Broken Car

破车

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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