Sparkle & motion
Sean Aidan reveals the mystery behind his abstract imagery using fractal lenses
Icover press, editorial and PR assignments as a freelancer and have been doing it for over 25 years. But lately I’ve been trying to understand why I started taking photos...
Recently, while waiting at Downing Street for four hours for Donald Trump to arrive, I came to the conclusion that I set out all those years ago to shoot subjects that interested me – to ‘capture a decisive moment’ as Henri Cartierbresson so famously said and, maybe more importantly, to have some fun. Personally speaking, it is the ‘fun’ that seems to have disappeared
– it has all become too serious, formulaic and the creative element seems to be missing.
So I organized a shoot for fun. I wanted to use minimal equipment to challenge myself and show you can get great images with basic kit. I just used my Canon 5D Mark II, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens and a single flash, which was a Bowens Gemini 500 with a beauty dish, grid and
diffuser modifiers attached. I also used fractal glass filters in front of the lens to create a kaleidoscopic effect. I set my DSLR to Manual mode, with a shutter speed of 1/200 sec, an aperture of around f/2.8f/3.2, and I kept the ISO at around 250. Then I adjusted the flash power to get a decent exposure.
The model, Kelly Hathaway, was someone I had worked with before and she knew exactly the look I was hoping for. The make-up was applied by Sister of Sinister and shot at Studio Visage in Folkestone. The single light was positioned above me, this was the only light source in play.
The images were shot in Raw and processed in Lightroom – the effects were created ‘in-camera’ and not in post – the only editing was an adjustment of the levels. Kelly left the make-up on after the shoot and we attracted a few smiles, and quizzical looks, in a nearby coffee shop before driving home. I’m still finding glitter in my car several months after the shoot.