Muzzle flash lit portrait

Well it didn't really light his face but that was the look I was going for. No photoshop trickery here, this is really what the muzzle flash of a 45 sig sauer looks like at f4 iso 3200. Unfourtunatly it was no where near bright enough to really light his face so we added a bare 430exii low camera left at 1/128 power. I did some dodging and burning to try and change the apparent direction of the light source and then did a split tone to give the highlights a slight orange cast and the shadows a slight blue one.

CC welcomed and appreciated.

***Guns are very dangerous and should be used with extreme caution. Do not use them for any purpose unless you know what you are doing and are able to take all necessary safety precautions.***

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/66379335@N08/7​551006202/

That's pretty cool, Dustin.

Awesome, I wanna try now!!

Awesome shot. I might have tried to move the flash up a bit; as it stands, the shadows are a bit off of what the muzzle height would have you believe. I also would probably have had the flash in a position to sidelight a bit more, but I think I would have been wrong on that one, lol.

Good thinking on the split toning, too!

I agree the flash position was a bit off for the direction I took it. In hindsight, I would of also put a cool separation light behind him camera right and also not brought in so much ambient. Maybe 15 sec or even a stop lower. I dropped it way down during my conversion but you can still see some ambient pollution on his shirt. Thanks for the comments...

The "avg person" would never know you used a flash. Very nice technique! Good imagination. I like the colors.

Photos and sigs go great together. Awesome idea.

wow, i had no idea a gun could do that. looks like it could start a fire.

I'd like to see it from the other side of the pistol so you can really see the hot gas coming out of the breech. Cool shot! I agree a little back light on him for separation would help, as would a reddish gel on the flash.

great shot. I hope he didn't hit anything lol

Great idea and neat shot. Maybe try gelling your flash to the same temp as the muzzle flash to get a more realistic reflection in the subject's face.

And yes, you can start a fire with muzzle flash as many people have found out shooting revolvers through a jacket pocket!

nes_matt wrote in post #14704665
I'd like to see it from the other side of the pistol so you can really see the hot gas coming out of the breech.

Great idea!

I'm going to be the salmon here and say that I don't like the shot. Mainly because you have someone discharging a weapon without knowing exactly what is at the other end. Very poor choice of weapon safety. On it's technical merit, the shot is ok. I would like to see the subjects face back-lit while shooting. I think that would be a pretty cool thing to see and actually might try it myself. BTW, I kept thinking his shirt said, "Grand Lakes University."

OK... I've been around firearms my whole life. This could be in the middle of nowhere or the gun could have been aimed right at a firing range. I don't think the photographer would be stupid and not take safety into consideration. I don't see the need to bust his balls about safety on a cool image. What I find ironic is you go off about safety and then add that you are going to TRY IT??! Help me out here... You say 1. I don't like the image 2. you were unsafe 3. I'M GOING TO TRY IT.

asysin2leads wrote in post #14714775
I'm going to be the salmon here and say that I don't like the shot. Mainly because you have someone discharging a weapon without knowing exactly what is at the other end. Very poor choice of weapon safety.

I second this. I can't get past this aspect to even begin to appreciate or hate the shot. There's nothing wrong with staging weapon shots, just please respect what they are. They're not a stage props.

It could be the safest environment possible that you have set up. I don't know. But the final product does not convey that, and I think that is a shame regardless. Would have liked a 45 degree shot of him looking where he's shooting and holding on with both hands with the same effect.