I knew this would be up for validation so I should have submitted it from the start, and as predicted it only took 1 day to get a validation request. I'm sure many of you are wondering how I took this legally. So here is how I did it:
I used a technique called focus stacking kind of the same concept as HDR stacking but instead of exposure you stack the focus. I placed the fish tank at one end of the room with my camera close to it and my model laid on a black backdrop at the other end of the room. I positioned the fish tank and my camera so that the girl was in the exact spot I wanted her in the tank. Next was to arrange the girl so she looked somewhat like she was floating she was laying on some tumbling mats covered with the black background I placed a pillow behind the backdrop by her head so I could arrange her hair on it to make it look like it was floating. Her dress was simply propped up using some waded up cloth and a bit of coaxing to get it to look just right. I took a couple test shots before I had the model get into final position. Once I felt everything was right I told her to not move a muscle until I was done shooting. I shot her in focus first, I took exactly 2 shots then without moving the camera I switched the focus to the fish tank I took exactly 2 shots of the fish tank and I was done. Luckily the shots worked out and stacked perfectly and that was all there was to it.
Actually even though the final shots didn't take very long I spent a couple hours in preparation and experimenting with shots before I even put the model in. So when I did the shot I already had taken about 50 practice shots just getting things set up right.
I normally don't feel comfortable posting originals but since I didn't take a shot of my set-up I will post them this time:
Here is the shot with the focus on the girl. Since I didn't have enough lighting to light both the girl and the fish tank, I used natural light from the window to light the fish tank and then mimicked the light that was coming from the window with my flashes, since the focus is on the girl the fish tank appears dark.
Here is the one with the focus on the fish tank for this one I used the natural light from the window.
After combining the two photos I cropped and did quite a bit of dodge and burn to get it to look just right. At first I didn't crop it quite as tight, but my team thought it looked better with a tighter crop and I agree.
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Beautiful shot, I hope it gets validated and I hope photos like this never get DQ'd again.
Thanks so much for the compliment!
It actually already was validated, it was called up during the challenge. Yes, it is all very tricky when dealing with something like this, I don't envy site council on decisions like this. I studied the photo above to decide what the difference was. I think it had more to do with the fact that there was some masking to make it look like the tree was in front of the orange. I think I would have been disqualified if I had, for instance, positioned the girl behind some of the greenery and then masked it out so her foot was in front of it. It would have made her appear to actually be in the fish tank instead of just behind it. I realize I didn't fool anyone that she was actually in the tank. I just thought it would be fun to make it look as close as I could.
What a clever shot! One often links focus stacking to macro shots, this is a fantastic example of a different use. Congratulations on your so deserved ribbon! Very inspiring shot.
Now, what would a girl be doing in a fish tank? Make no sense at all, should be disq........Oh wait a minute, the challenge is nonsense. OK then, well done and totally awesome, should ribbon.
Night Time in the Fish Tank
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