Photograph taken in the Calles cave in the Gard (South of France). A small group of young tightrope walkers who love thrills decided to stretch a strap 70m, 25mm wide and close to the arch to make the most of the void (20 / 25m high) . As soon as I learned about the project, it was difficult for me to pass up this opportunity, especially since the cavity is located near my home. We will spend two days together at the camp with my precious assistants and a group of six motivated tightrope walkers.
The first day is devoted to carrying and careful recognition of the Lighthouse room: determining the point of view, studying the foreground, the background, the negative spaces ... The decision to place a character at the top of the calcite monolith (Le lighthouse) was taken in the evening at the bivouac. The tightrope walker certainly plays the essential role, but the second character will interact with the first and give more impact to the final scene. The second day, shooting, everything is settled, I let the two tightrope walkers take the pose they want, I fine-tune the settings, the flashes crackle, the atmosphere is a bit surreal ...
The chosen image will be the one with a tight vertical framing (70 mm) and the tightrope walker in Chinese shadow. On the technical side, no adjustment constraints, apart from a slightly advanced rise in ISO (2500 is a lot). Indeed, even if the tightrope walker is rather static and a high shutter speed is not necessarily necessary, I preferred to increase the sensitivity to ensure the shooting and have a clear image (D810 + 70mm - f9 ).