Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Imaginary Carpet Ride



Last night was the closing date for the final assignment in the Bootcamp2 competition hosted my David Hobby over at Stobist. This competition was actually what got me going (GOYA) in the first place and I have forced myself to partake in all of the assignments thus far. To be honest, it has not been easy, but I have learned a lot about myself while completing the assignments – which is what I think the whole idea was to start off with.


I’ve been fortunate enough to make the shortlist of finalists in assignments 1 & 3, but am yet to be published on his site – which would make my year, since most of what I know about photographic lightning, I learned on his site.

The theme for the final assignment was “What moves you, transportation - literally, what moves you. Since I have done a few photographs for the automotive industry before, my first thought was to organize a unique truck or something and photograph it on a nice location. But then I had a look at the entries received thus far and saw that most people did exactly that and very well I might say. I had to come up with another plan to try and make my photo stand out from the hundreds of other similar entries received.

Given that this was the final assignment, I decided to get very ambitious with my lightning and try something more conceptional, which in itself is a bit risky as it might also very well get me disqualified. Let’s hope Mr. Hobby does not see it that way:-)

I decided to construct a photo portraying me on a flying carpet, high up in the air above the moon. My oil-stained garage floor was just perfect as a “moon surface” and I have always wanted to try and incorporate this in a photo. So I placed a small table in the centre of my garage and draped my “magic carpet” over it. I suspended the four corners to the ceiling with dark rope so it would not show in the final photograph, added some interest with smoke and I was on my way. Although this was a hell of lot of work to get the lightning just right, it was also one of the most enjoyable photos I’ve ever taken. Even if I get kicked out for straying, I am still satisfied with the results and will always treasure the experience.

If anyone is interested in the exact light set-up used, feel free to check it out here.

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