Project52: Still-life

For assignment three in Project52 we were supposed to photograph a still-life. Immediately when reading the assignment my mind turned to the project I have in mind to start working on at some point (I was thinking of the coming summer). When I first saw the Star Wars Lego pictures by the Flickr user Avanaut I got it in my head to start creating images based on Fire and legos myself.

So, instead of creating any other setup that would have been easier to work, I decided to start experimenting with what I’d need to go forward with my idea. The whole concept is still very open and I haven’t even started planning any of the photographs I want to make with the idea. But as an exploration of the idea and looking into some of the technical challenges this assignment proved its worth.

The above photograph is my final selection. I tried to model a “ladder” high up getting ready approach a burning structure. The light comes from the blue alarm lights from the rescue vehicles below and the various white lights they have lighting the scene. The second photograph has more light in it, but to my eye, considering a night fire the strobes are too strong. In any case, I noticed the even at the lowest power setting the strobes are easily much too powerful for small work like this.

Also, my 150mm Sigma is a bit too long for this use, although I really like it’s bokeh etc. Using a shorter lens could have worked, but then the compression factor wouldn’t have been as strong. And when using fire in the background, having the compression factor of a long lens helps in preventing melted legos.

I also noticed that my tripod head should be sturdier – or that I should have the dogs in a separate room. Some of the pictures had noticeable camera shake in them. But, live and learn. That’s what I’m doing these assignments for. Alas, due to real-life butting in and the aurora during the same evening, I didn’t get a chance to make another attempt.