Science Museum of Virginia • Move your world

Objective: Create a photo illustration of a young boy running with a model SR-71 spy plane. He was to appear as though he was running so quickly that the leaves were being blown off the nearby trees. Process/Solution: The boy was photographed on location and we built a sliding rig on a wire to keep his arm and hand position consistent as he ran across the field. The tree was photographed separately and a number of leaves were plucked off of the tree and strung up on monofilament to be photographed as separate elements. Many frames of the leaves were shot using a wind machine to create variation in the flying leaves in a controlled and repeatable environment. The tree was photographed again a few weeks later after the leaves had fallen to give us a bare tree to work with. All of the elements were composited together and polished in Adobe Photoshop. Techniques: Compositing, illustration, retouching. Acknowledgements: Client: Science Museum of Virginia Art director: David Neale Photography: John Henley