Savra smoke 3
Jun, 2016Views
340
Likes
Awards
Member Selection Award
Summer Selection
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this picture at the workshop attached to our family home in Stanford-Le-Hope, Essex. I share the space with my wife who is often in there making cosmetics bags for her business; believe it or not we haven't had an argument over it yet!Time
I can remember it well as it was the first time I had arranged with a model (the brilliant Savra) to shoot at my home studio - it was a mild winters day 10th February 2016 at 12:48pm.Lighting
I learnt a lesson in lighting and found out a bit about myself that day. This picture was taken near the end of a 3 hour shoot, about 15 minutes before this was taken my Skyport transmitter broke on set in front of Savra! I had no spare! So I had to change to speedlights and use a different light modifier as well. But this helped me to see that I could cope under pressure and think clearly and that light is light, no matter the source, the key is controlling it. In the end 2 speedlights were used - one for the face in a small octabox reflector and one for bouncing into the smoke from the smoke machine.Equipment
I used a Sony A7 camera, Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens, 2 Yongnuo YN-560 III speedlights and a cheap smoke machine.Inspiration
A lot of my inspiration comes from art and the set this picture came from was an attempt to create a modern version of an early baroque chiaroscuro style fused with a modern cinematic feel. Whether or not I achieved that is up to debate but I am happy with the results which shows having a concept in mind is important in the act of creation rather than just clicking the camera shutter and hoping something will happen.Editing
I try to get as much in camera as possible so that I have a good base to work from so for instance in this picture the smoke was captured in camera from a smoke machine. I applied some colour correction and contrast enhancement in Lightroom then in Photoshop a small amount of skin smoothing and some Topaz Clarity with a layer mask to bring out the smoke and the details in clothing. I finished it off with a curves adjustment to make the blacks look more charcoal in appearance to give it a baroque painting look.In my camera bag
My Samyang 85mm f/1.4 always goes with me as its an awesome portrait lens, it requires manual focus but that has been a great aid in teaching me patience and checking the composition when photographing. I always take my Sony Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 as this has a slightly wider angle, fast autofocus with Sony A7 and is extremely sharp so that it gives me a lot confidence. I never leave with out a Yongnuo 560 III flash, a reflector and plenty of water. Recently I have also added the Spyderchkr 24 to my essential equipment list.Feedback
After I have been inspired by an idea that I think would look cool I study the photographers who have gotten pictures closest to what I want to achieve. I study their techniques and lighting setups then design a simple lighting setup of my own along with all the props I think that would give me the result I want and then I write it down in a plan. The key from here is to practice - do not wing it on the day! I am fortunate I have my gorgeous wife who is a willing volunteer and is in a couple of pictures on my Viewbug profile, but you could use a mannequin or a dummy. Even the most crazy ideas need some form of plan, you don't have to stick to it, but it gives you a solid base to work from so you can have the confidence to go crazy and experiment as the shoot progresses on the day.
