RGB Gasmask Triptych

[Manfred M]

My teenage daughter wanted a new image for her Facebook profile that was built around a gasmask she had picked up. She wanted a bit of a spooky look, so we tried a number of different shots. As we were shooting in a temporary setup that we were getting kicked out of (by "she who must be obeyed"), there was a real rush to get done.

I finally gelled a single light and reflector and fired it slightly off centre and took a number of shots at different head positions.

When I finished, one got picked. I noticed I had a nice RGB combination, so put this together quite quickly.




The green one made it to Facebook. She seems to be a fan of the "Radioactive Green" look.

The gasmask is a Russian GP-5 model and the hood is made of light gray rubber, so it works well when we hit it with coloured light.

[Shadowman]

Nice, I like the blue one with the visible facial features.

[FrankMi]

Oh Manfred! You and your daughter are having WAY too much fun!

[GBO25]

Definitely different. The type of modern art interpretation I'd expect to find in the Tate Modern or Guggenheim galleries.

[AndrewMcD]

I love it! I think you've accomplished that "bit of a spooky look" in a very pleasing manner.

[Saorsa]

Cool, now, try a merge with an HDR program. The slight differences in position and lighting might make for an interesting effect.

[FootLoose]

That's cool, Manfred. What I do like about it, is that when I explore it in lytebox I see there is an eye in each of the masks - and it is kind of creepy.

[Rita]

An interesting, and creepy, concept. I think it worked well.

[Ndukes]

Super image and great fun.

[marlunn]

very cool shot - I can see why your daughter likes it, why do i think of Dr Who when i see it ?

[IzzieK]

Mark...we thought alike there! I also thought of Dr. Who...I like the red one though the blue is more attractive, just didn't like the red tint on the RHS. Blue is the most creepy...red tint can be warped into blood for Halloween. I think your daughter is beginning to think like you -- she like the neat green shot...

[HaseebM]

Nicely done, like the Green one too.

[bnnrcn]

I like the green one

[mknittle]

Me too for the green one.

[Manfred M]

Mark...we thought alike there! I also thought of Dr. Who...I like the red one though the blue is more attractive, just didn't like the red tint on the RHS. Blue is the most creepy...red tint can be warped into blood for Halloween. I think your daughter is beginning to think like you -- she like the neat green shot...

Yes, I remember that Dr Who episode as well. A bit creepy, as I recall.

I don't love the reflections on the blue either, but all the shots other than the ones with the green were test shots. I didn't think I was going to use them for anything other than judging the look I was getting. We felt green was likely the way to go, but as I had a set of gels out, popping them into the light took no time at all, so we just wanted to see how they turned out.

My daughter's chin was not tucked down as tightly on the blue gel shot as on the other two shots in the image and we picked up some of the ambient reflections in the room on the metal parts of the mask and filter. I shot in our living room, which has bright red walls, so that is where the red colour cast in the reflections comes from.

[Loose Canon]

Manfred I find this image deeply disturbing.

Must be why I love it!

Very cool!

[Manfred M]

Manfred I find this image deeply disturbing.

Must be why I love it!

Very cool!

Excellent! That was the plan.

It's always great when things actually work out as planned (sort of). I ended up lighting it totally differently than how I had started out.