During the school holidays I had a unique set of challenges:
~ Get as much as possible camera time – it is so good for my soul
~ Amuse the kids (parking them in front of the TV is not an option) – quality time
~ Get some funky images for my portfolio
~ Write a blog
If I have learned something about children over the years, it is that they have imaginations second to none. Alternate universes do exist and in these far away awesome places anything goes and everything is possible and real. With this ability to believe almost anything, comes a good dose of curiosity. It was exactly these characteristics I intended to use (read: misuse) to entrap my poor innocent victims to a few hours of photography bliss. A quick explanation and demo had them convinced that my camera could see through them and that they were in fact mere ghosts (friendly ghosts, specifically).
I allowed their imaginations to run and tried to keep up, restricting them as little as possible. Again I was left in awe. Life is so simple, in fact, everything is simple and uncluttered in their “world”. The possibilities are limitless, their dreams are without boundaries and yet so simple. They are amused, entertained, awed and wowed by the sheer excitement and curiosity of what the camera’s LCD might show. I had a ball, quietly observing where every setup would go and what story it would tell…..
Ghost images can be produced in various ways and through a number of creative techniques. The challenge I set for myself however, was to produce ghost images in camera using longer exposure times.
The technique is quite simple if you understand exposure, as the trick is to make sure you will be able to achieve reasonably long exposure times.
– Photographing in low light, or indoors or on a shady porch etc.
– Setting your ISO as low as possible to reduce sensor sensitivity
– Close down your aperture as much as possible.
– Use your tri-pod!!
These images were made by letting the ghost subject stand or sit in the composition for a part of the exposure and then run out of the frame, resulting in a semi-transparent image, as the background is exposed longer on the sensor.
GOAL / OUTCOME:
~ 2 Hours camera time *****
~ Entertained kids *****
~ Funky images *****
~ Blog *****
