48 http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk
UV PORTRAITS
stylistsandthegeneralpublic.
‘Photographersseeingthe
imagesforthefirsttimecan
appreciatethetechnicalsideofthem
more.Notonlyaretheybrightand
colourful,butnotmanypeoplework
inUVinthisway.Therearen’tmany
applicationsforUVphotography.’
Aswellas admirationfromfellow
photographers,universitieshave
beenincontactwithDavidtoaskif
theycansharehisworkwiththeir
students.Pleasedtoseethework
gaina newleaseoflife,Davidreflects
onthe‘throwaway’natureof
photographyinthisdayand
age:‘I’mreallypleasedtoseethese
imagesbeingusedagain.Somanyof
ushavegotusedtoourworkbeing
shortlivedinthefastpaceof
“Instagramculture”.Fortheworkto
makesucha comebackandhavemore
lastingpopularity,it givesmehope.’
TheprocessofexploringUV
It tookalmosta yearoftestshoots
andexperimentationtoperfectthe
techniquethat’sbecomea signature
lookthatDavidis keentoreturnto,
nowthattheimageshaveseena
resurgenceinpopularity.‘Wedidn’t
knowanythingwasgoingtowork
whenwestartedexploringUV.Each
lookwouldtakeanentiredaytoput
together,meaningtheprojectitself
tooka weektoshoot.
‘InthebeginningI startedwitha
reallyhigh-poweredstrobewitha
fastrefreshrate,butas I developed
thetechnique,I firedthestrobe
multipletimesalongwiththe
continuousUVCannon.This
approachinvolveda lotmoretrial
anderror,butproducedthebest
results,’Davidexplains.
You’dbeforgivenforthinkingthat
therewasa lotofpost-production
involvedinproducingimageslike
this.Butinreality,themajorityof
themagicis capturedin-camera,
usingDavid’sspecialtechnique,
revealedforyouinour‘Getthelook’
panel– seeright.‘Verylittle
post-workis requiredwiththistype
ofshot,becausethere’ssomuch
motionblur,youdon’tneedto
correctmuchorremoveanystray
hairsforexample.Themajorityofit
is justcolourworkandsome
blending.Thefinalimageswereshot
usinga simpleset-upwitha Nikon
D810andtheNikkor105mmf/2.8Macro lens. For lighting, David used
a single Broncolor Siros S 800 head
with the Broncolor UV attachment
mounted to it as key light, a generic
UV cannon and a 20W blacklight
clipped to a stand to help lock focus,
both in the rembrandt position.
‘If you imagine your typical pack
of six highlighter colours, there’s no
gradation between the vibrant
selection. When you put all of them
together on a person, it’s quite garish
and basic. The makeup team
[Adelaide Filippe and Josie Chan]
did a really good job to negate that,
but in post it took a little extra
tweaking to make the difference
between each colour blend a little bit
better. The final compositions, the
glow, the motion – all of those more
powerful effects that make the end
result were essentially what we
captured in the moment.’
Renewed interest in his UV work
has encouraged David to begin
exploring underwater photography.
So much so that he’s begun scuba
diving training and is keen to build
on that body of work now that he’s
developing a greater understanding
of sea creatures and their
environment.To keep up with David Sheldrick and see more
of his work, you can follow him on Instagram at
http://www.instagram.com/davidsheldrick.‘It took almost a year of test shoots and
experimentation to perfect the technique’