Setting sail

Clare uses a rustic boat to set a course to creativity for two young sailors

1 Gather your props Clare says: “This is where your imagination can come into play. The boat I used for this image was an ornament from my home. I actually used a standard blanket for my backdrop, which you can clamp to anything sturdy – or even use a curtain, which I have done in the past.

“I put the boat on a tall stool, as I wanted to be able to take a few different perspectives. I added a sheet of blue knitted fabric to use as the ‘sea’.” 2 Set up your camera “I used my Canon EOS 5D Mk III and Canon’s 50mm f/1.8 lens, which is a good-value lens and great for home projects like this; but any lens will do the trick.

“I generally shoot at ISO 50 in my home, as I have very powerful lights and it is quite a small room. I keep my shutter speed at 1/160 sec and the aperture at f/3.5, making sure to keep this consistent while shooting both the background and the subject.” 3 Light your scene

“I would recommend taking all the shots you want at the same time of day. This makes it much easier to create that believable look in post-production.

“As long as it’s consistent, you can use any lighting you like. I used an

Elinchrom D-Lite 4 head with a large parabolic umbrella at 45 degrees, camera right.” 4 Use perspective “Perspective is an important part of creating a believable composite. I take various shots at different angles and have learned to tell which images fit together best. However, you can match the camera angles by where you models’ feet will be and keep that same angle.” 5 Strike a pose

“This is where you are limited only by what you can imagine. I always have a plan for how I want the final image to look; I recommend sketching it out, so you can work out the separate elements you want to shoot.

“You want the depths of field to match, so if the place where the subject is standing is in focus, you will need the whole of the subject to also be in focus. You may need to adjust your aperture to account for this.” 6 Editing

“Once I have cut out the subjects and placed them together in Photoshop, I add an oil paint effect over the image, leaving out the skin. I add an overlay texture, which is a photograph of watercolour paper. The overall warm tones give it a timeless feeling, but also again help to tie everything together.”