Thursday, August 4, 2011

Two Concept Photographs for the “Messenger”–The J.O.B.

Rush Hour Ghosts-1

After a good night’s sleep aided by my last culinary adventure (see Craig’s Grape Adventure tomorrow when I post Trinidad Doubles with Cucumber Chutney and Trinidad Pepper Sauce Paired with 2010 Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc), I set out before sunrise to work on some photography for the new single “Messenger” to be recorded by The J.O.B. (The Jim O’Ferrell Band).

The photos featured here represent several of the concepts I have discussed with Jason Crawford (electric guitar extraordinaire) including the ghostly images of the subjects evoking an unconscious connection among them.  The purpose of this post is to discuss how I captured the images.

Rush Hour Ghosts

The first component is that of capturing the subjects in motion – leaving them with a ghostly blur.  This requires a long enough shutter speed to allow the blur to develop.  This is why I was out the door early.  I do not have neutral density filters (dark filters that limit light arriving at the sensor), so I had to rely on taking the photos under low light conditions to maintain exposure and achieve a sufficiently long exposure to capture the motion.

The second challenge was getting enough bodies in the photo to achieve the crowded bustle and energy I desired.  To do this, I composited 10 to 15 shots for each photograph.  More precisely, I set the camera on a tripod to maintain a constant composition, then took a bunch of shots as I saw people in the positions I envisioned.  In post processing I started with a base photograph, overlayed the other 15 or so shots, and then masked in the subjects to get all the bodies in the same shot.

Stay tuned for further updates on this project.

Have fun, and go make some great photography.

Craig

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