Broken Car

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Concept

Summer, heat, somewhere in a field, far from any locality, an old Soviet car broke down. The girl, who was driving, suffers from the summer heat, hiding under the raised trunk (it's so hot in the cabin). The girl wears a hat made of newspaper. She is all sweaty and wipes the sweat from her face with the T-shirt, like many of us on a hot day when no one sees her. The car is a perfect representation of the 1970s.

Inspiration

This photo shoot was inspired by a car I saw at a retro automobile exhibition. It was in excellent condition and had a pleasant blue color. This car has a poor reputation in the Soviet Union for being the most unreliable and frequently broken car of all time. In old documentary photos of those times, you can see the real routing life of the car owners. So, the idea for a photo session arose from the exhibition, but the main difference is that the driver should be a lovely young lady.

Choice of color

The primary colors in the frame are cyan (the car), pale blue (the sky on a sunny summer day), and greenish-yellow (the corn fields). The chocolate body of the girl stands out very effectively in the background of the blue car. Despite the presence of cold colors in the frame (light blue, cyan) – the photo represents a hot summer day.

Wardrobe

The ZAZ was the cheapest car in the USSR, and it was mainly used by farmers. The girl's image is from the common folk. Following this role, the clothes were chosen to be simple, summer, and comfortable. A skirt and a T-shirt made of natural cotton textiles. In Soviet times, there was a significant shortage of summer hats, and very often, hats that were saved from the sun were made from ordinary newspapers. Absolutely the same hat from the newspaper on the head of the model. I chose a blue skirt to match the car's color palette and the sky. The shirt is light beige, slightly dirty.

Background

The background behind the girl – her broken car and the field of corn. The location without trees was chosen to show the complexity of the situation, and the only shadow – was under the raised trunk lid. The location is an ordinary country road between fields. The empty horizon and the absence of trees, branches, buildings, etc., help to focus on the girl with the car.

Hair and make-up

Women in the countryside did not put on any make-up during the Soviet era, and hairstyles were minimal. In this case, the hair is pulled back, and there is almost no make-up, emphasizing the simplicity of the image. Bright and evening make-up as well as beautiful hairstyles, would be inappropriate in this case.

Light

The light is natural, the day is cloudless, and the shooting takes place at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. This time was chosen because I wanted the viewer to feel the heat in the photo. Also, I needed a large shadow from the trunk lid to create shelter for the girl. I illuminated the model with a reflector, drawing with light the volume on her body and face, showing the sweat on the skin.

Posing

The girl leaned her booty on the car, hiding in the shade while wiping sweat from her face with a T-shirt. The most important element of the pose is to show the breasts beautifully, but at the same time hide the nipples. I wanted to show the face beautifully without covering it with a T-shirt. There were many photos taken from various angles of the face, with different rotations and tilts of the head, before the best frame was selected. During shooting, the girl also highlighted her collarbones to add volume to her upper body. I sprayed the girl with water from a flower sprayer before shooting to create the effect of sweaty skin.

Depth of field

The depth of field was chosen to focus on the girl and the car. The corn bushes are blurry but quite readable. A larger opening of the aperture (for example, up to f1.8) would cause a significant blurring of the background and all the corn bushes would merge into green mush.

Shooting angle

The angle is chosen to show not only the girl under the trunk lid, but also the side of the car. The car is very interesting and looks outstanding in the frame, its funny appearance adds positive emotions to the photo. The height of the camera is at the level of the model's face in order to demonstrate the beauty (if the camera were lower, then the fabric of the T-shirt and the right hand of the girl would cover part of the face). If the shooting point would be shifted to the right, then the side of the car would not be visible. If shifted to the left, the breast would not be in the frame (it would be covered by the hand) and the most attractive accent of the picture would disappear.

Crop

Above is a part of an empty cloudless summer sky, which should be in the frame. The left and right parts of the photo are cropped to show the car. The bottom of the frame is cropped to the skirt because I wanted the viewer to feel closer to the girl. In this photo, there is no need to show the entire girl with legs. If the whole model were in the frame, it would be difficult to see the face, sweat on the skin, beautiful breasts, and other details.

Expression

(emotional part, mood). The girl is tired, she feels hot and sweating.  She wipes the sweat from her face as she opens her mouth slightly. Facial expression in such a situation can only be tired and hopeless. The model conveys this emotion in the photo successfully. This mood is transmitted to the viewer. If she smiled, for example, the audience could wonder, "She is feeling bad, it's obviously hot, why is she smiling?"

Post Processing

The post-processing was chosen to emphasize the vintage (70s), the saturation and brightness of the greens were reduced, and the whole photo looks like it was shot on film. This way of processing corresponds to my author's style and highlights the atmosphere of the frame.

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