How to have fun with two strobes, a camera and a Harley

My friend Husam got himself a Harley, I got myself a camera, a couple of strobes and a light diffuser that seems to have been a shower cap in a previous life.

I’ve been fiddling around with a hybrid photography/graphic style that’s often referred to as hyper-realism. The style is identifiable by its clean, contrasty look, sharp details, vivid colors and usually large depth of field.

Is it a good thing? Well, for what it’s worth, let’s deploy the age old dictum (or escape door mechanism) that art is subjective. And while we’re at it, let’s take a look at a before and after photo I did (click on photos to view original size):

Before

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After

Obviously, besides the contrast, detail and colors, I’ve composited the sky from another photo I’ve taken (my early attempts had me drawing clouds, which weren’t good at all!).

In other edits, I’ve gone overboard and added more than just a cloudy sky:

Before

After

 

The flames are courtesy of flame brushes from Obsidian Dawn.

For each shot, two off-camera strobes were used. Shooting took place around the Zallaq area in Bahrain on a clear day.

• art
• harley
• hyper-realism
• photography
• photoshop