Blog

Gear:

• Canon T5i

• 50mm f/1.8

• Lightroom editing

• Blue Smoke Grenade

Here's a fun one. This snapshot was taken during the very first photographer meet-up in good ol' New Bedford. You know, that cool spot in Southern Mass, not far from the Cape? Yeah, that's the one. Anyway, the meet-up went down in the heart of downtown. This rad portrait was captured in a little side alley, on top of a teensy-weensy rooftop.

So, picture this: we were wandering around downtown, setting off smoke grenades for some epic shots. We were half expecting the NBPD to rain on our parade and tell us to cut it out with the smoke bombs, but guess what? They surprised us by being super chill about it. They even swung by for a quick photo-op. Legends, right?

Now, back to the pic itself. We were hopping around, trying different spots. One of the models in our crew had this genius idea to jump up on a roof and light up a smoke grenade. Yours truly was stationed in front of him, right at the corner of the roof. I managed to stand back just enough to capture his whole vibe and the smoky aura. For this masterpiece, I had my trusty Canon Rebel T5i rocking a 50mm f/1.8 lens. Now, that 50mm on the T5i's crop sensor played some tricks and made it more like an 85mm lens, giving it almost a telephoto feel. That's why it feels so close and personal, my friend.

I clicked away like a maniac, snapping tons of shots. Got some decent stuff, but this one took the cake. When it came to editing, I had a game plan. I wanted certain aspects to really pop. So, I juiced up the contrast on specific spots of the model to make him pop out from the backdrop. And you know that shallow depth of field? Yep, it did its thing, making him stand out even more.

Oh, and let's not forget the blue smoke against those brick walls – that was the money shot. I tinkered with the blue levels to give the smoke a darker, edgier vibe. I had this vision for a gritty, street-style look, so I cranked up the blacks and clarity. And guess what? It made my subject shine brighter than a supernova in the edited version. So, there you have it. One rad shot, a ton of smoke, and a whole lotta creativity.