Anna Aromin + The Story Behind
When you browse through Anna Aromin‘s feeds on IG, you can clearly tell that connections, creativity and light are just a few things that are important to her in the creation of her work. And as she walks you through her technique today, it will become easy to see why the above drives her images and how the effects of her passion for the emotive are wildly evident throughout her work. We are honored that she is part of our The Story Behind series and we hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as we have.
IG Handle:.
@seldabelda and @allnaturebyanna
Where was this photo taken?
This photo was taken at Chambers Bay in University Place, WA.
How did the location add or hinder to your image?
We’ve been to this location several times and one of my favorite spots there is this particular hill overlooking the Puget Sound. The small hill makes for great silhouette shots, allowing me to capture my kids from a lower angle where I can see their full silhouetted figures with the tall grass against the sky.
DSLR, iphone, instant or film?
DSLR Canon 5D Mark II
What were your camera settings for this image?
Samyang 35mm 1.4 manual lens, 1/640, f4.0, ISO 800.
Can you tell us “The Story Behind” this shot?
I’ve taken a similar photo earlier this year and I wanted to come to this location again during golden hour to get a similar shot of the kids. They love running up and down this hill where they can feel tall and be as loud as they can. My daughter likes to be the leader when they go exploring, so she’s up there as her little brother follows along. There is a train that comes by every now and then and I think my son hears it coming by as he looks back in this shot.
What speaks to you about this image? What specifically made you press the shutter?
To me, this perfectly illustrates their carefree attitude and imaginative minds as all kids have. Even though I can’t see their faces, I know I’m looking at my children; adventurous, wild, and small in this vast world. It’s tricky at times when trying to capture them together in one frame when they are always in motion, but I like that I can capture them candidly — having fun, being themselves, and just being kids.
What was your composition technique with this shot?
I was going for the rule of thirds in this particular image. I wanted to shoot from a lower angle (below the hill) so that I could capture them together with their silhouettes. Although the foreground layer (hill, grass, and silhouettes) is 100% in camera, the clouds were an overlay from an old photo I had taken a while back. The starry night sky is also an overlay that I used which is a free stock image I found on Pexels — a wonderful source of beautiful free stock images. I rarely include overlays or stock photos on my images since I like to stay true to the natural elements within the image, but it’s nice to spice things up a bit to feed my creativity. So, in order for me to accomplish this particular image with the vision I had in mind, I wanted to apply these elements to enhance the storytelling and magic I had envisioned.
Did you have any lighting challenges/How did you light the image?
This was taken at 8:50 p.m. during twilight, so I was working with low light. The challenges with blue hour light are the extra noise/grain and potential motion blur when trying to freeze movement. However, I’d rather have a grainy but clear shot versus having a blurry image which is why I set my camera settings this way (as mentioned above). The blue hour light during this particular evening was enough for me get a clear shot of them with the camera settings I used.
Did you use any special techniques – freelensing, prism, etc?
No special techniques used other than post-processing. As I mentioned earlier, I used two overlays: one being the cloud overlay that I photographed a while back, and the other one is the night stars overlay from Pexels.
Was this photo happenstance or did you visualize it prior? If so, how did you envision the image and set up for it?
I visualized it prior to taking the photo. I composed a similar photo earlier this year, so I wanted to create another one in the same location so that I can maybe create a series of it as they grow! I was hoping to capture the clouds in the background like I did last time but it was a clear summer evening. I figured I could try to find some of my old photos from my archives and use it as a cloud overlay, then add the night stars. I wanted to create a dreamy and magical setting; a far away land where adventure awaits.
Did you use a preset to edit this image, your own selective edits or a combination of both?
I don’t use presets on any of my photos other than the ones I make. I like to mostly hand-edit, so for this photo, everything was hand-edited. The night stars overlay that I used can be found on Pexels.
Do you have any addition information you would like to share with our readers?
You can see more of my other silhouette series taken at the same location here, here and here.
PNW photographer Anna Aromin can be found at the following spots:
INSTAGRAM // INSTRAGRAM // FACEBOOK