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Capitalising on the unexpected at a photoshoot

Sometimes, your test shoot works out better than the one you actually planned for. This is what happened when Miss Aniela tried out the concept for Riding the Rug. The idea was to shoot a levitation portrait with the subject appearing to ride a magic carpet (or in this case, a rug from the local supermarket). If she had known that her test shots would end up being the final version, she would have done things differently, but everything worked out in the end!

RIDING THE RUG (2010) Inspired by the imagery in children’s fantasy stories, this image was so much more effective when I shot Olivia wearing a T-shirt and underwear, as opposed to when I tried to replicate the shot in a flowing dress which obscured the shape of her rug-riding form.
RIDING THE RUG (2010)
Inspired by the imagery in children’s fantasy stories, this image was so much more effective when I shot Olivia wearing a T-shirt and underwear, as opposed to when I tried to replicate the shot in a flowing dress which obscured the shape of her rug-riding form.

Execution

The concept was incredibly easy to execute. I simply positioned the rug on top of a black, thin-legged stool, which became all but a black line to edit out in post-production. The key to making this image effective was to shoot from a low angle to create the impression that Olivia, the model, was moving upwards, as well as having a believable sense of force and action ripple through the rug by making her pose dynamic.
For the main image of Olivia’s face and shoulders, I had her move on cue while I fired the shutter, flicking her hair in the same moment. It was also important that I shot another image of her leg curled around the fold of the rug, as if saddled on a horse, and clutching the corner. In post, it was fairly easy to blend folds of the rug into one another from different images.

Post-production

I didn’t pay as much attention to framing this shot as I did those images that I had intended to be the final version. As a consequence, there was significant clutter in the background that I’d have otherwise moved if I’d known I was shooting the final image, so I had to lose this in Photoshop by drastically darkening the image to reduce the clutter in the background, leaving only the rafters visible.

The hardest part of producing this image wasn’t the “levitation” aspect itself, but rather the choices made in angle, framing, and processing the picture to improve those qualities. I wanted to keep enough of the surroundings to give the image a context, but keep the focus on the girl herself. I find such a conflict common across portrait photography.
The hardest part of producing this image wasn’t the “levitation” aspect itself, but rather the choices made in angle, framing, and processing the picture to improve those qualities. I wanted to keep enough of the surroundings to give the image a context, but keep the focus on the girl herself. I find such a conflict common across portrait photography.

I wanted to crop some of the image at the top and bottom, but without losing the sense of height between Olivia and the floor, nor the sense of height from her figure to the rafters above. I kept enough context at the bottom of the frame to allow for the insinuation of the space beneath her. In terms of a shadow, I realized it would have been inappropriate for her actual positioning, and that the diffused light would have been unnoticeable anyway on such a textured floor.
Sometimes, then, it is a case of capitalising on the unexpected in order to create the image you want.
Creative Portrait Photography by Natalie Dybisz offers an extensive behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of one of today’s most exciting and popular professional portrait photographers and gives you everything you need to step up your portrait photography to take photos that express the style and personalities of both you and your subjects. With over 150 portraits and a showcase chapter featuring work from five top portrait photographers explaining how each shot was achieved, you’ll be inspired to take your portrait photography to a whole new level of creativity.
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