Joe McNally often mentions light that is, in his words, directional but soft. I tried recreating this by using a gridded flash inside a shoot-through umbrella from camera left. To add some character to the image i used a blue-gelled flash from behind to create separation from the background, lighting my edges as well emphasizing the cigarette smoke. The 1/2 light is the on camera flash on the lowest possible setting (1/32 power) triggering the two lights, but also adding minimal fill. There is also a small reflector on camera right to augment that side of the face a bit.
I had a dilemma whether to submit the color or the B&W version. The blue smoke is quite spectacular, but the B&W looks more complete. You'll see them all in the outtakes.
The crop is 3:4, in line with the avatar regulations (120x90), but when re-sized, it's not that useful as an avatar. :-(
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Thank you all on your comments and votes. Especially on the comments.
My expectations after submission was Top10, and i was secretly hoping for HM+. I'm really glad about the result. The processing was, more or less, advanced editing. Nothing was added, but imperfections were thoroughly corrected (e.g. the black background was not so black out of the camera, exposure was corrected on the camera right part of me, sharpness and clarity selectively enhanced...)
I will post link to the outtakes in the outtakes thread.
ETA: The inspiration for the shot came from this video (Joe McNally for Adorama TV - Deconstructing a photo series)
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