A Mother's Nightmare: The Baby Collector

Okay, I openly admit that this is one of the most disturbing photos that I have taken and to believe that it came on a day that I walked in a benefit for ALS survivors is almost as scary. The catalyst was the latest round of the Digital Grin competition series with the subject being the interpretation of a Edgar Allen Poe poem about a nightmarish dream. As soon as I read it, I formulated the the image in my mind.

Getting the image was another story unto itself. I planned to do it last weekend but was unable to get around to it. I figured I had plenty of time and I would do it the following Saturday. The only problem is that while I had the skies I wanted, the winds were blowing at gale force last night. This may not have been an issue had it not been for the fact that I couldn't find a model to pose for me. So instead I spent yesterday running around getting costumes and creating custom flash brackets for the job, knowing full well that I would get one shot at this photo.

ISO 200, f/3.5, 1.5s, 18mm

After the ALS Walk post-party, I headed over to Nimmo church off of General Booth and Princess Anne. It provided the exact setup that I needed - an old fashioned graveyard backed by a church. The winds were still blowing at 15 knots which meant that the light stand with the Nikon SB-900 and Softlighter II took a tumble multiple times, even with two sandbags weighing them down. To complicate matters, I got to play both photographer and model, meaning that I had to don a three layer costume and work the camera. Can you say fun???

The idea was to create the image of Death taking a child. Maybe I listen to The Smiths "Suffer Little Children" far too much but as upsetting as the image was to create, it fit the assignment that I was shooting. I really thought this was a failed attempt until I saw the results and it sent a shiver down my spine. Regardless of how I do in the competition, I'm happy with how this image turned out.