It looks like the world is in a chaotic spin at the moment with all we hear around us. How could we find a way to scape the chaos, the turbulence? A walk in the country side or even better, compositing a way out to a quiet world in a photograph!
Not long ago I was walking around the country side. The sun was low and winter was approaching. There were several sheep in the field and the orange lighting from the sun was hitting them. I just kept imagining how life was so peaceful. I photographed it to keep that feeling for longer. However even better, I decided to insert myself at that moment.
Self portraits
My first step was to decide where I would be in the photograph and what I would be doing. Looking at the photograph there was a sense of longing for calmer moments. I wanted that feeling to be present in my composite. I decided then that I would be sitting in the log with a book and looking at the distance….observing nature, bringing memories back or even reminding of fond memories. The viewers can choose!
At home I’ve got a chair, positioned it by the window in an attempt to make the lighting compatible with the one in the photograph. I sat holding a book with an interesting neutral cover that would match with my clothes. The book and I had to match with the scenery with calming colours. The camera was set in a timer with manual focus and aperture at 3.2, after finding an object on the chair I could focus on. Photographs ready and it was time then for compositing my way out to a quiet world!
Compositing myself in
It was time for fun and insert myself in! For this image I didn’t need much as it would be a simpler compositing. After putting myself into position and creating a mask to hide unwanted parts of my portraiture, I added a colour balance clipped mask. I increased the reds and the yellows, so I would be matching the background image. To correct for luminosity, I duplicated the background layer and moved it to the top, blurred it and settled the blending to colour mode with an opacity of 42%
Here is the final result. I’ve been moved to a more peaceful and quieter world. I didn’t want to be playing a central role. I just wanted to be part of mother nature. Is it not fabulous we can create photographs to express our feelings, our desires and visions of this world? Conceptual photography allows you to immerse and have a conversation with your soul. What is your preferred way to escape from a turbulent world?
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