Reverse engineered - Matt Jones, super flip

In this new series of posts ( Reverse Engineered ) I am going to pick a few images I have taken over the last year or so and reverse engineer them for you, explain how I got the shot, why I shot it as I did and where lighting was, the editing process etc

From the back of the camera to the portfolio.

Some images need very little doing to them, some I shoot with the intention of changing stuff in post. I will be posting up an image in a few weeks for example, where I shot with the aim of clone stamping out a lamp post. Sometimes things like that cant be fixed at the time of shooting and are where digital work really comes in to its own.

For this first one though, we have an Image of Saracen bikes rider Matt Jones down at his secret training compound near his house in the UK.

Shot at the same time as shooting for our film Antidote last winter, so we had both Chris and myself on set for the whole day, and between shooting video I got a few still images to run along side the film.

The Idea for the shot was to show:

• The fact it was winter in the UK ( cold, wet, dark, miserable ) 
• Matt pushing limits and trying big tricks 
• The full ramp set up 

With those points in mind, I wanted to shoot fish eye to make the jump look its biggest, wanted to under expose ambient a bit to get it all moody, and then use flash to bring Matt out of the back ground.

This is what the file looked like right off the camera:

Bit flat, bit dark, but everything is there and in the right place. No blown highlights. Clean.

For this shot as said above I wanted to use some off camera flash to help lift Matt out of what was a pretty boring, thick hedge back ground and over cast UK winter sky.

I use Nikon SB800 flash guns and PW2 triggers. The Nikon flashes as they are true work horses, seem to work in what ever you put them in, and with the extra piggy back battery have a recharge rate with good charge that can keep up with 7FPS shooting. As for the pocket wizards, no real need to explain. They just work.

As it says really, 2 flashes, one as Rim light and one as main Fill. Both pretty mid power and different zooms.

Thats the image captured. In the bag. But I knew I would want to do some work to it in post. Nothing to heavy, no clone work or anything like that but just giving the image the pop and punch I wanted. It was for the press release of the film part after all, It needed to grab some attention and stand out.

• Cropped in slightly, and also rotated the image a bit to get Matt in a better place in the composition. 
• Lightened up the roll in and ramp a bit to give him some context. 
• Brightened him up and bit and have him some more contrast. 
• Burned in the hedge in the back ground and bit and the darker areas of the clouds.

Shot on a Canon 5D mk3, Canon 15mm 2.8 , 2 x Nikon SB800 flash guns and PW2 triggers.

Any more questions leave a comment bellow and I will answer.

Another one next week...