New Photo Assignment...need help with set up...

[SilentStalker]

Ok, so I am trying to get a specific type of photo for a client of mine and I am not quite sure how I am going to pull this off just yet and I wanted to see if you guys had any ideas short of flying somewhere and getting in the heat of battle to take the photo.

The client wants a picture of like a sniper in a ghillie suit in prone position with it appearing like stuff is blowing up around the shooter, if that makes sense.

So, I am trying to figure out how I could rig all of this up in a safe and controlled manner. I figure the small dirt explosions could be pulled off with some small M80's or something buried slightly beneath the ground. They would need to be wired in such a way that they would either go off simultaneously or in a series. Does that make sense?

However, I am not sure how I could link them all together. This would all have to be timed just right with the camera as well. I do know there are some devices that will trigger a camera shutter based on specific sounds but I have not got into all of that to figure it out just yet. Does anyone have any ideas?

I guess another option would be to video this and take a still from the video if possible but usually the quality is not there. is there anyone that has any kind of experience with this kind of thing?

 

[holdencm9]

Hmmm well this hasn't been closed for off-topic, and no one has responded yet, so I will give it a shot.

Here's what you don't do: Get a couple buddies to start shooting the dirt around your sniper model while clicking away on the camera. Eventually you will get something usable, but probably not safe.

Is the idea that the sniper is "practically invisible" in the photo, and bullets are impacting the dirt all around him, and he is remaining utterly still, regardless? Or are the "explosions" supposed to be more like mortars dropping nearby? Or big hollywood-style fireballs? I think for the last one you are SOL, unless you are a real pro with photoshop.

If they want more of the invisible sniper with mortars nearby, here is an idea.

I saw once in a documentary, a young filmmaker (think it was a teenage Steven Spielberg or someone) would make fake explosions around his actors by setting little pieces of plank under some foliage, across a fulcrum of some sort (to make a see-saw). And put a bunch of stuff--soil, rocks, twigs, leaves--on top of one end. Then, for instance, the hero in the movie would be running to avoid gunfire, and stomp on the other side of the plank of wood, and voila! A big POOF of dirt and debris flies up right near the hero, as if he just narrowly escaped getting shelled.

Of course this takes some good cinematography...gotta get the angles right so it's not obvious the actor stepped on a plank, but I'd think something along these lines could work for you. If you have some people that could assist, and you time it right, you could get a fair amount of debris all over your sniper in the photo. If you have an SLR that can take several shots per second, just start clicking away and have the poofs go off one at a time (in quick succession) then if your shutter speed is just right, you could get the motion effect of some debris flying upward, some falling downward onto the sniper, etc.

 

[preachnhunt]

I had a suggestion til holdenCN9 said what you DON'T do.

 

[BullfrogKen]

How big do these explosions need to be? Daisy cutter big? Hand grenade big?


For big stuff that needs actual explosives, use a mannequin or craft some kind of model.

For small ones, use compressed air and stage effect smoke.


And you'll really need a high-speed camera capable of taking lots of pictures rapidly. Trying to time taking the picture with the explosion? Good luck with that.

 

[Odd Job]

Best doing a composite. You take one high quality still image from a camera mounted on a tripod. This first image has the sniper/actor and his immediate surroundings.
You then remove the actor and arm whatever devices you are using to make the explosions.
Switch the camera from still to movie and film the explosions. You've then reduced it to an editing issue. Granted, you will have less resolution on the movie and probably the wrong aspect ratio also, but these are explosions and you should be able to grab stills from the movie and paste them onto the high quality photo you took in the beginning.

At least this method is safe for the actor.

 

[siglite]

If crap is blowing up around a sniper, he's having a very bad day. He should've been long gone before that happened.

But yeah, I'd electrically wire compressed air. I know enough about rigging explosive charges on trunk lines and stuff to say that it'd cost more in safety prep to use real explosives than the entire project would cost using compressed air. Plus, there's all the licensing involved in using real explosives that it'd take five years to do it legally.

 

[SilentStalker]

Hey compressed air works for me. Now do you have any idea how I can wire this all together like you guys are talking about? And, I agree he should have been long gone before mortar fire or anything like that came around but you know it makes for cool cinema LOL.

 

[siglite]

I've heard of special-effects guys using compressed CO2, but I don't know the details of how they rigged up the timing for the shots. I don't know if they rigged servos to valves, or used pull-pins or what.

 

[USAF_Vet]

Harkening back to my high school photography class, we would double expose a frame, overlapping two images (or several, depending on the final outcome), essentially layering images on top of each other.

If you are using a 35mm and not a digital, this is how I would do it.

Set up the camera on a tripod and make sure it doesn't move for the entire shoot.

Position sniper and take photo. Mark off area (mentally) where he was and place your explosives. Take photos as you pop off the explosive charges. This will take some time as each shot needs to be done a few times on the same frame of film.

Develope the photo in a dark room, and the end result should bepretty amazing.

This is old school film tech, I'm sure the same thing could be done with a digital camera and a PC, but I wouldn't have a clue how to do it.

 

[sidibear]

"I'm sure the same thing could be done with a digital camera and a PC, but I wouldn't have a clue how to do it."

Take several shots with a digital camera and use photomatix to lay them over each other. Dead easy to use, select the photos, and click the go button and it does it all for you.

 

[Dr.Rob]

Photoshoppping + charging the client for stock photograpy you use.

NO excuse for doing pyrotechnics close to a real 'actor' / 'model' etc without prior experience. There is NO reason sans a HUGE budget and a safety officer and a sizeable insurance policy to 'stage' this live.

NONE AT ALL.

Slave your flash to multiple powerpacks, have an assistant throw dirt clods, if you must over an impressive "Die Hard" backdrop of explosions.. PLENTY are available for far cheaper than the liability of staging live pyro.