Last week, I had a location shoot in Topanga Canyon with Brea and Kaela. It was the polar opposite of the shoot out in Glamis/Algodones Dunes. I had time to sit, think and basically do whatever I wanted without the expectations.
And in the middle of not having any expectations, I saw something that I never saw before. Not sure if I never noticed or simply because of the particular location but I saw 2-3 different color casts on Kaela's face right before we began shooting our first set.
From one angle, the sky was casting blue. From another angle, we were getting reflected sunlight from rock surfaces and dirt casting yellow. And I swear we were getting green coming from other directions/angles as well!
To make it even more challenging we were in and out of shadow, direct and indirect, via some leaves and branches. That made for a "fussy" exposure. direct vs. shade is 2+ stops difference and looks like crap on camera, even the H3D can't compress that dynamic range well enough to make the highlights/shadows gradual. Good thing we had the white diffuser on hand.
But I suppose what was most striking about this experience was that I was seeing something new. It's been a long time since I've seen anything "new", but it got me thinking... what if there are new things all around me, but I just don't see them. Kind of like "if a tree falls in the forest but no one is there to hear it..." You won't see anything new if you aren't looking. And suddenly I felt like a fool for assuming there was nothing new under the sun.
In Rome, our tour guide said something that will stick with me forever.
"People are always walking around Rome looking down. They're looking at the ground, their maps, their cameras... But Rome has amazing architecture. You will see the most amazing things if you simply look up"
So change your perspective... look up :)
