Station Fire, Vol I (R)

Nikolai

As I mentioned earlier, there is an ongoing initiative to commemorate the victims and the heroes of the infamous LA Station Fire. A small group of photographers, models and MUAs are going to hold a public exhibit with the silent auction benefiting the survivors. You can read the details here:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145641128395&ref=mf (and BTW, you're all welcome to play or at least to attend)

As the time of the event was approaching fast (the Exhibit/Auction is gonna be held Friday, Oct 16th, starting 8pm), I finally decided to get off the couch and get some shooting done. Needless to say, it also was an excellent opportunity to try out my new toy (7D).

I already posted a couple of SOOC images, now it's time for some processed ones.

While there is absolutely no nudity (my model was dressed all the time) or the actual carnage (nobody was hurt) depicted here, the efforts were made to pretend there was some, hence I'm posting in this "protected" section.

Anyway, without any further ado, here's what I come up with as a result of the yesterday shoot with Sarah. I hope a few of these will end up on the gallery walls for the auction:-)


#1: Memory Walk



#2: Pilgrim



#3: Pieta



#4: There shall be orchards again



#5: Praying for Life



#6: Hope



#7: Ground Zero



#8: Charred



#9: Broken Doll



#10: Sleeping Beauty



Let me know your thoughts!

This post was made with the assistance of Star*Explorer

sweet caroline

1, 3, 5, 6, 7. These I like very much. I'm sorry I don't have detailed comments for now.

Caroline

Nikolai

sweet caroline wrote:

1, 3, 5, 6, 7. These I like very much. I'm sorry I don't have detailed comments for now.

Caroline

I take what I can. Thanks much!

nikmolson

i really like the "ground zero" shot, great angle and just a really good shot

L40

I like # 1 and #7.

Nikolai

nikmolson wrote:

i really like the "ground zero" shot, great angle and just a really good shot

Thank you! It is one of my personal favorites!

Nikolai

L40 wrote:

I like # 1 and #7.

Thank you, appreciate your stopping by!

Flyinggina

Very nice work Nikolai. You used your work with models over the past year to advantage here for something different and moving. I'm sure that some of these will end up on the wall. And they will sell!! I particularly like Pieta, Hope and Ground Zero. The ones of the nudes in the ashes are more disturbing but quite stunning.

Virginia

Nikolai

Flyinggina wrote:

Very nice work Nikolai. You used your work with models over the past year to advantage here for something different and moving. I'm sure that some of these will end up on the wall. And they will sell!! I particularly like Pieta, Hope and Ground Zero. The ones of the nudes in the ashes are more disturbing but quite stunning.
Virginia

Thank you! It looks like we think alike! The implied nudes (she was dressed, actually) are disturbing, but that was the intent. I'm still contemplating if I want to put them onto display or not.
Pieta, Hope and Ground Zero are definitely going to print lab.
And I'm waiting for the next shoot on Wednesday to decide if I can get another variety...

narancs

#7 my jaw dropped when I saw it. Awesome picture.

the last two gave me goosebumbs as well..

adbsgicom

1&6 are my favorite images; 7-10 are haunting, with 7 being the least-so.
They are well conceived and executed. I like the sequence of 4-6 a lot.

Nikolai

narancs wrote:

#7 my jaw dropped when I saw it. Awesome picture.

the last two gave me goosebumbs as well..

Thank you Peter! Can you believe it's all camera work + ACR, no PS? :-)

Nikolai

adbsgicom wrote:

1&6 are my favorite images; 7-10 are haunting, with 7 being the least-so.
They are well conceived and executed. I like the sequence of 4-6 a lot.

Thank you Andrew!
I hope I will be able to come with something better (or at least different) in a day or so...

rsquared

Ground Zero is stunningly beautiful, and Charred was shocking...but in an eye-opening way. Amazing shots!

Nikolai

rsquared wrote:

Ground Zero is stunningly beautiful, and Charred was shocking...but in an eye-opening way. Amazing shots!

Thanks Rob!

Nikolai

PLease also be aware of this:
http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=146021

angevin1

Nik,
What wonderful, wonderful stark contrasts with the red garments and the desolation of the scene.

I had seen your snippets of this shoot before...
But taken as a whole, I think they work well as a series.

Great work~great way to participate~

Nikolai

angevin1 wrote:

Nik,
What wonderful, wonderful stark contrasts with the red garments and the desolation of the scene.

I had seen your snippets of this shoot before...
But taken as a whole, I think they work well as a series.

Great work~great way to participate~

Thanks, Tom, much appreciated!

FatFrogFotography

Amazing colours and juxtaposition! Very punchy images all round.

#7 is my favourite by a long shot though.

8, 9, 10 are pretty confronting. Last summer Australia South-East experienced some of the most devastating fires ever recorded in the world, with massive loss of life. So these images hit pretty close to home.

An excellent concept and beautiful execution. Well done!

Nikolai

FatFrogFotography wrote:

Amazing colours and juxtaposition! Very punchy images all round.

#7 is my favourite by a long shot though.

8, 9, 10 are pretty confronting. Last summer Australia South-East experienced some of the most devastating fires ever recorded in the world, with massive loss of life. So these images hit pretty close to home.

An excellent concept and beautiful execution. Well done!

Thank you Christian!
Yeah, the wild wires are things you really don't want to mess with...
We'll see how these do on the show...

divamum

Darth Nikolai uses his powers for good....



A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Love Ground Zero, Pieta and Hope.

And I hope that the auction raises the monies it's trying for!

lizzard_nyc

Nikolai,
Charred is disturbing. The pose, the angle, the fact that you can't hardly see her face, even the title.


I wish you luck--Hope one gets picked--Hope it's "Charred" and that you raise lots of money for this cause.

Nikolai

divamum wrote:

Darth Nikolai uses his powers for good....



A.W.E.S.O.M.E. Love Ground Zero, Pieta and Hope.

And I hope that the auction raises the monies it's trying for!

Thanks Diva!
Those exactly three were ordered, printed 20x30 on a stretched canvas and now on the way to the gallery.

Nikolai

lizzard_nyc wrote:

Nikolai,
Charred is disturbing. The pose, the angle, the fact that you can't hardly see her face, even the title.


I wish you luck--Hope one gets picked--Hope it's "Charred" and that you raise lots of money for this cause.

Thanks!
That was an intention.
However when I spoke with the event organizers they mentioned that the "hope/revival" is a general theme of the expo, so I had to concentrate on a more positive/neutral images. I still may get Charred printed, since it was one of my very first ideas for this project and I think it came out OK.

txtelevision

These are breathtakingly good! Wow, thanks for sharing.

Nikolai

txtelevision wrote:

These are breathtakingly good! Wow, thanks for sharing.

Thank you, appreciate it!

chrisdg

Wow, compelling stuff Nik! Good work. I think the 3 that were ordered are also my favorites by far.

Nikolai

"Ground Zero" sold on the auction last night!

adbsgicom

Congratulations!!! You must be feeling pretty good.

Agnieszka

Ohhhhhh!!! They're all great. But #7 does it for me lust

Nikolai

adbsgicom wrote:

Congratulations!!! You must be feeling pretty good.

Thanks Andrew! I'd have felt better if all 6 pieces were sold, but that was not in the starts. At least mine was most the most expensive item purchased. :-)