SLIP AWAY

I did this teaser photo for the SLIP AWAY movie website. The film's director, Tina Scorzafava, did the all post processing on it. The photo is of Michelle Bonilla, the film's writer, producer, and lead character. Michelle is known for playing paramedic "Christine Harms" on "ER" from 1999 to 2009.

We did the shoot at the director's house. I used ambient light coming from holiday lights in the room and reflected light coming from a small lamp's bare bulb bounced off a reflector. I shot with my Nikon D80 and Nikon 85mm f/1.4 lens opened WIDE. I panned and dragged the camera very quickly (but steadily) a little to the left for some slight blur. Two fans were also used to create movement in the Michelle's hair.

The director wanted the teaser shot to look mysterious and was keen on having it look a little dreamy and out of focus. It's the first time I've been directed to shoot something intentionally out of focus and it was a fun challenge trying to match the vision in the director's head with the images I was getting with my camera. The shoot was a blend of technique and just pure happy accidents of movement until the director got what she envisioned.