Alright Week 6, which means I’m a month and a half into my 52 project. As I mentioned in my last post regarding why I’ve started this project/challenge for myself I’m going to tack on weekly blog posts breaking the concept and execution of my weekly self-portraits as part of the practice. Starting with this week’s image that was inspired by a scene from the 1984 film The Neverending Story.
Inspiration
Inspiration stuck when I was re-watching my childhood film (it’s available on instant play right now on Amazon Prime woot woot!)
Growing up I’ve always referred to Falkor as the flying dog in the movie. Turns out he’s actually a Luck Dragon that to this day still look’s like a giant, long fluffy dog. Randomly it occurred to me that my dog, Binky, could substitute as the flying creature. He fits the general profile after all: white, fluffy, brown eyes. I would just need to make him big enough for me to sit on top of.
Execution
Me sitting on top of Binky is relatively easy to do –if my dog were a behemoth beast. He’s actually a small Pomeranian/Shih Tzu mix ergo Photoshop and a little camera tricks are needed. To seamlessly blend an image of my dog and an image of myself together it’s crucial that I’d be able to separate ourselves from the background. First I photographed Binky using an 85mm/1.4 lens to get a compressed portrait look and to bokeh-out the background.
Next I needed to photograph myself fist pumping into the air. My camera is locked on a tripod and fired using a wireless trigger. I shot myself with a shallow depth of field for background separation though in hindsight it would have been easier for me in post production if I photographed myself on a green screen.
In Photoshop I layered these two shots together, extended the background, and applied a bunch of layer masks.
Never give up and good luck will find you. – Falkor (The NeverEnding Story)
Equipment Used:
Nikon D800
85mm Len (Nikon / Canon / Sigma)
Induro Alloy 8M AT214 Tripod
Pocketwizard N10-ACC-1 Remote Camera Cable (1′)
Pocketwizard Plus III Transceiver
More on Project 52:
Why I’m taking the challenge: http://blog.mellylee.com/2014/09/52-week-challenge
i LOVE THIS MELLY! neverending story is my favorite movie of all time.. i don’t mean to be a pooper but in the second photo you posted of falkor, that isn’t bastian but atreyu standing next to falkor! <3
Whoops guess an error is what I get for writing late at night! Thanks for the correction.