I’m a photographer and I have my own ideas of what a great image is, and how I want to capture a scene. However, there are sometimes (very rare in fact), where I want to actually be in the image that my minds eye sees. While I could use a tripod and a remote release, that would feel more like a staged image that doesn’t have that authentic feel. Well, in this case, I had an idea in my head and the only way to pull it off was to ask for help. I had my beautiful wife, Moonhee, use my Canon G11, and told her what I wanted to accomplish.
I put some shaving cream on my son’s face, called my other kids in to watch while I began to shave. My kids were naturally excited to see my youngest son, Kai, with shaving cream on his face, so having them act natural was unusually easy. My sweet daughter, Sierra, was peeking out by my side trying to watch me shave (something I’m not sure she’s done in a few years), and my son Taylor. Kai is a natural in front of the camera, so I just let him do his thing. I set up the camera, told my wife where to stand, and she executed on my idea flawlessly! The G11 did a great job, and my only regret is that I didn’t put more shaving cream on Kai’s face (which would probably have caused my wife to beat me with the G11, instead of taking the shot for me).
The Canon G11 was set to Aperture Priority Mode (Av) set to f/2.8 (point and shoots have a greater depth of field than DSLR’s and the light was poor). This shot was taken at 1/100 sec at ISO 320 at roughly a 11mm focal length. I originally imaged this shot myself, but I was struggling with its colors (there’s several going on in this image so white balance is a bear). I asked world-famous photographer, Gary Parker, if he wouldn’t mind taking a crack at it, and he showed me why he makes the big bucks and I still have a day job!
This image was a collaborative effort taken with a simple point and shoot, but the results speak for themselves. It is one of my most highly acclaimed images I’ve got in my collection, and I didn’t even press the shutter release button personally! Credit to this photo goes to my wife Moonhee Kim Martinsen for taking the shot, and to Gary Parker for imaging it to perfection. My idea is now a reality, and as Bryan Peterson so brilliantly put it “Its real value will be in the years ahead when the family throws you that 90th birthday party!”.
Here’s what some of my favorite photographers had to say about this image:
Very cool... a beautiful family pic! - Joe McNally
I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!! This image is DEEP photojournalism if you analyze a “moment”.- Gary Parker
It’s a great capture of a moment in time which in truth is what photography is all about - Tim Wallace
I too cast my vote here for an iconic stock shot, which IF taken 15 years ago, would have had some stellar sales… - Bryan Peterson
0 comments:
Post a Comment