Holy Smoke Firefighter

PhotoByLeal

I had the pleasure to work with Robert C. that is retiring from The Houston Fire Department @ Fire Station 68 the other day!
I would like to share with DGrin.....



Cropped version



thanks....

coldclimb

His truck's on fire!

Nicely done though. I'm a firefighter and I often puzzle over how I would do a portrait that represents the job and shows the personalities involved.

tropico

Nice!
It looks like a scene from a Hollywood movie!

Surfdog

Great image. I really like the strong contrast. I think it makes it a powerful image.

bendruckerphoto

I find myself always comparing firefighter portraits to the ones Joe McNally has done, which is probably rather unfair. Contrast always works well with firefighter portraits. But I feel like there may be a little too much Photoshop contrast here, rather than lighting contrast. The light is very much straight-on (almost looks like a ring light was used). I would prefer to see more directional lighting rather than see a ton of contrast produced in Photoshop. It also seems like there's a little too much going on here. I realize you're trying to tell a story, but the piece of a fire extinguisher plus his uniform and the texture of the truck would do it. Rather than cropping the image horizontally, I'd like to see what a portrait crop would look like. I feel like it would focus the viewer's eye more on the firefighter's face, which is the end goal.

Don't think I dislike the image though. The props are very well laid out and the face is very expressive. You're not going to get the timeless look that a simpler background and moody lighting offer, but you've certainly made a very dynamic portrait here.

jeffm2009

Wow, very interesting shot. I do like the contrast, actually, even though as Ben said it looks like it might be too much. I don't think it's too much if this is the look you were going for. Kind of looks like a movie poster, actually.

PhotoByLeal

thanks everyone!

Ben, your right...the client wanted to see that shot it PS, so I just move a few levels and POW! That's what I got, I have not had time to work on the images, but this weekend I will.... I HOPE!
It was not a ring light, a soft box off to the right of me and to the left of him! thank you

thanks.....