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Home → Contests and Critique

How Was This Picture Made #06?

By John Bosley 40 Comments
Last Updated On February 11, 2018

For Part 6 of our How Was This Picture Taken series, we have this very special photo of the Photography Life Team:

UPDATE #1: The detailed answer has already been posted!
UPDATE #2: Come on guys, this was an April Fool’s joke! We will always continue reviewing a variety of brands and we won’t sell out.

PL Puerto Rico Team Retreat (C) Canon USA
PL Team Retreat in Puerto Rico

This group photo was taken during our team retreat in Puerto Rico earlier this year. Just looking at it brings back fond memories of laying on the beach and swimming in the ocean with these amazing people. Well, at least with most of these people. John Sherman was always off somewhere photographing iguanas naked.

Before we get too far into the post, you might have noticed the amazing shirts that we’re all wearing. It’s time for a big announcement: Photography Life is now sponsored by Canon! That means from this point forward, we will only be reviewing Canon equipment. We feel that this is the best fit for this web site and were in no way influenced by an all-expense paid trip to Puerto Rico. Also, we have been unofficially told that Canon is heavily working on a DSLR / mirrorless hybrid, which is exactly what our team has been waiting for, so it is time to embrace the new technology.

Now, back to the photo. After spending so much quality time together in such a magical place, we had to have a group photo before we left. Of course, this being Photography Life, we couldn’t just take an ordinary photo. We needed to do something special.

We spent hours planning this photo. We cleaned sensors, calibrated lenses, checked weather forecasts, computed and recomputed the hyperfocal distance, figured out the spherical aberration, chromatic aberration and vignetting levels of the new Canon lens and then… we waited. For two hours. Once the wind was calm, the light was perfect and a rainbow appeared: Click!

Now we don’t want you to get the wrong idea. This image isn’t so amazing because it was taken on a beautiful beach in Puerto Rico. It is amazing because when seven photographers put their heads together and try to create an amazing photo, you get an amazing photo! Also, because it was taken with a Canon camera (ahem ahem Nikon shooters!).

So, on to the point of this post. How was this image created? There are a few questions we have for you about this image:

  • Is there anything unusual about how this image was created?
  • Was there anything done in post processing?
  • What is the serial number of the tripod we used?
  • What size of shoe does Nasim wear?
  • Why can’t you see John’s legs?
  • Is it any coincidence we posted this on April 1?

We’ll reveal how this images was created very soon. You won’t want to miss it!

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Disclosures, Terms and Conditions and Support Options
Filed Under: Contests and Critique Tagged With: Canon, Mirrorless, Nikon, Picture Contest

About John Bosley

John Bosley is a wedding and portrait photographer in Denver who loves creating authentic, emotional images with his clients. He has a soft spot for functional antiques. You might see him writing with a fountain pen from his collection or shooting with one of his many film cameras. You can view his work on his website or see what he’s been up to lately on Instagram.

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Kathleen O'Reilly
Kathleen O'Reilly
April 2, 2016 10:59 am

I don’t understand. Is the Canon deal an April Fool’s joke? Sure hope so!

0
Reply
Betty
Betty
Reply to  Kathleen O'Reilly
April 2, 2016 7:52 pm

Who knows?
It’s a mystery of unprecedented proportions.
Almost like Life itself.
Perhaps one day, some mind, greater than yours or mine, will fathom it out.
Until that day, we can only scratch our itchy bits and await divine inspiration.

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Reply
Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  Kathleen O'Reilly
April 5, 2016 3:17 pm

Kathleen, yes, it was an April 1st joke :)

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Reply
Muhammad Omer
Muhammad Omer
April 2, 2016 2:11 am

When you said john was off photographing iguanas naked, who was naked, was it john or the iguanas?

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Reply
John Bosley
John Bosley
Author
Reply to  Muhammad Omer
April 2, 2016 10:34 am

Muhammad, I’ll leave that to your imagination.

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Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  John Bosley
April 2, 2016 10:41 am

Hahaha :D

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Reply
MC
MC
April 2, 2016 1:56 am

Just a guess but…Canon will be getting some great reviews here in the future!

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Reply
John Bosley
John Bosley
Author
Reply to  MC
April 2, 2016 10:35 am

Monte, we try to do great reviews regardless of what we’re reviewing! :)

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Judit
Judit
April 1, 2016 11:43 pm

I lol’d :D

John hovering is the best, he’s clearly on the fence about this Canon/Nikon issue :D

I hope you all noticed that even the tiny brand label on the left guy’s camera has been repl… enhanced for better color contrast. What subtle, tasteful editing, this is the kind of thing that sets pros apart from the crowd. I hope this very photo will be featured as a case study in the PL Level 2 course :D

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Reply
John Bosley
John Bosley
Author
Reply to  Judit
April 2, 2016 10:33 am

Exactly! I’m definitely on the fence about the changes. :)

Glad you noticed how much work we put into this image. Even the smallest details are important!

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Tim
Tim
April 1, 2016 8:48 pm

It’s April 2nd here in Russia, so I’m going to take this post totally seriously!!! Since I shoot a Canon system, it works for the best!! I can’t tell you why you can’t see John’s legs, but I do wish the same effect had been done to the guy on the far left!!

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Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  Tim
April 2, 2016 10:40 am

LOL Tim, that might go on our second revision of this piece of art :D

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Benji
Benji
April 1, 2016 8:19 pm

That is a beautiful photo. A quality different than any I’ve ever seen here. If you zoom in on the camera hanging around neck at left, dozens of immodestly dressed groupies can be seen in the lens reflection. It’s like an early Beatles concert photo. Kudos

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Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  Benji
April 1, 2016 8:22 pm

Benji, that’s why we decided to write about it! It is a true work of art. Our team will be submitting it to competitions and Spencer is already guaranteeing a spot for us at the Smithsonian!

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Chattanooga Charlie
Chattanooga Charlie
April 1, 2016 8:12 pm

Are these all folks that we are mourning because they were shot with Canons??

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Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  Chattanooga Charlie
April 1, 2016 8:20 pm

LOL :) that’s a good one!

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Wings42
Wings42
April 1, 2016 7:32 pm

The picture was made with a superb Nikon camera, obviously.

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Reply
Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  Wings42
April 1, 2016 8:20 pm

Oh yeah, without a doubt :) EXIF reveals it!

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MartinG
MartinG
April 1, 2016 5:45 pm

It is April 2nd here, so while for some the question may be layered with meaning, the real question is not how but why. ?

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Reply
Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  MartinG
April 1, 2016 5:47 pm

Martin, it is only late afternoon here in Colorado :) I hope you are keeping your eye on the upcoming Nikon D850!

photographylife.com/how-w…the-answer

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chris
chris
April 1, 2016 5:44 pm

I too am very disappointed by your Cannon deal. I will read general photography articles but all articles about Cannon will be deleted. As I am a Nikon shooter and have no interest in Cannon.

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Reply
Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  chris
April 1, 2016 5:45 pm

Chris, I suggest you take a closer look at the photo :)

Happy 1st!

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Reply
Betty
Betty
Reply to  chris
April 1, 2016 7:13 pm

There’s always one..or two…?

0
Reply
Nasim Mansurov
Nasim Mansurov
Admin
Reply to  Betty
April 1, 2016 7:16 pm

Betty, turns out there are far more! :D

0
Reply

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