Day 32 - Project 365

"Naked? She wasn't naked, that was Photoshop!"

Day 32 came to me easier than most. I even laid the shot out in my head and it turned out just as I pictured it. I must be getting better! Lia had volunteered herself and her empanatas and I just couldn't say no. I have one cooling as I'm typing this!

The shot was 5 different elements. Lia throwing the suitcase was the background element, followed by the orange shirt and blue jeans. Myself and the laptop were layered on top. This shot came together eerily easy! 10 minutes in photoshop and the shot was roughed out. Another 20 min later I was finished. The title took almost as long as the picture. In the end the only thing that was hard was the ground I was landing on - over and over! More to come on my blog after I finish the wine and empanadas! - Later!

…nearly 4 hours later

Well, Lia and I watched a movie (The Other Guys). Lia fell asleep about 30 min in and I was in and out for the duration. Suffice to say… It wasn't a top notch movie. I'm now back in my um…office! I'm ready to give you the whole story.

Lets start out where I left off but rewind a few minutes. Lia, clad in a flowing dress and 4 inch heels and myself had set up 3 lights, power, tripod and camera with Tokina 11-16mm lens.Lia Since we were splitting the shot up into multiple elements I had the ability to get phantom lights. We actually had 3 yet it would appear as if we had 5. For the first shot, Lia was on the balcony throwing a few random articles of "good will" clothes. This is where you see the orange shirt at around 11:00 the second is the blue jeans at around 12:00 just under the balcony. The second series of shots was Lia throwing things off the balcony, but this time I had an AB800 (light 1) with Soft box hoisted up to maximum C-stand height (9 feet I think) camera left. This would illuminate her face and that great expression she has. A bare AB800 (light 2) on Balcony behind Lia would give a little fill to the otherwise dark balcony. Lastly a AB800 (light 3) with Med Softbox camera right just out of frame. This would ad fill to the right side of the falling objects.

The last 2 elements were the laptop which I had Lia hold just right so that I could mask her out, and then myself. This proved to be the most challenging part. I moved down the left AB800 from 9 feet to 6 feet and aimed it down at where my back would be (this would be phantom light 4) I moved the Right AB800 about 5 feet forward from 3:00 to 4:00 (phantom light 5)

For my shot, I had Lia click the shutter as I had attempted to set the timer and jump but just couldn't get a grasp of the timing. It was hard enough to jump, make a face, outstretch my hands and feet and not land flat on my face. The first dozen or so attempts were a hard learning period. Between getting the timing and framing down to me coming to terms with falling near on my face repeatedly. On what must have been the 14th take I hit the ground with a loud grunt. Just then, in the dark of night a kid rolls by on his bike and yells out "that looks like it hurts" I yell back "only after the 19th time doing it!" Ok…. Where did that kid come from? From this point Lia and I started to get in sync. I realized that I couldn't start by sprinting and didn't have to jump 5 feet in the air. I simply took a step back from my launch mark, bent down and with the smallest of effort threw myself in the air. It didn't take more then 2 feet of air to get the shot. I practiced my "noooo" face and the next shot we nailed it. Good thing because I was starting to itch and my knee was burning from the repeated slides in the rough man-eating Florida crab grass.

I was nervous to break down before checking the shots for focus. Anyone with an older Canon DSLR should know that critical focus check is a joke with the LCD. I run upstairs get my laptop and we sit in the parking lot and load the shots. To my relief all shots are sharp. We break down in a matter of minutes and I'm ready to edit. First we head to the supermarket to grab some wine. Lia and I hit up the liquor store first and soon after arriving she finds a giant bottle of rum. "it's only $20.00!!" exclaims Lia! We should get it. Now this is really a big bottle of rum. She looks at me with wide eyed amazement. "Do you want to drink wine or liquor?" I figured that it was smarter to refrain from heavy liquor tonight as editing was still not finished and we both had things to do in the morning… like work! Well, I have a website to finish and a bunch of phone calls and emails. Lia on the other hand has to really "work". (I'm sorry!) I finish the editing fast and before I know it I was eating those empanadas and drinking wine. Fortunately and unfortunately, we ran out quick and settled down for a nap/movie. And that's where I left off at. Day 32 was fun. What will day 33 bring… a woman and rail road tracks? I hope!

Lighting:

AB800 Medium soft box Camera right 1/2 power
AB800 Medium Soft Box Camera Left Approx. 8 feet high aimed down at my back
AB800 Bare up on balcony 1/4 power.