Flame
Tight self-portrait fake cigarette.
Tight self-portrait fake cigarette.
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Mar, 2023Views
1132
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Awards
Runner Up in Monthly Pro Photo Contest Volume45
Peer Award
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Top Ranks
Top 30 rankTop 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
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Behind The Lens
Location
Cold winter day so into the basement to play. I did this self-portrait in my basement studio.Time
I used studio lights.Lighting
I placed a large 4 x 6-foot softbox behind me and then a black card in front of the box, only the edges of the softbox were lighting me. I wanted a rim light around me to pop off the black background. I also used two-speed lights with strip boxes and grids from behind to add side lights to my face. I used a strobe-pro-focused light on my face for the front light. I wanted to control the lights and get the matches to be bright. The last thing about the lighting I had to shoot through a black card global to control the flare from the backlight.Equipment
I used four Godox flash units for this image. Nikon D850 with a Tamron 90mm macro lens. F11 ISO 100 1/250. The camera was set on a tripod pre-focused and I used a radio remote with a 10-second delay to get into position and light the match.Inspiration
I was doing a presentation for a camera club on creative portraiture projects and came across the lighting style on youtube zoom and wanted to try it out. I do not smoke so I rolled a white paper into a cigarette and it worked fine. I also used my smoke machine behind me to add atmosphere.Editing
I photographed in RAW and do most of my editing in Photoshop. I liked that the match cigarette and my glasses all were lit at the same time. I used curves in Photoshop and sharpened them using Topaz.In my camera bag
I use Nikon cameras and Godox lights. I have a variety of lenses Nikon 50mm F 1.4 Tamron 24x70mm Tamron 90mm macro Nikon 80x200 F2.8 and a Tamron 150x600mm.Feedback
During covid, I kept myself busy doing self-projects. This was a great way to keep busy and learn new fighting skills. I started doing a lot of teaching and presenting on Zoom a wonderful way to share and keep others motivated.
