A 1600 Dutch flower painting inspired shoe campaign features ballet shoes covered in rose petals with roses tossed all around, as if a dancer finished her finale dance with success. Using Photoshop to get the painted look, the photo was shot on a Sony FS700 with a 70-300mm lens.

This conceptual shoe campaign was an assignment for my masters program at IE University in Madrid and I won an award out of 20 other students (21 in my class including myself) for the photos. Really happy with how my photography is improving. Especially considering  the makeshift studio set up that I came up with to pull off the look (last two pics my roommate snapped when he saw what I was up to).

Taking a black bed sheet, I hung it from my little wardrobe with containers and boxes to hold it in place. Setting up the shoes and flowers on a beat up chest in front I was able to pull in close enough with the lens and eliminate most of the chest. One light was all I needed for the warm light look. Using Photoshop and Lightroom I was able to almost get rid of the grey bench. Played with the color some in Lightroom I finally exported a cooler looking image and three warm images which in Photoshop I gave a painted look.

The final images, pulled out of thin air considering my set up, reminded me why I love photography and video production. You don’t see the behind the scenes, the work put in, the post production process, the ideation, and the execution of photography, film, movies, shows. My little, makeshift studio was perfect for reminding me of the beauty of a final product that proves you don’t need “the best” to pull off something great. With technique and talent, anything can look good in the end.