I really did not think this would do well at all. It's a bit "out there" for DPC. And Garry was curious as to how this was done, so here it is:
I used one strobe with a 7" reflector and a 10 grid, camera left, about 45 degrees behind the bowl, which was set on a board between two chairs. It was daylight, and there are windows on either side of the bowl, so I had to use some black board on either side to eliminate the reflections.
I attached the butterfly to the rose, and placed a cone of incense behind them, lit it, then covered the bowl opening with Saran Wrap to make the smoke accumulate. Apparently, the cone doesn't produce that much smoke, so I had to go to a stick...
Then it was just a matter of taking the plastic off the top and shooting a bunch of images until I got a good smoke shape. This took a while because each time, it took about 10 minutes to get enough smoke to build up in the bowl. The smoke was naturally drawn towards the strobe fan.
Editing was mostly applying filters - 3 rounds of detail extractor, ink, Monday morning, and Glamour Glow. I also cloned out a tiny bit of the incense stick behind the rose, and smudged out the wire holding up the butterfly. It's still there if you look for it. Finally, I reduced the glare on the bowl, and saved for web.
I cannot tell if this image is slightly tilted. I struggled with straightening it, and according to the crop tool, the top of the bowl is horizontal, but I look at the image and it still looks slightly tilted...
[Mar. 10th, 2013 02:23:48 PM]
Oliver, yes, intentionally. I anticipated there'd be all sorts of gorgeous, sensuous, lovely smoke. I was toying with the idea of "hard" or "violent" smoke, the result of, or necessary for, "creation".
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OK, don't get the title and I'm glad of that... Otherwise it's a very interesting concept, but the rose and butterfly seem odd in there. If the bowl were empty it might have been better... The roughed coverlet on the table is a nice touch for added texture. Should be faring well I bet. Easy top 10 and probably will take red or yellow.
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