Emotional Roller Coaster

This is a photograph I took a few years ago. It was done using a technique called high dynamic range (HDR). HDR basically consists of mixing multiple photographs into one for a specific desired effect. The thing I do though is that I do HEAVY Photoshop manipulation after I have merged the photos. No, this is NOT tone mapping as some may suggest. There is NO such thing as "true" HDR. If it was created using multiple photos, it's HDR, not tone mapping. HDR is HDR. In fact, this photo consists of 16 different photographs. It's a technique and just one step towards achieving a specific look I enjoy when working with the technique. It's something I created when messing with Photoshop a few years ago.
Meaning behind the photograph:
A few years ago I would go about having mood swings. One day I'd be happy, another I'd be sad. At times I was also depressed. We all have heard the term "Emotional Roller coaster" right? As with everything, I had few people I could speak with regarding the things that tormented me. My only escape was my photography. This was my attempt to visually express some of the emotions and feelings I was going through at the time. This photo is one of my personal favorites.
Location:
This shot was taken in Downtown Miami at night.
Equipment:
Camera - EOS 40D
Tripod
Editing:
I heavily edited the environment. The original photo was too "clean". I wanted something more dirty. I wanted something darker, not so pleasant. The walls was the first thing I decided to change. The model, Monica (if I remember correctly) was too nice looking, so I too edited her skin a bit to roughen her up.
Noteworthy:
I am writing a paper about this photograph for one of my classes at FIU.






Comments
RSS feed for comments to this post.