The Set Up

On this one I wanted to create kind of an angel of doom type of look inspired by films like Constantine. On this one I used 2 lights and a reflector to create the effect seen. 1 behind the model with a red gel, 1 octagonal 76” softbox at 45 on her right then 1 reflector to her direct left. Also I had a Leaf blower underneath the softbox giving the effect of wind. for the levitation effect I had her sit on the very edge of a table giving the effect of levitation. I took the photo on a Sony a7ii with a Helios 58mm Lens. I chose the 58mm because at 58mm it gives the most natural look bithout distorting the image too much.

The Photoshop

The composite job is obviously the biggest part of the work. I used 3 stock photos to create the rest of the image. The Back ground, the wings, and the debris at the bottom. For the backdrop I colored the photo in a cinematic color scheme of teal and orange then comp it with a tilt shift adjustment to give the effect of depth of field.

I had a struggle within myself to either buy a stock image for the wings or create a 3d model and have more freedom… I ended up just going with a good image I found comped some color on top of it then added the fire effect with the built in fire particle system built into photoshop. Each highlight and shadow was added manually to the wings and models body to match the fire effect with curves and Hue/Sat then comped. Debris was added to give the image a little more depth as well as the embers of the burned feathers.

I love adding lens effects like flares and aberrations . It gives a little more life to the photo. On this one I added the slight flares to her hands as well as some foot movement with Directional Blur.

In The End

I believe everything starts for a reason. My reason for creating this image was for the sake of art. I believe creativity is the same a a muscle and in order to have creative visions you must stretch that muscle. This image was created in the heat of a pandemic where the US is struggling. Work has gone down to nearly 0 and we are all at a stand still. There is much we can do to stay creatively alive and that is the reason for this image. I give a Huge Shout out to my good friend Arrow Sherman who is also a fantastic photographer. Check out her work! https://www.facebook.com/arrowshermanphotography