Laura and I have been talking about re-doing classic and iconic images combining my photography with her own artistic ideas and mythology of the inner world. One of them that we’ve been planning was Boticelli’s Birth of Venus, which is as iconic as they come. Anyway, after much discussion and planning, it all came together yesterday. We decided not to try to re-create all the framing around the figure, because it was going to be distracting, and just concentrate on the figure herself.
Considering how many things could have gone wrong with this shoot, everything came together just perfectly. The temperature, the slight clouds diffusing the sun, the perfect amount of wind, the color of the water–it all just worked.
The cones are elements of Laura’s own art, so including them was essential to this image. It’s a good thing they made a great stand-in for the giant clamshell.
The shoot progressed after that with the giant white bird, which is another character from Laura’s art. We shot a number of photos before hitting just the right combination and actions to create this dynamic image.
I shot both images using my new 24-70mm lens. After a brief initial period of discomfort with the focal length range, I have quickly warmed to this lens. It’s simply a pleasure to explore this chunk of perspective that I have been missing from my vision for several years. I didn’t even realize I was missing it. During this shoot, the only equipment I brought was the camera with 24-70mm lens attached, and the 70-200mm lens in my bag. As it turned out, I never even took the 70-200mm out of the bag. The new lens just felt right.
Anyway, we’re delighted by how these photos turned out. There are more to come too…
These are amazing. Again, what a great concept, and the amalgamation of both your talents is… wow.
How fantastically whimsical! A beautiful marriage of creativity 🙂 Nicely done!
working on this with you was such a joy
i can’t wait to create our next iconic replica!
laura
Haven’t been keeping up with your entries, so here we go.
Nice concept shots. I like the direction that you chose. I like the subtle burning of the top corners on the birth of venus one. This is only evident when looking at the small thumbnail, though. While that one is my favorite of the 2, the other one isnt far behind. I wish she wasnt partially cropped to the right, though. And I think it’s pretty cool how the cloth is out of focus because it’s closer to the camera. It’s a cool effect.
Have you thought about using more dramatic/sharp lighting, though? Not extremely sharp, but maybe more intense and slightly less diffused.
Yep, I’d try that sharper lighting if you can tell me how to control the sun and clouds 😛 Actually, the day before we shot, Laura asked me how I envisioned the lighting to be, and I said it would be perfect if the sun was covered by some thin clouds to diffuse it. Sure enough, that’s what happened.