Devil's Dream

"Devil's Dream"

This knife belongs to a friend of mine. It was hand made in Africa and carries a very high price tag. The point on the top has a concave surface while the hilt has a convex surface. This makes it necessary to light each of these areas with larger light sources located very near the knife. The fire was recorded as part of the 1/8 th second exposure. There is a large diffusion panel directly over and to the front of the knife. There are two gelled strobes firing at the panel near the front. A blue one just to the right of center to provide blue color to the hilt from center to right and an

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amber one to the left of center to provide color to the left side of the hilt. A lot of time was spent positioning these lights as any change to the hilt area affected the point on top. A diffusion panel to the left provided the main illumination to the handle and blade while a strobe head with barndoors to the right provided the highlight on the lower right side of the blade. A common question is how the diffusion panel overhead with the two geled strobes firing through it would be seen as a reflection in the hilt and the top point. The answer is in the fact that the knife is tilted back 10 to 15 degrees combined with a lower camera angle and the placement of the panel which was out in front of the knife.