Stephen Hayward is creating a mermaid as part of a local art project. I wanted to get a shot of Stephen with the mermaid as a work-in-progress for the village newsletter, as well as just for my own interest.

Once the mermaid is finished there will likely be pictures of her in every newspaper around the region as part of coverage for the whole project, but I'm also interested in the micro-story, the behind-the-scenes peak at something being created in a local guy's workshop.

I'll probably give a different picture to the newsletter, something a bit more 'safe', but this one is my personal favourite. I like the informal, almost candid vibe, and whenever possible I love working in a wide ratio with the subject over to one side. Plus this was the one composition that focussed on Stephen rather than the mermaid. In these "artist with his creation" shots I do think it's good to keep the artist as the main subject, with the creation in the middle-ground. No doubt a lot of people disagree with that but you've gotta go with your instincts!

Stephen Hayward

Shot specs:
Canon 1D  •  17-40 f/4L  •  17mm  •  1/500s  •  f/5.6  •  ISO 200

Lighting set-up was a Canon 550EX on a light stand about 45 degrees off camera axis to the left, triggered by an ST-E2 wireless transmitter. I used a Lightsphere II on the flash, pointed straight up with the inverted dome on. It may have been a better idea to use direct flash, positioned closer to Stephen, to create some light fall-off to right of frame. Would certainly be more dramatic but I think the even lighting works for this shot.

Note the subtlety of Stephen's shadow. That really demonstrates how well the Lightsphere throws light around the whole room. The shot is entirely flash lit, no ambient. (I avoid ambient whenever possible. When it comes to processing I have quite poor colour awareness so I prefer to kill the ambient and just set the white balance to 6000 Kelvin to get nice skin tones.)