STORY BEHIND THE STILL
We find out how Andrew Weiss captured his unique monochrome shot with a fine-art style
PHOTOGRAPHER: Andrew Weiss WEBSITE: instagram.com/adwphillyphoto, flickr.com/photos/11084844@n08 LOCATION: orlando, Florida
TYPE OF COMMISSION: Personal work SHOT DETAILS: Canon eoS 5d Mark iii and a Sigma 35mm prime Art lens, 30 seconds, f7.1, iSo 400
ABOUT THE SHOT: Incredible images can be found in the most unlikely of places. With Andrew Weiss’ stunning monochrome study, it would be easy to assume that it was made at the top of a skyscraper, in an exotic city or may even be an abstract macro study, with the lack of discernible context. It was, however, taken in a theme park in Orlando. Andrew explains what caught his eye and made him see a potential shot.
“I was attracted to the unique angular shapes of the structure, which is called Spaceship Earth. It grabbed my attention and I knew it would make for an interesting image. The structure is very powerful and in its entirety would consume a typical 2 x 3 frame, so I angled my camera in line with the jagged edges and filled the remaining frame with the streaking clouds and sky.
The clouds were moving fast and by using a ten-stop ND filter their visual rate was enriched, which I feel enhanced the overall look and feel of the photograph.”
Andrew called on his affinity for monochrome to craft a fine-art style. “I’ve always had an deep affection for black and white long-exposure photography and I’m often inspired by the wonderful shapes of architecture,” he describes.
In the theme park surroundings, the difficulty Andrew faced was from potentially distracting peripheral elements, which would give away too much context. “The biggest challenge was dealing with a location that was crowded with tourists, while trying to juggle my personal commitments to my family. I was able to find a semi-isolated area off to the side of the structure, where I waited for the lighting to harmonise with the shapes. I took many photographs from that location but this was by far my favourite image.”