's: http://www.mreij.com/external.php?PageID=400
I chose to highlight the various types of people working behind the scenes: coaches, volunteers, parents, jury members and the various other identifiable groups, like the playful young kids, older youths, masters, students, etc.

Unknown a dit…

Very Cool Idea, out of the box...Neil Patel

Haristobald a dit…

Hey David,

Thanks a lot for the post!
It means so much for me cause I learned (almost) everything from your amazing blog.
I'm just your humble padawan master Yoda please keep teaching.

Haristobald

steven rix a dit…

Oui vraiment bien comme idee je trouve.
That was a nice idea.

Nico a dit…

Excellent !
Innovant !
Ingénieux !
Encore ! Encore !
:)

Anonyme a dit…

Fantastic and inspiring idea!

I just made a calendar of a young woman who wanted it for her boyfriend. I see your point that coming up with 12 themes can be challenging.

Thank for sharing your technique.

Arpad

www.ronaszegi.com

Unknown a dit…

Great idea and excellent execution!

Can you help me understand your remark in the videao about the flag: "The pictures had to be only lit by the "ring-softbox" to keep the "flying" feeling."

Do you mean to say that the light from the sun was coming from the wrong angle ('below') and tehrefore you could not use it? Or is there something with ringflash type light that adds to the flying feeling?
Maybe you can give some insight on how you came to decide to use this lighting set up.

Thanks and again: excellent reults!

Haristobald a dit…

@ Robert:
The guys had to look separate from the background, I needed a 2D effect.
Therefor, I had to avoid any shadow on the background. With a shadow on the ground it would be obvious at first sight that the athletes where lying on it.

So the best way to avoid any hard background shadow is the use of a ringflash. But then I still would have a shadow all around the subject.
With a big ringlight that shadow would be smooten.

It's the reason why I shooted one by one an not all together. Oterwise I had to be too high and the light source would have be too small.

I hope I answered your question ;-)

And thanks for your comment (everybody)

Anonyme a dit…

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Anonyme a dit…

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It seems too complicated and very broad for me.
I am looking forward for your next post, I'll try to get the hang of it!
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