01-02-2014 / Personal Visions #10: The Predator

The Predator

In this entry I hereby present the tenth entry in the Personal Visions series: The Predator.

Technical commentary:

Out of all the pictures I've ever taken, this is one of my favorites.

While I do consider every photograph I take like a daughter of mine, it is true that there are some that stand out more than the others. This is one of them.

Capturing it was an interesting experience so was the post-production. The image has evolved in how it looks ever since it was taken.

It was 2014 and I had a few months using my current camera. It was a substantial improvement over the prior model I was using before.

Even though I felt I had a good grasp of the technique required to take pictures in low light without them coming out blurry, with this camera I was having that problem again.

At that time I didn't know why, that I found out months later. It was something so simple: by doubling the resolution between the outgoing model and the new one, any shakes the camera was subjected to were magnified.

Having twice the pixels capturing light meant they were smaller than the former model, which required the camera to be even more still so no blurriness occurred.

In this regard, I had to start from scratch with the new model. Various factors had changed: the weight between both models, the daily use lenses on both of them and hence, their weight as well. I also lost a shake indicator with the new model that the former had and was really useful to me.

In the process of learning again how to properly hold the camera and being able to take pictures in low light I was hunted without knowing it.

I found this statue of The Predator made of different pieces of metal (motorcycle chains, metal bars, sparkplugs, cogwheels and what looked like recast iron plates) in a public gathering where people strolled I used to attend on occasion.

When I saw it, I was instantly drawn to its expression and gaze; those intense red eyes, that threatening gaze, that mouth full of fangs.

I had to have a photograph of that.

My first attempts were such a bust. Even though the pictures looked fine at first glance, when magnified, the images were all blurry.

This was not acceptable.

Further attempts resulted in more of the same. Since I wasn't on my own and "I had taken too much time already to take the shot" according to the time standards of people who don't know about photography, I felt pressured and made a colossal mistake: I shot using the flash...

Now, I don't mean to say that using flash is a bad thing. Actually is very useful as long as you know how to use it. However, using the in-built flash in the body of most cameras doesn't allow for much control over how the light is used or aimed and it's not the best way to light up a subject most of the time. Sometimes it's better than nothing.

In this case, it was a huge error because the light was much too intense for the photograph I wanted to achieve. Not to mention I completely killed the intense glow in the eyes and the threatening aspect of the statue. Those red tones scattered all over the face were completely lost as well.

To be honest, that photograph looked like the typically horrid picture of a product you'll find listed online. I deleted it without a second thought.

I decided to let my companion to proceed without me and I would catch up when I was done. That didn't happen and that person decided to wait for me.

But I no longer allowed myself to be pressed by the time I was taking and decided I had to be able to capture that image. I couldn't allow myself to not be able to take pictures in low light with this camera and more importantly, not to take this picture.

Applying all the knowledge I had at the time about how to reduce body shake at the moment of taking a picture, I made two more shots. The first one was definitely better than the previous attempts but it still wasn't sharp and still.

The second shot was right on the money. I had to cease my breathing completely and take my time to take the shot. That relaxed my grip on the camera and allowed to capture the image you see here.

That day I learned a very important lesson as an artist: Never to let anyone, including myself, to pressure me into taking a shot or not taking it. 

Things have to be properly done or best not to do anything at all. Things properly done take time. As much as its need.

The post-production on this image has changed with time. The first version has a much intense blue color in the sky, since the picture was taken during dusk. I also had performed a perspective adjustment and turned the statue's face a bit so it would look like it was physically turning towards the spectator.

For this series I decided to update the adjustments. I muted the blue color until it was as pale as possible. This was done because I've always felt that the intense blue of the first version struggles with the bright red color in the face for the eye's attention.

Personally, my intent has always been to center the spectator's eye on the statue's face. The sky is not really important in this equation.

Besides, the feeling of being at nightfall and coming across something like this is better achieved with the current colors.

I unmade the perspective adjustment because it stole some detail from the face and I no longer feel it's neither useful nor necessary.

After that day, I realized that I could really solve the sharpness problem I was having with the new camera. Even though I didn't know yet what was the cause, that didn't stop me from realizing I had to improve my holding technique to take pictures in low light.

It took some time but I did manage to do so as well as eventually discovering that the increase of resolution I was now working with was directly related to my holding technique.

In order to use professional equipment, one has to have a technique up to the standard that the gear requires in order to do everything the equipment was designed to do.

This was a clear example of how a better camera won't make the pictures better by itself; it just makes your mistakes to stand out more.

Personal commentary:

I've always liked The Predator, and even though in some movies where it has appeared the character hasn't been done any justice, that doesn't change my opinion as to what it represents.

If I had to summarize this picture in a word, that word would be "Fear".

That's what the character represents for me: the fear to face an enemy that's better prepared and much more capable than you are.

And yet, the times when the character has faced an adversary that has taken it to limits it didn't plan on reaching, you can also see its fear. The fear of not knowing what to do with an enemy that was underestimated.

In the original movie, there is a scene where The Predator and Arnold Schwarzenegger's character look at each other and you can see how both are afraid of their opponent. Both are each other's fear.

Fear comes in many forms. This is just one representation of it.

But I also think it can be looked at from another perspective: Are we capable of confronting fear? Are we capable of combating it and defeating it? Are we capable of improving our abilities and being up to the task or is it easier to just run for it?

Or even better, do we even actually know what our fears are?

Do we know ourselves that well?

Fear themselves are predators, stalking in silence, from the shadows, waiting for the exact moment to exert their influence on us.

They never waste a chance to do so. They never fail in their mission to stop us.

Something I've realized in my personal experience and from my observations is that the problem for most people is not in discovering their fears; they know what they are.

Their problem is that they are scared of doing something about that fear. They're scared of making a decision and executing it.

They are fearful of fear. Maybe they are anxious about the void that will be made once that fear is gone.

Something that we frequently lose sight of is that the worst enemy we have is ourselves.

We're the ones who put the stops there. The fears are a way of soldering them in place. The justifications we utter about it are our own way of convincing ourselves that such nonsense is alright. That it's valid for it to be there.

Fear is usually a natural survival instinct to situations that represent danger. However, it requires a special grit in order to be able to overcome that instinct and face that which scares us. 

It's obvious that it isn't just a simple matter of having guts; intelligence is required to tackle that enemy on. Brute force and bravado are good to kick start things but they don't work well to keep the momentum going. Things must be confronted, but with information and strategy, not by acting like a raging bull.

One detail I love about this sculpture is the eyes. How intense is the red in them and how they seem to be looking at you dead on.

The original file has several shades of red; you can make out different tones in them

I decided to change that in post-production to make it a solid red and accentuate the menacing expression. I wanted them to look like there was nothing else but fury in them, or depending on the case, fear.

Regardless of what one might think it is, the threat is visible, the risk is imminent.

A curious fact about this picture is that when I originally processed this image and printed it for an art fair that I participated on several years ago, the name of this photograph was "You're My Prey".

However, as time went by, I liked that title less and less. When I decided to present this photograph for this series, I decided it was better to change the title to the current one.

The original title just doesn't do any justice to everything that the picture encompasses. I feel this one does because it leaves open the door for the question: "Who is the predator? It or me?"

Here is where the famous quote uttered by Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first inaugural address of 1932 applies:

"Only thing we have to fear is fear itself"

In my particular case, the day I made this shot was the day I lost my fear to not being able to obtain the result I wanted with the equipment I was using, but in order to do so, I had to improve several aspects of myself in order to be ready.

"I ran for hours, I felt my heart ready to explode.

I arrived to a clearing in the middle of the jungle that was barely visible; thanks to the moonlight, but from there on I couldn't see anything.

I could hear it... I could hear it moving between the shadows. Stepping, planning, stalking.

Caressing the leaves to make noise and scare me.

It was succeeding.

I could hear the sounds it made, like clicks, in the depths of the blackness in front of me.

A grenade landed on my feet and I only had time to fly for a moment and fall on my back.

A thunder crossed the sky, illuminating for a brief instant everything there was and finally we saw our faces.

The grenade left a small fire that burned on the ground but it was enough to light it up as it slowly approached in my direction.

That's when it removed the spear I managed to lodge in its chest earlier. It broke it in half with one hand and threw the pieces at me.

It stared at me. It saw me with those bright red eyes filled with fury.

It opened its mouth and screamed. The holler scared all the night creatures that flew and crawled in every direction possible looking to sneak away.

It extended its jaw completely, menacing. It touched the wound on the chest while aiming the sensor right next to its eyes.

It analyzed me but I didn't know in what regard. I could only see it panting.

It wouldn't take the eyes off me and I didn't dare to run for it. I didn't even know where to.

But it wouldn't move either. It just stared and stared.

"What are you waiting for?!" I yelled. "You've been hunting me for hours and now you're scared?"

That's when I understood. Finally I understood. The fear was hunting me down because for some reason, I also scared it. 

Now everything made sense. Now it was clear as day why I was being hunted.

It had to kill me before I did first. It never crossed my mind to do so but it knew it was a possibility.

I was scared to death but I had nothing left to lose. If this was the hill I was going to die on, I might as well take that fear with me.

It yelled at me once more, this time beating its chest repeatedly in a defiant way.

It threw a grenade between us and night disappeared. The jungle burned in every direction possible.

Kill or be killed, those were my options.

I decided to kill.

I ran to the fire wall between it and me but I fell into its trap. A ring of fire surrounded me completely.

My hands grasped a branch with a cutting edge, maybe I could stab it on the chest again, but this time with the intent to kill.

I looked in every direction possible but couldn't find it. The clicks were sounding off again and I could hear it stepping but couldn't identify its position.

Not until I felt its presence behind me. It had fallen into my trap.

I could see the red glow of its eyes on the ground, along with the laser sight it kept right next to them.

I turned around and behind the flames I could see those eyes above those fangs that were anxious to destroy me and claim me as prize.

I smiled at it and said "Let's go, or are you afraid now?" "Who's the predator and who's the prey?"

You're invited to my Flickr gallery.

Personal Visions Collection