Capturing the perfect sci-fi photo

We're taking a closer look at how the remaining six contestants (made up of South African influencers, entertainers, and content creators) tackled out-of-this-world challenges.

In true The Perfect Picture style, there was a twist. Instead of competing in two separate challenges, contestants had to use their landscape image from challenge one and superimpose a model from challenge two to create their final perfect picture.

But before we get into that, let’s recap of what you missed in episode five. Last week, we said goodbye to Anele Zondo, who fell short in the sports photography challenges. Ivan Roux reclaimed the top spot after being praised for his use of techniques, storytelling, composition, and low-key lighting.

Will Ivan continue to lead the competition or will Lasizwe, Gugu Khathi, Zahirah Marty, Jonathan Boyton-Lee, or Nomvelo Makhanya dethrone the champ? And who will be crowned the winner of R150,000 in cash and R100,000 worth of Canon photographic equipment in the next few weeks? Let’s look at what happened in episode six.

Challenge 1: Push the limits in a sci-fi landscape shoot

Meeting our contestants on a rooftop, Maps Maponyane announced that each contestant would be assigned a vehicle to venture out into Johannesburg and take a picture of the city landscape. For this, they only had 90 minutes. While that doesn’t sound too bad, when you factor in Joburg traffic and loadshedding, it raises all sorts of concerns. Don’t worry, no stop signs or red robots were skipped in the making of this episode.

The landscape had to look like something out of a sci-fi movie. To guide the contestants, Maps introduced OK Majozi, internationally acclaimed photographer who specialises in sci-fi photography. Majozi explained that the contestants would have to shoot their backdrop with the model in mind, making sure it isn’t overexposed. Shooting wide (24mm) would help the contestants in the editing phase when it came time to crop the right sections of the picture to complement the model.

Rushing out into the city, we saw cascading waterfalls, stunning Sandton structures, graffiti tunnels, and thick woody areas. A few wet bums later and our contestants returned to the studio to edit their pics.

Zahirah came in last place and was criticised for overexposing the image. The winner of the challenge was Jonathan, who earned 66 points for using the concrete environment to create a stark sci-fi feel.

Challenge 2: Seamlessly impose a superhero into a landscape

With their landscape photos already in place, the contestants had to photograph models on a greenscreen. Then, in post-production, they had to place the model into their environments. The combination of the two images would be their final photo submission.

As the winner of the previous challenge, Jonathan could choose the model he wanted to work with. He also had the advantage of assigning the rest of the models to the remaining contestants. This proved interesting as the models came out dressed in cosplay: Vecna from Stranger Things, Jinx from League of Legends, Thor from Marvel Comics, and Red Hood, Night Wing and Wonder Woman from DC Comics. Jonathan chose Wonder Woman as his model and assigned Thor to Ivan, Vecna to Lasizwe, Red Hood to Nomvelo, Jinx to Zahirah, and Night Wing to Gugu.

Before they got started, Majozi offered some last-minute advice. Firstly, to make sure there are no shadows on the greenscreen when taking the shots. Secondly, to refer to the first picture’s lighting to balance the look.

Each contestant had 25 minutes to take the perfect picture of their models, mimicking the angles and lighting from challenge one. After that, it was time to edit.

Guest judge Majozi joined our resident judges, Neo Ntsoma and Hilary O'Leary. Together, they looked at planning, composition, execution, and storytelling. The overall winner of the episode was Jonathan who celebrated his 65 points with a twerk. The judges remarked that his photographic elements were thoughtfully complemented. In second place with a solid 62 points was Nomvelo. In third place and the winner of the second challenge was Lasizwe, who managed to shoot up from fifth place in the first challenge.

The lowest score of the day was Gugu with 51 points. The judges felt the foreground was too distracting but that the final picture came together nicely. Unfortunately, with so much skill in play, even a good photo could send someone home at this point. It just goes to show that you’re only as good as your last photo.

Next week on The Perfect Picture, our remaining five contestants (Lasizwe, Zahirah Marty, Ivan Roux, Jonathan Boyton-Lee, and Nomvelo Makhanya) will have to capture nude models in an artistic and tasteful way. Be warned, if you’re a sensitive viewer, you might need to look away!

Tune in every Sunday to eTV at 17:00 for a brand-new episode or catch repeat episodes on Saturdays at 17:30 on eReality.

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