Smoke, gels, and a cowboy to style themed portraits

Forest Smoke Bomb

Smoke is awesome! It was fun experimenting with different colors both inside and outside. With each smoke bomb you have about a minute to get the smoke trails and then a following minute to get the lingering color that mixes everywhere. The sun flares are also a cool effect shooting through the smoke. It’s really fun in post editing to manipulate the smoke color.

Cowboy

I love the interesting shapes that silhouettes create. I had our model dressed up as a cowboy walk down this rugged path and shot right into the sun. I had my settings at f/22 in order to get the whole landscape in focus. I added a bit more contrast and lowered the highlights in post.

Speed light with blue and red gels

I love the concert vibe that comes with gels! I set up two speed lights with a blue and red gel over the top of the light. I had a 1/200 shutter speed with f/8 aperture at ISO 200 in order to capture these silhouette images. Check out http://www.channingrosedesign.com/special-effects-photography/ to see some more awesome shots with using gels on your speed light to create cool effects!