Location Hunting

I have been out and about trying to find locations that are similar to the original painting.  Although I intend to update the look of the figure and change the period I feel that the setting in which the soldier is placed in the painting is what makes it so striking and I didn't to lose that in my interpretation.  You wonder why he is on a cliff? Where is he? How did he get there? And I wanted all these questions to remain and have my model looking a bit alien in the landscape and also enhanced by it.  As such I have been trying to find a way to get a similar look in my photo, luckily my location in Bournemouth is ideal as the beach is close by so I can use the sea without having to Photoshop too much.  I think I have managed to find a location that suits the painting and will give the look I want.

This location isn't perfect and I will have to use Photoshop to mirror the photo and get the cliff the right way round, which means I will have to shoot it the opposite way to the painting, so it would probably be useful if I Photoshop the original so that I have a direct reference when I'm on the shoot.  But I feel this location will be effective, especially because the sand is quite pale which will provide an interesting contrast that will hopefully be as eye-catching as the original.  Also if I can catch the evening light and perhaps the end of a sunset the backdrop will reflect the original; it will never be the same but I can choose a day when the weather is good and hopefully get the effects that I want.  I am pleased that I have managed to find this location and I feel positive that it will work well with the rest of my ideas.

As a side note to this I decided to hire a camera in order to practice with it the other day, and although it was raining so I couldn't get to my location I took it out and practiced taking landscape photos and generally got a feel for how it works.  I was happy with the photo quality and I can now hire it out again when I do the shoot, or a test shoot, and really see how the location works with a model and a good quality camera.