How to Photograph Your Dragon
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Dragons among the lotus
Toothless among the American lotus on the Sassafras River, Maryland. The Sass is tidal freshwater and flows west into the Chesapeake Bay. From mid-July to mid August, native lotus bloom in the shallows of backwater tidal ponds and creeks. I kayaked there on July 5 and found a few beginning to bloom. The leaves, like the ones in my lotus pot back home, were up, a floating fabulous waterscape.
July 22 on the Sassafras. We return and find the dragons on a different beach among the reeds.
Photographing Dragons
I've been a fan of the How To Train Your Dragon Films since they appeared. The artists clearly did their research; on animals, Vikings and the landscapes of the north... then they bent it like fence wire.
Toothless is one of the most appealing critters ever to appear in any film, and for me, who grew up wishing for the black horses of The Black Stallion, Fury, Zorro, and Bagheera of the Jungle Books (the books, not the Disney film), Toothless is a dream come true.
Several of the fit-in-your-hand sized Toothlesses end up going to beaches and on other road trips to share in the adventure. A beach chair from AC Moore (large enough for the average 6" action figure) painted turquoise, with a bit of "towel" cut from an old sock finishes the look.
A short tripod to hold your camera right above the sand is useful, especially if you are using something like sport continuous mode (which shoots a dozen or so frames in a second or so) or doing practical effects (like flinging snow, sand or water at your subject (focus, hold shutter release with one hand while flinging a bucket of water at subject...). Actually a cup of water or sand is usually enough.
Small Chesapeake Bay waves are not usually a problem (be prepared to wade after your dragon). Big Assateague Barrier island waves are another thing. Toothless washed out on a wave... and fortunately, washed back in on the next one. Sometimes props can be found on the beach: I have found a number of heart shaped shells and rocks. And one recently deceased blue crab, immortalized in an interaction with the dragon.
Be aware that water has scale. Toothless on the rock at Rock Hall gets some nice out of scale splashes where the water looks like globby jello, because, yeah, dragon is wee and smol.
Having a couple of versions of the same figure (3 different Toothlesses) is nice. These are slightly poseable, and have different expressions. I had to repaint all of 'em black (some had the red tail fin from the adult Toothless in the films).
Staying at dragon eye level is usually best, but sometimes you have to fly the camera higher to get a good sense of the seascape. With auto focus cameras like my Nikon Coolpix L100, I have to make sure it actually focused on the subject and not the background, (a grey card or tourist brochure or map or something held up in front of the character makes the camera focus on the dragon, not the sea). Sometimes it's useful to shoot a shot of the character, then a shot of the background in focus. You can combine them in Photoshop. Shooting a black dragon on a nearly white beach is also difficult; you can use a fill flash (or flashlight) to put more light on your subject, or shoot one shot exposing for the dragon and one exposing for the beach and combine later.
Don't forget to add some footprints to show how your characters got there... of course, dragons can fly...
Toothless is one of the most appealing critters ever to appear in any film, and for me, who grew up wishing for the black horses of The Black Stallion, Fury, Zorro, and Bagheera of the Jungle Books (the books, not the Disney film), Toothless is a dream come true.
Several of the fit-in-your-hand sized Toothlesses end up going to beaches and on other road trips to share in the adventure. A beach chair from AC Moore (large enough for the average 6" action figure) painted turquoise, with a bit of "towel" cut from an old sock finishes the look.
A short tripod to hold your camera right above the sand is useful, especially if you are using something like sport continuous mode (which shoots a dozen or so frames in a second or so) or doing practical effects (like flinging snow, sand or water at your subject (focus, hold shutter release with one hand while flinging a bucket of water at subject...). Actually a cup of water or sand is usually enough.
Small Chesapeake Bay waves are not usually a problem (be prepared to wade after your dragon). Big Assateague Barrier island waves are another thing. Toothless washed out on a wave... and fortunately, washed back in on the next one. Sometimes props can be found on the beach: I have found a number of heart shaped shells and rocks. And one recently deceased blue crab, immortalized in an interaction with the dragon.
Be aware that water has scale. Toothless on the rock at Rock Hall gets some nice out of scale splashes where the water looks like globby jello, because, yeah, dragon is wee and smol.
Having a couple of versions of the same figure (3 different Toothlesses) is nice. These are slightly poseable, and have different expressions. I had to repaint all of 'em black (some had the red tail fin from the adult Toothless in the films).
Staying at dragon eye level is usually best, but sometimes you have to fly the camera higher to get a good sense of the seascape. With auto focus cameras like my Nikon Coolpix L100, I have to make sure it actually focused on the subject and not the background, (a grey card or tourist brochure or map or something held up in front of the character makes the camera focus on the dragon, not the sea). Sometimes it's useful to shoot a shot of the character, then a shot of the background in focus. You can combine them in Photoshop. Shooting a black dragon on a nearly white beach is also difficult; you can use a fill flash (or flashlight) to put more light on your subject, or shoot one shot exposing for the dragon and one exposing for the beach and combine later.
Don't forget to add some footprints to show how your characters got there... of course, dragons can fly...
Toothless at Eastern Neck Island, National Wildlife Refuge, on the Chesapeake Bay.
