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JakeKurdsjuk

The Jake

Single light self-portrait with cigar

Single light self-portrait with cigar
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NIKON D750

settings

Aperture f/5.6 ISO 100 Shutter 1/100 Focal Length 850/10

upload_date

Sep, 2018

Views

4372

Likes

+437

Awards

Contest Finalist in The Studio Portrait Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Creators Exhibition Project

Contest Finalist in Looking At Faces Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Hats And Caps Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Inspiring Portraits Photo Contest get inspired magazine

Contest Finalist in Interesting People Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Moody Portraits Photo Contest

Top Shot Award

Contest Finalist in The Selfie Photo Contest

Runner Up in Looks Mysterious Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Looks Mysterious Photo Contest

Peer Award

+539

Absolute Masterpiece

+13

Top Choice

Superb Composition

Magnificent Capture

Outstanding Creativity

Superior Skill

All Star

Virtuoso

Genius

Emotions

Impressed

Happy

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Behind The Lens

Location

Who needs a studio when you have a garage and a black sheet? And when you're dealing with cigars having a place that can be easily ventilated helps.

Time

This was mid-afternoon on a summer day, though it could have been taken any time. I chose this time as it would provide the best ambient light.

Lighting

The idea was for a single light portrait so I set up on one side of the double garage and opened the other door to get a little extra ambient light in there. In addition I set up a flash just outside the view of the camera.

Equipment

This was shot with my Nikon D750 with an 85mm f1.8 lens. I used a Vello Freewave Fusion remote flash trigger to fire off the Yongnuo YN-468II Speedlight that was on a stand with an umbrella. It's a self-portrait so the camera was on Manfrotto tripod and the camera is being triggered by a Vello Freewave Plus remote trigger.

Inspiration

I site I participate in challenged its members to create a single-light portrait. I had a friend who was going to pose but they had to cancel at the last minute. I had less than 24 hours before I had to submit the photo so I realized it would need to be a self-portrait. I wanted the light to have something more to play with and decided that smoke was the answer. I set up so that when I triggered the camera it would give me 3 seconds before it fired the first of 10 consecutive frames, each 3 seconds apart. This allowed me to anticipate the shot and have smoke available to capture. I did this with both cigars and pipes and when I finished I hunted for those with the most interesting smoke patterns.

Editing

There's always post-processing, even if it's minimal - you take the photograph, but you have to make the print even if it's digital, right? I had a couple things I needed to do with this series because it's essentially black on black, so you need to spend the time dodging and burning areas to enhance the contrast. I also needed to reduce the visibility of wrinkles in the backdrop (burning and blurring). With this shot I first did a black and white version that was very film noir, but I decided it was better with a gritty film look to it. A technique I use to enhance the "dirtiness" of a photo is to make a high structured black and white version and then in Photoshop set the layer blend mode to Luminosity so that it imposes that structure on the colored image. This impacts the skin more than anything and gives it a dirty, wet look and brings out any imperfections. After doing that I applied a Color Lookup layer in Photoshop and played with the options until I found one that worked.

In my camera bag

I'm actually a wild life shooter primarily, so my bag usually contains a pair of Nikon D500's with longer lenses - a 300mm f4 PF, a 500mm f5.6 PF, and a 70-200mm f4. If I'm shooting anything else then it's generally the D750 and a 24-120mm f4. I almost never shoot with a flash, so this is a bit of an outside the box image for me.

Feedback

Don't be afraid to try something outside your comfort zone. Find places, like this, that offer you a chance to shoot a variety of subjects and then take some time to look at examples as inspiration. It's OK to mimic something you see elsewhere online, but as you do it make a conscious effort in the process to insert yourself into the shot. Find something that differentiates it from others' work. Little things are all you need to make an image unique to you. And don't be afraid to fail, or to fix things in post. Shoot raw and learn the digital darkroom. Ansel Adams was a great photographer, but he was most admired for what he did with his prints. Shoot with good light, but make the most of it after the shot.

See more amazing photos, follow JakeKurdsjuk

JakeKurdsjuk

JakeKurdsjuk

The Jake

Single light self-portrait with cigar

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow JakeKurdsjuk

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