I've been wanting to do a photo like this ever since my last balloon popping picture didn't do as well as I hoped. I wanted to make it look like the model was manipulating a powerful orb, like putting matter together or controlling energy. I ended up with several shots I really loved, but thought this one was the most interesting because the balloon was completely gone. In the other pictures part of the balloon remained, and I didn't feel it was alright to clone it out, or it was at a weird moment in the burst. Originally, I was doing self portraits with a timer and then called my friend to come over after I realized how hard it was to time it correctly. The setup: two strobes, a black backdrop, 100 water balloons over the course of several hours, a trashcan and 4 bins to catch the water, a tarp on the ground, and a black painted knife used for popping. I attached the knife to a tripod and placed it in the trash can so it would collect the majority of water. The tarp was laid down first, then the trashcan and bins on top of it. The strobes were placed behind my friend, to the left and right of the popping. I really love this picture, because it appears like the water is coming towards the middle rather than away, like he is some water avatar.
Expected score: 6.1
Dream score: 6.7
Expert editing outake [thumb]966718[/thumb]
Statistics
Place: 58 out of 324 Avg (all users): 6.3399 Avg (commenters): 7.3750 Avg (participants): 6.3211 Avg (non-participants): 6.3864 Views since voting: 850 Views during voting: 284 Votes: 153 Comments: 8 Favorites: 1 (view)
Talk about timing! Nice explosion in the hands.
I think a closeup of the balloon splash without the model's face would do even better (given that he's already wearing a dark tee). I understand there's much hard work involved in getting the timing right, not to mention the patience to clean up afterwards. However, DPCers might find such shots cliched - Good luck!
Add photograph to your favorites
Add photographer to your favorites
Photographer found comment helpful.
