Week 8 -The Shower

Info

I got the idea for this photo just a few days ago. I was sure I wanted water, greenish cast and harshness of a side-lighting.

I also had Manjari Sharma’s photos in mind as an inspiration. She’s got an incredible shower series, although in quite different mood than mine shot. She used available light only.

Another watery photo, I think there will be at least a few more actually. I really like the mood that water introduces into a portrait. It’s structure is so much different from our skin, it changes the shape of light and gives all those crazy reflections…

I have a few additional shot’s for you today. The set-up is at the bottom.

Tech

I used the bathrooms corner as a reflector. Corners basically work like a size-adjustable reflecting umbrella, keep it in mind. Second, green-gelled light was on the windowsill.

1/250s, f14

Postproduction

The below pics are 100% crops from the final image. I have prepared a 4-step walk-through so you can check out my post processing approach:

The straight-from-camera shot, a bit too saturated and the hue is way off from my concept. However, the shot is well lighted and has plenty of information for strong post processing.

My first step was to to lower the saturation. I lowered it to 0 and then used opacity to taste. Then added color balance for some greens and blues in midtones and shadows.

The above pic is already in the mood I wanted to achieve, although it doesn’t have the harshness I wanted. I have used curves on luminance blending mode and another saturation layer for control.

Now this is harsh. I know some of you would say that it’s way too strong, however, remember this is a 100% crop. To get such effect I have used 3 highpass layers with different settings and masks.

Trivia:

• I was actually in a bathtub for this shot. It would impossible to get side-lighting in my shower…
• The process was a bit troublesome. Took a few test shots, I felt it should look good so I got myself under the shower head, took another couple shots just to find out that the light wasn’t quite as I imagined. Had to dry myself, change the set-up, air the room (the water was too hot at first and it got steamy) and get back in.
• When I got the idea for the shot I wasn’t thinking about Manjari Sharma at all. She got on my mind when I was under water already.
• When I looked through the shots for the first time, I thought: Where the hell are all those cool shots I saw in tethered!?! Fortunately, after drying my hair, I found a few that stood my sifting.
• I was shooting tethered, so I had a decent preview after each shot. There was a towel over the keyboard just in case.

Thanks for reading!