The Making of The Exuberance of Flight...

PaulThomasMcKee

I just wanted to say thanks to every one who voted and left comments on my previous post! I decided to enter the pic with out the Photoshop blur of the background. It looked cool in its own way, but a little too much like a Japanese cartoon superhero. The pic I entered is unaltered except for a little blur to his foot and hair (thanks for the suggestion Tentacion) and desaturate the reds a bit (thanks to Strikeslip).

For those who were asking about how I got the picture:

I was using a D200 with a 18-200mm VR lens taped to stay open at 18mm.
I preset the interval timer to fire 3 bursts of 9 frames at 5fps (or whatever the fastest speed is). I shot in jpeg fine to maximize the number of shots before it bogged down. Then I strapped it to my chest just below my chin. I had to memorize the order of the menu buttons to press because once the camera was on my chest I couldn't see the screen. Then I prefocused on my nephew at arms length away with the autofocus. Once set, I locked the focus by flipping the lens switch to manual. Then I pressed the button sequence to start the interval timer and started swinging my nephew.

We both had a BLAST doing it. But, we both got pretty dizzy and could hardly stand up after a bit. My nephew even started to feel queezy after the third time. But he perked right up again when I offered to treat him to an ice cream cone.



Here he's just being mellowdramatic.


Even with the camera firing away at such great speed, I only ended up with a couple of really usable photos (out of about 100). Because the sun was almost setting, it cast strong shadows. As a result, the light was only good through about 30 degrees of arc on both sides of swing of the circle. Otherwise the shadows messed up the shot.

Here's one that shows both of our shadows...proof that I didn't hold him in a static state hanging down with his feet touching the ground :rofl . If I ever do this again I might lower the camera angle to accentuate the impression of how high his feet are above the ground and to capture more of the horizon.


If it wasn't shadows that spoiled the shot, then it was him making funny faces like this. Or, people who wanted to watch standing within the frame.:huh


Thanks again to all who responded to my previous post!
paul

pemmett

Thanks Paul, now I can finally sleep at night I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out and each time fell back into the "it must be photoshopped" trap. Sometimes I forget how much fun can be had whilst taking photos - thanks for the reminder

saurora

Thanks for the explanation Paul! I like the shot you entered even better. And I can see his foot in the air! Cute story...love the shots of your nephew lying on the ground. Oh, it make my head spin too. The 3rd shot you posted is really great with the shadow (which clearly shows him in the air), it's too bad the shadow fell across his face.

LiquidAir

Sorry for accusing you for faking it. You definitely get style points for your technique. The version you have entered now shows perspective in the grass texture which I like much better than your orginal post. I thought I briefly saw a version of your entry with just a hint of horizion which I liked even better. While we often seem to shoot for a degree of minimalism in this contest, this shot is one case where context is everything IMO.

Even after reading the description of how you did it, I am still inclined to try a two shot composite at some point. The first shot taken straight down of my son hanging and the second shot just spinning the camera for a background.

Nikolai

Paul,
Great writeup, cool technique!

Flyinggina

Attention to detail, inventiveness, stick-to-it-tiveness, knowledge of camera, lightly applied PS skills, and a willing partner equal the makings of an outstanding photograph!! bowThanks for sharing "The Making Of" with us!

Virginia

Tentacion

Fabulous Writeup...it's shake and bake...and I Helpppp'd...

Very Cool, and I believe the little one deserved far more than 1 ice cream cone...

Good Luck with your entry!!
Donna

PaulThomasMcKee

horizon

LiquidAir wrote:

I thought I briefly saw a version of your entry with just a hint of horizion which I liked even better. While we often seem to shoot for a degree of minimalism in this contest, this shot is one case where context is everything IMO.

Yes, I did briefly enter this crop:


I'm very conflicted as to the best crop for this shot...I do like the horizon but was concerned that it didn't add enough to the context to make up for the distraction from my nephew's face.

sherstone

PaulThomasMcKee wrote:

Yes, I did briefly enter this crop:


I'm very conflicted as to the best crop for this shot...I do like the horizon but was concerned that it didn't add enough to the context to make up for the distraction from my nephew's face.

I think you chose well.. Leave the no horizon one entered.
I personally do not need to see it to understand what is happening.

Thanks for the "How to" on this VERY COOL!

PaulThomasMcKee

sherstone wrote:

I think you chose well.. Leave the no horizon one entered.
I personally do not need to see it to understand what is happening.

Thanks for the "How to" on this VERY COOL!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I had decided to leave the no-horizon one entered. The more horizontal crop of the no-horizon one adds to the feeling of motion. And I think anyone who has ever played "airplane", in either the role of swinger or swingee, will pretty instantly realize what's going on.

paul

gfxartist

Great how-to write-up. I was wondering how that shot was taken. Love it, by the way!