I have been up in Alaska for the past month enjoying the holidays and the cold...though ironically it's warmer here today than in parts of Florida. Go figure. We found an ice cavern to do some shooting in and decided to try using a flare to see what we could get. My wife volunteered to model for us and we had a great time lighting up the entrance.
The color separation that was created naturally was really cool to see. We found that based on where you held the flare in relation to the ice (and small changes made a big difference) that you could really control the look. I love the specular highlights we were getting in random spots. I also converted a self-portrait to b/w to see how it would look when you lose the color. It gave me a harry potter wand look in some ways (or highlander or family vacation based on your movie history).
The hardest part of the shots was determining how much red to desaturate out of the face. The flare was quite overpowering with a strong red that looked quite wrong. I fiddled with it quite a bit to keep it real, but not overpowering. If you ever get the chance, road flares can give you an awesome looking shot!
Good work, Peter!
Thanks! It was a fun shoot