Behind the Mask

Camera: Nikon D200
Lens: Tamron 70 – 300
f/9 at 1s
ISO 100

I was in Venice, Italy one year during the Carnaval celebrations. As an amateur photographer I found it to be an amazing experience. Everyday hundreds of people would parade around St. Marks square in elaborate costumes and allow people to take their picture.

This photo is a combination of one of those pictures sandwiched with a picture of a weathered stucco wall taken somewhere in Venice as well. Originally taken on colour slide film the images were put together and projected on a screen. I then took a picture of the projection with my digital SLR.

In post I only adjusted the brightness and contrast. Sharpening this image only brought out flaws I didn't want to enhance so I left the image soft. No other Photoshop filters were used. The resulting image once again looks more like a painting than a photograph. I did this with several of these images and I was pleased with most of them.