Behind the Scenes - The Escape
Like most people, I spend way more time than I should on social media just scrolling through imagery. I find myself visually attracted to images with a cinematic feel, that are dark and moody, with lots of deep blacks. While most of my work I shoot is on the brighter side I was inspired to create something that had this feel.
The concept for this shoot was pretty simple. I wanted a model to be looking out a window as if they were trying to hide from something or were watching what was going on outside and keeping an eye on it.
To start with this shoot it was first a matter of getting the set built. I cut a hole out of grey seamless backdrop to create the window and then added a lattice-type board to simulate frames in the window and create shadows on the smoke. I knew by backlighting the smoke combine with the ‘window frames’ it would create beams of light in the smoke.
Working with smoke can be tricky, it’s not consistent and is always moving. I’ve found if I shoot to soon after turning on the smoke machine I can see the smoke coming out and it looks to much like wispy smoke. Once it’s had some time to fill the room it creates more of a haze and settles throughout the entire room. For this shoot I was going for the haze look and didn’t want it to look obviously like smoke
Once the backdrop was dialed in and ready to go I started setting up my lights. I originally started with a single Elinchrom ELB 400. On this light, I had a 30-degree grid and a blue gel. This was placed behind the backdrop and originally positioned so the model was between the light and me. I did this as I wanted to the beams to look like they were emanating from around the model. Using the smoke puts particles in the air and gives the light something to reflect off allowing the beams to become visible.
I had a specific shot in mind I wanted to create that captured that showcased the beams of light. As shooting though I always try and explore different angles, poses and distances from the subject. As I had captured the initial image with only the blue light I felt like it needed something more and decided to add another light to illuminate the face of the subject. I placed another ELB 400 with a red gel and a snoot to direct the light to only hit the model’s face. This create the feel I was going for and gave the idea of outdoor lights on a gloomy night while still only being a very subtle touch of light.
This was a quick shoot in my garage, but overall I was happy with the results and proud of the images I created. It isn’t in my traditional style that I shoot, but over recent years I’ve realized it’s been important to shoot work for myself. It’s a good time to try new and different things and to keep skills sharp, especially if I’m not using them as often.
Gear
Canon R5
Canon RF 24-105 f4
Elinchrom ELB 400 x 2
7-inch reflector with grid
Snoot with red gel
Grey Seamless Backdrop
Smoke Machine