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They came from the stars...
They came from the stars...
shetland


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Stars (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.4D
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK
Date: Dec 11, 2008
Aperture: 8.0
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/125
Galleries: Action, Horror
Date Uploaded: Dec 12, 2008

 Thought it would be an interesting idea to creative a shot of Predator arriving from outer space.

When scouting for a location I found an interesting little cove of bushes within a forest which I thought would hold smoke very well, we hired a generator and borrowed a smoke machine. There was also an interesting tree trunk which would act a a great spring board.

The lighting setup on the night was an experiment of different gels to creative the alien feel. One flash was place in front of predator and off to the side (this gave a cool shadow within the smoke) I also used a cooling gel to give the armor a more metally feel. For the rear I used a large SB-900 flash with a green gel for smoke and ambient fill and reflected the shadows on predators under exposed side via a large front reflector.

This was the first time that i've shot smoke and found it difficult due to the heavey winds and the changing exposures depending on the density of smoke for each shot.

Lastly Predator was jumping form the tree trunk but this shot seemed as if he was jumping over it in a Predator style leap which I was really happy with.

Some great lessons learned.

Process:

From raw, little dodge/burn for smoke detail and armour, curve adjustment for contrast.

p.s. I know this will be touch an go with people as the stars are not the central focus, but I enjoy creative my concepts and learning from each outcome.

thanks for viewing!


Statistics
Place: 59 out of 87
Avg (all users): 5.2549
Avg (commenters): 6.0667
Avg (participants): 5.6000
Avg (non-participants): 5.1111
Views since voting: 1203
Views during voting: 441
Votes: 153
Comments: 17
Favorites: 1 (view)

Please log in or register to add your comments!

AuthorThread
 12/27/2008 09:58:54 PM
Suffered from the narrow topic interpretation, IMO. I love it. Excellent job. Hope to see much more of your stuff!
 12/22/2008 05:26:32 AM
59th? Robbed! I expected this to be at least top 10.

ETA: I thought that this might have been you - In fact I was tempted to write that in my comment but refrained. You've only had a few entries on here but the creativity and style here reminded me of your other shots. I've got a feeling it's only a matter of time before you're cleaning up the ribbons on here. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your stuff! J

Message edited by author 2008-12-22 05:30:26.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/21/2008 06:59:10 PM
cool alien....is this from a concert?
 12/21/2008 06:58:14 PM
wow, haha, hows that for taking a leap at a differnt approach to the theme?!
 12/21/2008 10:41:17 AM
Certainly a digression from all the fa-la-la-la-la entries in this challenge. Neat.
 12/20/2008 10:05:39 PM
Oh I hope not LOL
 12/20/2008 10:37:11 AM
A bit out of the box for the challenge, but I like it. Giving it a 10, just because it looks so good.
 12/19/2008 07:13:02 PM
great shot
 12/19/2008 09:15:10 AM
Awesome concept, lighting and execution, top shot.
 12/17/2008 12:07:46 PM
cool effects with the back lighting and 'smoke' - the title seems to drive the connection to the challenge but i like the image
 12/16/2008 06:29:18 PM
Omg! Not in my neighbourhood I hope. Great job with the shot.
 12/16/2008 03:50:47 PM
nice idea, good setup.
 12/16/2008 01:13:53 PM
would have liked a tighter crop...the light from the back is so very strong...
 12/16/2008 12:48:25 PM
Nice suit.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/16/2008 03:05:33 AM
It's a great photo - it won't be everybody's cup of tea for this challenge, but technically I think it is excellent.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2008 11:56:03 AM
someone had fun!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/15/2008 11:03:57 AM
Wow, creepy! I'm really curious as to who has a costume like this at their disposal.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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