Overhead Photography - DPChallenge Forums

07/03/2011 12:55:48 PM · #1

Say you want to do a studio shoot of a model from above, and have the angle be perfectly vertical. How do you accomplish that? Other than having a catwalk or some sort of platform, standing on a ladder or stool makes it really difficult to get perfectly vertical, and if you hold out the camera, you can't see through the viewfinder.

I'm certain the answer is obvious. To someone other than me, that is...

bspurgeon

Fujifilm x100

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

07/03/2011 12:57:48 PM · #2

Bolt your camera to something on the ceiling. Shoot tethered to your computer. Just food for thought...

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/03/2011 01:00:18 PM · #3

Yup, the sort of answer a guy would post. Tethering, bolting, massive use of tools...

robs

Canon EOS R6 Mk II

07/03/2011 01:15:29 PM · #4

* 2 ladders with a board between then and some balls to hang on the board? (sorry guys answer) :-)
* Maybe a monopod with an ability to tilt the camera but this is going to be very hit and miss.
* Tethered is the only way your going to get much repeat-ability.
* You could avoid some tool by using a background frame and superclamp off that or maybe a cstand with an extension arm.

MinsoPhoto

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

07/03/2011 01:16:38 PM · #5

Use a monopod and a ladder. Then you could extend the camera out over the subject. You would need a cable release or the self timer and it would take a few shots to get the composition but it could work.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/03/2011 01:54:58 PM · #6

Thanks everyone. I guess it's going to take some sort of jerryrigging. I've tried "overhead" from a ladder before, but with very unremarkable results. Unless it's straight down, you get a funky distortion. I have a remote trigger, but would need to figure out how to tether to a computer. Or create a platform between two ladders...

*slinks off to buy more insurance*

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

07/03/2011 02:22:09 PM · #7

Originally posted by tanguera:

... and if you hold out the camera, you can't see through the viewfinder.

One of many reasons I chose a camera with a tilt-swivel LCD. ;-)

If you have a monopod or light tripod, you might try finding some sort of clamp you can use to affix a mirror such that you can stand on a ladder and hold the camera out horzontally, using the mirror to compose using a reflection of the LCD.

chromeydome

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/03/2011 02:38:26 PM · #8

Tethering is, I think, not too hard: buy a couple of these ACTIVE extension cables and plug into camera and laptop. You could alternately attempt to use an eyefi card, but I did not have much success with that approach.

Aperture (and I believe LR likely does as well) has a simple menu option for tethering, and it loads images into the tool direct from the camera as they are shot. I can fire the camera as well from within Aperture, but I can't adjust settings. There are other tools that will allow this, including some iphone apps, but those will required a wireless connection to your computer, and other networking setup (local adhoc wireless) if you are on location.

If you are not perfectly vertical, some perspective correction adjustments are possible.

Consider safety no matter what you choose: You don't want your camera to fall onto a model, or to fall period, really :-) Rig a safety strap. If you are gonna do the ladder thing, well, be really dang careful. If the ladder tips, you and the camera could fall (and it is very unlikely you will be able to get under the falling D700 to soften its landing :-P )

MelonMusketeer

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

07/03/2011 03:00:01 PM · #9

Crazy glue. Stick the model's shoes to the wall, and you can shoot horizontal while standing on the floor.

If you are just pretty much just wanting head shots from above, a mirror at an angle above the model will allow you to shoot up from the floor using a bit longer lens. You would have to set it up with your camera on a tripod to keep the relationship between the mirror and camera constant.

The two ladder scaffolding boards trick sounds most logical and economical to me. If I was wanting to do this often I would look into renting or building a boom rig and using tethering.

One other option is to use a big step ladder and one board. Bungee the camera to the bottom of the board, tether to set up the system, mark the floor with masking tape, just outside the frame so that the model will know where to be. You can hang string from the board near the camera, to the tape on the floor, to mark the boundaries, because the frame gets smaller closer to the camera. It would be sort of like the four edge corners of a tent, just far enough out that the strings will not be in the images.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

07/03/2011 03:15:09 PM · #10

We did this a couple times in the studio. We used 4 stepladders and two scaffolding boards. We placed a 3/4" plywood board with a large circular hole knocked out of the center over the scaffolding boards, clamped with 4 C-clamps. Stood on the plywood straddling the hole and shot straight down.

R.

MelonMusketeer

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

Nikon MF 50mm f/1.4

07/03/2011 03:23:18 PM · #11

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

This is the best suggestion yet. If it's a one off shoot, and not a regular thing, you may be able to rent the ladders for a day or week.

Beetle

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

07/03/2011 04:17:02 PM · #12

Glue a large mirror to the ceiling?

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

07/03/2011 08:25:08 PM · #13

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

This is sort of what I have in mind, but what about lighting? Shadow issues with all those ladders, etc.?? I may have to rent a studio I know which has a balcony from which I can shoot. If I do do the tethering, can I use the monitor for focusing, or does it only show the shots after they've been taken. If the latter, then tethering would not help with framing the image.

Love the creativity here. I'll let you know if/how I succeed :-)

Spork99

OM System OM-1

07/03/2011 09:48:00 PM · #14

Cherry picker.

Get on the roof and shoot through the skylight (or make your own skylight)

Scaffolding.

Rig a rope to the roof truss and use a bosun's chair.

A lot depends on how high you want to be and what's available to get you up there.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

07/03/2011 10:43:23 PM · #15

Originally posted by tanguera:

This is sort of what I have in mind, but what about lighting? Shadow issues with all those ladders, etc.??

Scaffolding boards can span about 10 feet, so you have some room to work with the lights. It's not ideal, but it's not totally hopeless either.

R.

chromeydome

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/03/2011 11:13:30 PM · #16

Originally posted by tanguera:

Originally posted by Bear_Music:
We did this a couple times in the studio. We used 4 stepladders and two scaffolding boards. We placed a 3/4" plywood board with a large circular hole knocked out of the center over the scaffolding boards, clamped with 4 C-clamps. Stood on the plywood straddling the hole and shot straight down.

R.

This is sort of what I have in mind, but what about lighting? Shadow issues with all those ladders, etc.?? I may have to rent a studio I know which has a balcony from which I can shoot. If I do do the tethering, can I use the monitor for focusing, or does it only show the shots after they've been taken. If the latter, then tethering would not help with framing the image.

Love the creativity here. I'll let you know if/how I succeed :-)

Tethering in simple form would not let you adjust focus or framing. You would want to set up a somewhat wider than needed shot, probably use manual focus to prefocus. Then you would direct your model by looking at the images on the computer rather than your camera LCD (which typically is not working anyway, when tethered.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

07/03/2011 11:58:05 PM · #17

I'm surprised no one's mentioned an RC Helicopter yet ... ;-)

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

07/04/2011 01:35:25 AM · #18

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I'm surprised no one's mentioned an RC Helicopter yet ... ;-)

LOL! I was actually thinking of some sort of acrobatic harness.....

robs

Canon EOS R6 Mk II

07/04/2011 02:00:16 AM · #19

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I'm surprised no one's mentioned an RC Helicopter yet ... ;-)

Yeah thought about it :-) Did you see that very cool water skiing video recently where they made the rc follow a signal on the guys head? See if I can dig out the link.....

raish

Olympus C-2500L

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D

07/04/2011 02:16:59 AM · #20

Some question of the dimensions of the studio. Fix a wire across the ceiling - or a washing line like the sort of double line on pulleys you use for hanging the washing out of a high window...

It could be useful for all sorts of things when you've done with this project.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

07/04/2011 03:41:43 AM · #21

Originally posted by GeneralE:

I'm surprised no one's mentioned an RC Helicopter yet ... ;-)

The ones that can lift a DSLR have a significant learning curve to pilot and are quite pricey, soooo they might be out.

Skip

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/04/2011 06:38:49 AM · #22

if you can't easily implement some of the excellent suggestions given so far, i'd suggest it's probably worth practicing the art of shooting without looking through the viewfinder. i shot this from a referee's ladder with my arm extended out, one-handing my camera.

this was shot with one hand on the pole on the side of the pool while i hung my arm out over the middle of the lane as the swimmer went by.

if you're interested, you can read more about the shot.

this was done in a studio, with me on a ladder; again, arm outstretched and not looking through the viewfinder. (pardon the crappy quick masking job...)

all three images were shot with my 16-35. the bubbles image was shot with a canon 300D, the tennis image was shot with a canon 20D, and the studio image was shot with a canon mark 2n.

Kelli

Canon EOS-D60

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

07/04/2011 10:02:17 AM · #23

Totally off topic... when ever I glance through and see the thread title I've been reading it as "overheard photography". LOL! I was thinking along the lines of the websites like Overheard in NY, or Overheard on the subway, etc.

curtpetguy

Canon EOS-50D

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Canon

07/04/2011 10:26:36 PM · #24

I have the easiest solution. Hire a really, really, really short model.