Johann had a beard and he wore it well. I knew he would cut it off in time, and I had to have it on film.
I am increasingly interested in the process of making what I call composite photos, scrutinizing a specific scene and exploring the passage of time and/or shifting perspective through merging photos taken with various formats and from different angles.
During a single session on Christmas eve, 2020, I set up the scene and, with help from Johann, the lighting, and spent the next hour or so getting the photos, including close-ups of various elements.
Despite the low-light of the scene, the colour film I was using was only ISO100, and I wanted to keep the digital ISO low, too, so the tripod was used on all the main composition shots.
Still, still, the poor man still had to keep still for a full second of exposure for all the film shots.
By the end of the evening, I was sure that I had all of the files that I needed. Then came the process of constructing the image.
First, I had to decide which photo was to be used as the base. I had a choice of the digital, colour film or monochrome film files, seen below in that order. I chose the colour film: Ektar 100.
Next, I chose the different angles that I would use. I used the front-on angle and the top-down diagonal, both taken on the Bronica RF645, for the face and the perspective shift on the roll-off effect on the bottom right of the table.
Then I set about constructing the image, using layering and erasing in Photoshop, and pasting in an actual scan of the framed photo on the wall into the frame in the image, to give it maximum clarity. For the details, such as the cup he is holding and the lid of the cup resting on the table, I used digital close-ups that I had taken during the shoot.
Finally, I darkened the corners, balanced the contrast and tidied up the overall image. And the result:
Ingrid says
That’s amazing ✨ I’ve watched the series of stages over & over, fascinated by how they’ve been fine tuned. I can certainly empathize with Johann if he grew at all weary during the process but I personally think he would enjoy the venture… looks like he’s a mariner just returning from a sea voyage 😊
carylon says
Anonymous played a wonderful returning mariner, and now his beard has returned to the everafter, for it has been shaved off. I caught it just in time.