Alex Nail - http://www.alexnail.com/
Landscape photographer based in Devon. Nail produces compelling images of the most dramatic outdoor scenes in the world, mostly captured in areas such as Dartmoor, rest of UK and Europe. I though that choosing a local photographer that I happen to know in person, would create more of a bond between our images produced within the figure project.
Also the fact that Alex Nail has produced many images in Scotland - where I was based for 2 of my shoots for the figure project, meant that I could relate my work even more deeply with his work, due to the similarities in the landscape, climate and weather.
Also the fact that Alex Nail has produced many images in Scotland - where I was based for 2 of my shoots for the figure project, meant that I could relate my work even more deeply with his work, due to the similarities in the landscape, climate and weather.
One factor about that Alex Nail's workflow that I did not like was how there was no night photography images of the stars, using a long exposure and artificial flash to illuminate an object i9n the foreground. This is an image I would especially like to produce in one of my shoots to mix up the lighting theme within my final images.
Workflow
Image 1
This image was produced using a multiple exposure to help expose for the tricky shadows and highlights. By doing this Nail was able to create a perfectly exposed image in a difficult weather situation, where the camera would find it impossible to expose for both highlights and shadows in one single frame. By using this technique Nail is also enabled to maintain most of the quality within his image due to the fact there will not be any major adjustments in post production towards the shadows, highlights, whites and blacks. This is something I wanted to influence into my images, to help me create the most natural but dramatic images possible.
Image 2
Gloomy conditions is a natural factor I wanted to include somewhere in my final 3 images of the first shoot, however this will be completely dependant on mother nature. The gloomy weather I feel can allow the photographer to introduce artificial flash to a landscape image, to subtly fill in shadows to balance out the exposure, but at the same time also adding more juxtaposition in the image between the dark gloomy surroundings and the slightly more illuminated area of the image where the flash has been used.
Image 3
One thing I have noticed Alex Nail executes extremely well within his images, is shooting directly into the sun. Without the right filters these images would be completely impossible to produce due to the drastic difference between the whites and blacks, the highlights and whites would become blown out and there would be no way to retrieve that data in post production. Therefore Nail uses a graduated ND which helps balance the exposure throughout the image, making it possible to shot directly into the sun, as long as the composure is correct for the filter to work.
This is something I would like to include in my shoots as its a way of expressing a warm feeling within the image (especially during the Golden Hour)and by including the sun in your photos, often makes the viewer feel more as if they were there where the camera was located.
This is something I would like to include in my shoots as its a way of expressing a warm feeling within the image (especially during the Golden Hour)and by including the sun in your photos, often makes the viewer feel more as if they were there where the camera was located.