Music to Life Song of the Week: Can’t Feel My Face by The Weeknd

I love, love, love this song. I think the first time I hear this song was when my wife and I were in a dance club somewhere in Los Angeles. It’s the kind of song that I don’t normally interpret since it sounds so upbeat and fun, as oppose to most of my conceptual photography images which are bleak. I’ve heard a couple of interpretations of what the lyrics mean, and the most popular explanation is the reason why he can’t feel his face is because whenever they’re together, they’re doing cocaine, which makes their faces numb, but he loves it. I like to think that the reason why his face is numb is because they are always making out. So for my interpretation of the song, I decided to shoot a couple. I used one of my wedding clients as the subject, and they were more than thrilled to be a part of it.

How I Shot It

This is a double exposure shot done in camera using the Canon 5D Mark III. Most modern DSLR have the ability to do this, and it’s quite fun to do, but it takes practice. The double/multiple exposure technique has been used by film photographers for many years, and I was super excited when this technique got introduced to the digital age. For the best explanation of how to shoot double exposures, check out Peter Kolonia’s article from popphoto.com

From Peter Kolonia’s Article:

“Step 1
Shoot the sillhouette. Make it against a white sky or a white studio backdrop. When shooting outdoors, a low camera angle can help get a clean white background with no intruding clutter. Byrne recommends shooting about an hour before sunset on sunny days. You can line up the dimmer afternoon light behind your subject and, with proper exposure, produce no flare.

Step 2
Find the background texture. Color helps, and so do line and complementary shapes. As with the silhouette, find a texture that can be captured on white, with a minimum of surrounding clutter.

Step 3
Prepare your camera. When you’ve found the texture to place within the silhouetted figure, you’re ready to make the composite. Dig through your camera’s settings to find the multi-exposure mode. Select it and switch your camera to live view. Find and select the base silhouette on the memory card. It will be displayed on the LCD screen.

Final Step
Line up the images. With the silhouette displayed on your camera’s LCD screen, aim your lens at the textured subject. The texture (i.e., leaves, trees, flowers, bark, or rocks) will appear within the black silhouette. Finesse the texture’s effect by adjusting the camera angle, zoom, and exposure settings. When the textured overlay complements and fits well within the silhouette, fire away. Your camera will automatically merge the two.”

Play “Can’t Feel My Face”

If you’re interested in shooting a Music to Life series image, message me at contact@jimmybuiphotography.com and don’t forget to visit my website and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you so much!