"Million Dollar Baby"

"Million Dollar Baby"
© David A. Ziser

Here is an image I made during my recent Sedona Workshop.  We had the opportunity to work in this beautiful villa.  Rooms were fabulously appointed and the decor was gorgeous.

We used natural light a lot in this location with the occasional exception of adding a little illumination in some instances.  This is one of those instances. 

This image was made in the villa’s master bedroom.  I loved how the light came streaming into the room creating long, strong diagonal patterns on the carpet. The very wide angle lens added to the dramatically enhancing the long lines.  I’m thinking, “How can I use those diagonals in my composition?” 

I have the subject backlit so I somehow had to get light on her face.  I could have used my strobe but I thought I’d get too much flash splashing into the scene. 

I decided to go with my Z-Ray, my Brinkmann flashlight.  Since I would have to shift the color balance to Tungsten for the correct color balance on the subject, I knew the light outdoors would take on a bluish cast.  A tweak or two in onOne’s new Perfect Photo Suite [link] added to the slightly surreal look to this portrait.  Even with the blue color shift and the moderate distortion of the wide angle lens, I like the finished result.

For myself, working an image like this is more a creative photographic and visual exercise – it’s just fun to explore the lines, shapes, colors, and composition of the scene. Sort of mental gymnastics for you brain ;~)

Camera specs:  Canon 7D fitted with Sigma 8-16mm lens at 8mm, F5.6 @ 1/125 second, ISO 1600.  Enjoy!  -David