Inspiration, Idea, Plan, Result

Sometimes we get lucky and happen to be at the right place, at the right time, and prepared to capture an image.
But most of my best shots are the result of a process involving: inspiration, an idea and some planning; I suspect that that is true for most of us.

I'd like to hear from others, the steps that you take (or took) to create an image.

I'd like this thread to be similar to the Show us your setup and the final result! thread, but not (necessarily) so focused on equipment setup, but the whole process: what inspired the shot, what was the idea, what planning did you do, and the result.

Inspiration: May 2012 Super Moon

Idea: Get a picture of a landmark with the moon behind it. Take it from far away, with a longer lens, so the moon looks huge.

Planning: I use this website to get the time and direction of the moon rise.

I used Google maps to see locations that I would be interested in capturing and project a line from that location to see if there are any good vantage points along it. (I screen capture the map, import it in to visio, then use Viso to draw the line. Note: azimuth is measured clockwise from North. Visio measures angles counterclockwise from horizontal, so I had to do a little arithmetic to go from azimuth 119.2 to angle -29.2.

When I checked the Freedom tower, still under construction at the time, I saw this:

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …44350103@N05/11​419663273/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …44350103@N05/11​419543244/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/44350103@N05/7​152653065/

Have you tried TPE

You might save some time and not need Google Maps or Visio.

PS - Pretty interesting idea for a thread. Be fun to see how many people actually prepare as much as you do.

Oh, I have a few. Will post some when I have time. Some, but not all, have a moderate amount of post-processing - but that was part of my original vision too.

WaltA wrote in post #16534653
Have you tried TPE
You might save some time and not need Google Maps or Visio.

In 2012, I did not have TPE; I do now. Here is an example.

Inspiration: The resort we sometimes vacation at has a photo contest every year. They make postcards out of the winning pictures and sell them in the gift store the following year.

Idea: There was a full moon the week we were at the resort, the moon would be rising over the resort as seen from the lake and I had rented a boat.

Plan: Using TPE, Night Sky and a compass (all on my i-phone) I positioned myself on the lake (in the boat) so that I would have a good vantage point of the moon rising over the resort. I didn't want to use a long lens for this because, in the boat, I did not have a solid foundation.

I'm not very happy with the shot though, there is too much uninteresting pine covered hill and boring sky.

Result:

Inspiration: Doing promotional photos for our variety troupe, for the upcoming Circus show last August. Our singer, Lola LaRue, wished to be identified as "The Torch Singer."

Idea: Show her blowing a fireball. It's important to note that she's not a fire performer. So, at least part of it would have to be accomplished with post-processing trickery - but, I wanted to get as much right in the camera as possible.

Plan: Use a strobe to emulate the "look" of a fire performer's fireball. Add the fireball in post.

Execution:

Here's our little stage, with the set dressing for the Circus show. This was well in advance of the actual show, so we put up only what we needed for the promo photos.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/7​417961214/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/7​470114122/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/nathancarter/7​469995256/

hairy_moth wrote in post #16534027
Sometimes we get lucky and happen to be at the right place, at the right time, and prepared to capture an image.
But most of my best shots are the result of a process involving: inspiration, an idea and some planning; I suspect that that is true for most of us.

I'd like to hear from others, the steps that you take (or took) to create an image.

I'd like this thread to be similar to the Show us your setup and the final result! thread, but not (necessarily) so focused on equipment setup, but the whole process: what inspired the shot, what was the idea, what planning did you do, and the result.

wanted to create a nice winter scene but Christmas (calendar, cards) but there was no snow and not expected to be any snow

so what to do ?

use photoshop

the result

nathancarter wrote in post #16538042
Inspiration: Doing promotional photos for our variety troupe, for the upcoming Circus show last August. Our singer, Lola LaRue, wished to be identified as "The Torch Singer."

Very nice. Great idea!

watt100 wrote in post #16539511
wanted to create a nice winter scene but Christmas (calendar, cards) but there was no snow and not expected to be any snow

Well done!