Tips for shooting outdoor statues

I have been hired to shoot a statue for the cover of a fundraising journal. This is a bit out of my areas of expertise of weddings and pet portraits, so I thought I would see what other folks who have experience working with statues and other large outdoor structures might offer.

It is a bronzed military statue of a soldier, with inscriptions on the base. It stands about 12 feet tall. Are there any special lighting set-ups to recommend? A particular perspective that is more effective than another?

Given that it is planned as the cover image, I would like to try to go beyond the standard shots, if they can be done well, so any tips would appreciated.

Thanks.
--
Cheers Then!
Judy

Bring a tall ladder. That's about all the good advice I have.

DIPics

gilgogirl4 said:

I have been hired to shoot a statue for the cover of a fundraising
journal. This is a bit out of my areas of expertise of weddings
and pet portraits, so I thought I would see what other folks who
have experience working with statues and other large outdoor
structures might offer.

It is a bronzed military statue of a soldier, with inscriptions on
the base. It stands about 12 feet tall. Are there any special
lighting set-ups to recommend? A particular perspective that is
more effective than another?

Given that it is planned as the cover image, I would like to try to
go beyond the standard shots, if they can be done well, so any tips
would appreciated.

Thanks.
--
Cheers Then!
Judy

Click to expand...

Yeah, I got the ladder covered. Thanks.

Anyone else?
--
Cheers Then!
Judy

Consider shooting statue either late in day when sun is low or early when sun is low in other direction. You'll get some highlights on one side and shadows on opposite side. You could also get close and shoot upward but results would depend upon type of statue. Be certain to use a tripod and manual focus to choose focal point of importance. You may also consider flash for fill or to create highlights. Same shots just turn it on then off. When post processing, increasing contrast could look good as statues have pretty much same color all over and contrast would increase perceived dimension. Shooting with noon sun won't look as good.

Watch out for pigeons.
DD

I would say along the lines of having that tall ladder is to just experiment with angles. You've got a subject that will hold its pose indefinitely. Consider shooting from the ground, looking up at the statue, or from a ladder looking down. If there's a prominent building flanking the statue, the lower vantage point may be useful so you can capture that as well.

I agree on the lighting suggestions thus far.
Matthew

Don Donikowski said:

Consider shooting statue either late in day when sun is low or
early when sun is low in other direction. You'll get some
highlights on one side and shadows on opposite side. You could
also get close and shoot upward but results would depend upon type
of statue. Be certain to use a tripod and manual focus to choose
focal point of importance. You may also consider flash for fill or
to create highlights. Same shots just turn it on then off. When
post processing, increasing contrast could look good as statues
have pretty much same color all over and contrast would increase
perceived dimension. Shooting with noon sun won't look as good.

Watch out for pigeons.
DD

Click to expand...

--
The moment you cease to learn is the moment you cease to exist.

Matthew and Don, thanks for the lighting and composition tips. I do plan a late in the day session. The real challenge is to camouflage a chain link fence and a row of kind of shabby houses that will be in the shot. I was thinking of placing a row of flags in stands behind the statue as a better backdrop. If we can find some large enough and stable enough to stand in windy March conditions.

I also considered shooting from the base to capture the inscription, then aim up to capture the statue. Has anyone experimented with this type of composition? Would it work? It is a soldier in battle gear, including a rifle in his arms aiming forward.

Just looking for ideas and feedback before I am actually on scene.

Thanks.
--
Cheers Then!
Judy

depending on how chaotic the background gets, you could possibly retouch the image to digitally remove the chain link fence, if the shot is otherwise usable.

--
The moment you cease to learn is the moment you cease to exist.

This shot was done w/4x5 Sinar Schneider 150 5.6 for their welcome book. This gentleman started and ran one of the largest industrial steel pipe mfr's in the North America's. I chose a lower angle (only about a foot off the ground) to include the new bldg along w/the old shot near dusk if not at dusk. Only 2 speedo heads were used, both used 11" reflector w/one 4800cx pack about half power.
--

Hi:

I would try the following if you find them helpful:
1. Use a ladder to shoot stright at it rather than shooting up.
2. Shoot up with wide angle (far variation)

3. I would go to see it (before the shoot) at different times of day for best lighting.

4. Natural lighting will be good, I would avoid direct flash although I would also use flash just to see.

5. If possible, shoot from far, and use a long lens (around 200 or so focal length)

6. A wider aperture for maximum shalow D.O.F. to make it jump out of the background.

Good Luck.
Mohsen

Not sure if you are opposed to including people, but if you get lucky and have a senior vet or small child holding a flag standing at the base and looking up at the statue, that can be very effective.

In addition to the good suggestions made already, I would think about 2 things; lighting, and backround.

Assuming it's outdoors, early morning or late afternoon are the obvious "old reliable' choices, assuming that the statue is hit by direct sun. If the physical layout allows it, maybe a longer lens(135-200 on a small sensor cam, or maybe a 200-300 on a 24x36 cam, or longer) could actually soften or blur the backround

If you've got larger flash units, you could employ large strobes either during the day or at night.
--
-KB-

Mostly I have used a touch of flash to improve definition and give a bit of shine, whilst bracketing and blending images later to improve the exposure for between foreground and background.

But these have all been in overcast British weather....

My grandfather's last name was Riddell, and he was also from England.
Bayden Powell Riddell... any relation?

riddell said:

Mostly I have used a touch of flash to improve definition and give
a bit of shine, whilst bracketing and blending images later to
improve the exposure for between foreground and background.

But these have all been in overcast British weather....

Click to expand...

--
The moment you cease to learn is the moment you cease to exist.

gilgogirl4 said:

I have been hired to shoot a statue for the cover of a fundraising
journal. This is a bit out of my areas of expertise of weddings
and pet portraits, so I thought I would see what other folks who
have experience working with statues and other large outdoor
structures might offer.

It is a bronzed military statue of a soldier, with inscriptions on
the base. It stands about 12 feet tall. Are there any special
lighting set-ups to recommend? A particular perspective that is
more effective than another?

Given that it is planned as the cover image, I would like to try to
go beyond the standard shots, if they can be done well, so any tips
would appreciated.

Thanks.
--
Cheers Then!
Judy

Click to expand...

Since it is a tall statue, maybe you can shoot from a low angle upwards to emphasize the height?

--
Greg
http://www.pictureroanoke.com

The hardest thing a person has to do is live by their own words. - Me 2006

I'd start by talkking with the brochure designer.

Is there a preconceived cover shape, and a shape for the phtographic part of this cover? Are there requirements for type to be placed over the phtograph?

Is this miltary stature horizontal -- soldier behind a canon tends to be horizontal; or square, as soldier on horse tends to be, or vertical, as a stadning soldier tends to be?

Matching the layout with the image, allowing for the type, is the number one requirement.

Is any other image sharing the cover? This might allow you to have a tall, skinny, shot, minimzing eh bad background?

Does this statue have spotlights on it? Shoot it at night, and the background may disappear. If not, you could more easily retouch out the background without it looking fake.

Are there words on the statue, perhaps on the base, that need to be in the shot?

This can get tricky if you use a wide angle lens to get the words in, with the camera low to the ground, the head will be very small, and perhaps only a sixth of the page wide. But you might be able to have a sky instead of the fence in the background.

The comment about the pigeons is a good one. You can scare the pigeons away, probably / maybe, with a whistle, but you'll need a long handled brush and probably some soapy water to scrub the high points on the statue.

Can you get the local parks department to provide a cherrypicker and crew to clean the statue? And if t the cherry picker is there, can you then shoot from it?

Do you want the statue to look natural, as it would if someone was standing there looking? Use a normal lens, stand at the appropriate distance, etc. Or do you want to play with the image? If you use a ladder, the shot will look stange right off, because people don;t stand on ladders to look at statues. But once you and the art director and the client agree weird is OK, you might, for intance, threat the face and chest as a regular portrait, leaving out most fo the statue. Doing this will, among other things, fill the page without the fence.

BAK

Wow, lots of great tips here...thanks!

BAK said:

I'd start by talkking with the brochure designer.

Is there a preconceived cover shape, and a shape for the
phtographic part of this cover? Are there requirements for type to
be placed over the phtograph?

Click to expand...

There is no preconceived cover design, other than it will be 8.5 x11 (US)--and there will be copy on the lower right corner of the page.

BAK said:

Is this miltary stature horizontal -- soldier behind a canon tends
to be horizontal; or square, as soldier on horse tends to be, or
vertical, as a stadning soldier tends to be?

Click to expand...

Statue is of a Marine standing upright. There is an inscription on the base, but also there is an important aspect of the dog tag being in the boot.

BAK said:

Matching the layout with the image, allowing for the type, is the
number one requirement.

Is any other image sharing the cover? This might allow you to have
a tall, skinny, shot, minimzing eh bad background?

Click to expand...

This is the only image on the cover, but I had considered doing close-ups of the key parts of the statue--face, dog tag, inscriptions, other insignias that are specific to the Marines, and then making a grid collage

BAK said:

Does this statue have spotlights on it? Shoot it at night, and the
background may disappear. If not, you could more easily retouch out
the background without it looking fake.

Click to expand...

Not sure on the spotlights--probably not enough light to work for a good photo

BAK said:

Are there words on the statue, perhaps on the base, that need to be
in the shot?

This can get tricky if you use a wide angle lens to get the words
in, with the camera low to the ground, the head will be very small,
and perhaps only a sixth of the page wide. But you might be able to
have a sky instead of the fence in the background.

The comment about the pigeons is a good one. You can scare the
pigeons away, probably / maybe, with a whistle, but you'll need a
long handled brush and probably some soapy water to scrub the high
points on the statue.

Click to expand...

Pigeons not an issue--maybe a seagull or two, but there really isn't a good place for birds to land and stay.

BAK said:

Can you get the local parks department to provide a cherrypicker
and crew to clean the statue? And if t the cherry picker is there,
can you then shoot from it?

Click to expand...

Shooting from a cherry picker might be a good idea. I'll look into this possibility.

BAK said:

Do you want the statue to look natural, as it would if someone was
standing there looking? Use a normal lens, stand at the appropriate
distance, etc. Or do you want to play with the image? If you use a
ladder, the shot will look stange right off, because people don;t
stand on ladders to look at statues. But once you and the art
director and the client agree weird is OK, you might, for intance,
threat the face and chest as a regular portrait, leaving out most
fo the statue. Doing this will, among other things, fill the page
without the fence.

Click to expand...

I thought of just a portrait type shot, but the dog tag in the boot is a big deal.

BAK said:

BAK

Click to expand...

--
Cheers Then!
Judy