Shadows on Ice

[Pete Askew]

Another shot from Sanssouci. This time some trees partially silhouetted against the sky and casting shows / reflections on a frozen stream.

Leica M9 35/f1.4 PP in LR/PS using SilverFX Pro 2.

 

[Hamish Gill]

ooo i really like that!!
id have made the vignette at the top less intense ... with it open at the sky i think it could make the image look more stark and foreboding ...

 

[Vic Shaw]

I like this , it has great tones. How great would this be with a figure in the background?

 

[Dan Cattermole]

Oh wow pete!! This is amazing! 10 out 10 for this one.

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks guys. I think you are right Hamish though and I will go back to the layers and limit the burn. Actually, I was originally only interested in the shadows themslves and shot the whole as this was the closest I could get. There is a crop of the shot at http://www.babelsberg-studio.com in my portfolio section (site only just coming up and more will be added). Vic, there's never a passerby when you want one is there! Especially one in a gothic top hat!! The world is just a cruel, cruel place!

 

[Pete Askew]

ooo i really like that!!
id have made the vignette at the top less intense ... with it open at the sky i think it could make the image look more stark and foreboding ...

How's this Hamish?

 

[Hamish Gill]

bang on mate ... just how i would have done it i think!

 

[Paul Lange]

I think the texture of the water is fantastic. Also like the cropped shot on the website with just the water in the frame. Off topic Pete, but I would love to know how you lit the man in your photo on the website. Really stunning lighting.

 

[Pete Askew]

Thanks Paul. I used the same lighting for a whole series of portraits. All were shot on a Cambo Legend / Apo Rodagon 90 at f64 / PhaseOne P45. Main light was a parbolic refector on a 3KJ head with 1.5KJ side lights fitted with honecomb boxes (fired from an asynchrnous pack at about 1:2 in total vs the main light and 2:1 R:L). Setup as below (a friend asked at the time and so I took a shot of the setup).

Does that make sense?

 

[Paul Lange]

Wow, loads of gear and a really nice place, is it your home? Have you ever thought about adopting a 35-1/4 aged child?
I think part of what you're saying is that the right honeycomb was 1 stop more than the left and both of those together were 1 stop less than the beauty dish. The honeycomb side lights were not fired at exactly the same time as the main.

Did I get that right or not quite?

 

[Pete Askew]

Hi Paul,

It is my studio / office / darkroom in Babelsberg. Adopting? Now let me think.

Yes, that is pretty well correct for the lighting ratios. The power was set 0.5K : 1.5K on the Asynchronous pack and 3K on the main light. All were fired at the same time.

 

[Paul Lange]

Why is it called Asynchronous, is it because the packs don't synchronise with a clock signal in a similar manner to asynchronous data transfer?

 

[Pete Askew]

Sorry Paul, that's me typing quickly without thinking!! Asymmetric is what I meant to type. You can spit the output non-equally whereas on a symmetric pack you can only have the same output on each head. So in this case, I was driving the RH head (camera view) from the 0.5K outlet and the LH from the 1.5K but the distance was about 6X further on the left (hence ca 2:1). Although they were driven from those ratios the total output was set at about 20% so the full power of the pack wasn't being employed (it would have been far too bright at those distances). The main light is not that much above head height so you don't get that many shadows under the eyelids, nose and chin and the two side lights take care of any residue.

 

[Alastair Cummins]

I love the dark and moody feel to this pic, great stuff

 

[Paul Lange]

Sorry Paul, that's me typing quickly without thinking!! Asymmetric is what I meant to type. You can spit the output non-equally whereas on a symmetric pack you can only have the same output on each head. So in this case, I was driving the RH head (camera view) from the 0.5K outlet and the LH from the 1.5K but the distance was about 6X further on the left (hence ca 2:1). Although they were driven from those ratios the total output was set at about 20% so the full power of the pack wasn't being employed (it would have been far too bright at those distances). The main light is not that much above head height so you don't get that many shadows under the eyelids, nose and chin and the two side lights take care of any residue.

Ahhhhhhh, I see.