Venice Carnival Retrospective. - Part 2

Friday 4th March
After breakfast briefing made me realize how far out of my comfort zone I was going to be. Positioning and directing models coupled with street photography was a long way from landscapes and wildlife which was my usual fare. I was going to need help from Jonathan and other members of the group, although it has to be said that some of them look as unsure as I felt.

We reached San Francesco della Vigna before our models and thankfully it was quiet. Jonathan showed us the the two locations we would be using, the campo alongside the church and the cloisters of the attached monastery.


Our two models. Laura and Arnaldo, arrived and after a brief introduction we were split into two groups with a model each,  time to get our act together.
                                                                   

Laura

Arnaldo

When taking portraits there is a tendency to hold the camera in portrait mode. Jonathan suggested using landscape mode and giving the models more space in the frame.

I have to admit I prefer this approach.

Venice Carnival Retrospective.

Having finally got the images from my Venice trip into some semblance of order it is time to review what happened.

Thursday 3rd March
Arriving by plane into Marco Polo airport and hearing the pilot announce the weather in Venice was rainy with some snow my heart sank. Here was I looking forward to a week of photography in the most photogenic city in the world and the weather was conspiring against me. As it turned out the rain had abated by the time we landed and was never seen again for the rest of the week.
Met Jonathan, our workshop leader, at the airport and got directions to the water bus for the journey into the city. As it happens I didn't need them since at the waterfront I ran into an old friend, not seen for two years, who was organizing a water taxi to the railway station. I joined him and we had a pleasant journey across the lagoon in a lot more comfort than I would have had in the bus. At the station we said our farewells and I continued in the taxi to my hotel.
Met up with the rest of the party later that evening for brief introductions and then off for dinner. Hearing them talk about having to negotiate Venetian bridges on foot encumbered by suitcases and camera gear made me realise how fortunate I had been to arrive the way I had.

Owl chick

Owl chick, originally uploaded by marush1.

When I grow up I'll have you for lunch.

Sign of Spring

Sign of Spring, originally uploaded by marush1.

Snowdrops in bloom and crocus not far behind. It must be spring. :)

Sweet and Sour - High Key

Sweet and Sour - High Key, originally uploaded by marush1.

Experimenting with High Key.
Attempting to capture High Key in camera rather than induce it during post processing. Bracketed shots at +1, +2 & +3 to find the best starting point. Decided +2 was the best option then switched to manual using the +2 speed and aperture and experimented around that point. Minor tweaking in Lightroom to finish off.

A foggy day

A foggy day, originally uploaded by marush1.

The sun never broke through the fog today so I made the most of what i had.
The original was almost monochrome so I put it through Silver Efex Pro and gave it an antique look. I then added a texture of 'old canvas' and what was a mundane image of the track by my house acquired a strange ethereal look.

Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice, originally uploaded by marush1.

Trying to get the two components together was a big challenge. In the end I suspended a match in an ice cube tray and froze it. The next step was to work out the lighting. I decided that any form of side lighting I could produce wouldn't work and the ice cube had to be lit from below. To achieve this took a flashgun and covered it with a Honl blue gel. To this I added a Pringles tube which focussed the light on to the transparent lid of the tube. The lid acted as a support for the ice cube.
A few test shots with the match unlit to get the flash balance correct and then light the match and take the shot. To deepen the colour in post processing I duplicated the original image layer and set the blend mode to multiply. Sharpening took place on the upper layer only and the opacity was reduced to 80%.