"Explosive Siren" was the first image in a series of dark art concepts I conjured up for the collection of Crypt Studios promo shoots I've been working on within the past year. I wanted something very bold, stark, and bombastic that encompassed the criteria setup by the Crypt fellas (heavy music and rock & roll women with a dark edge).

My thought process started with the overall shape of the image and worked its way into the details. It had to EXPLODE. It also had to be sexy AND deliver a heavy metal message. The image might not make logistical sense but I think it elicits the right emotions:

Now to how I pulled this one off. I chose model Siren for this shot. She lives and breathes heavy metal. She's also a professional model who happens to be gorgeous. Siren brings great energy to any shoot and GETS IT. Just give her the basic idea and she runs wild with it. I just push the button.

The talented Doll Hart of Rubenesque Latex designed the outfit. I wanted it to have neutral colors and have a metal/gothic look to it. Grays and blacks look mean and would allow the screaming red of the blood to do the talking. Any color in the wardrobe would only compete and distract from the bold blood. Doll pulled through with a latex outfit that exceeded all expectations. Christie Rossetti King was on makeup duty and as always did a fantastic job. She's cool under pressure and as professional as it gets.

I used a six-light setup; main, fill, gelled red backlights, and background illumination on 12' white seamless. An array of softboxes, octaboxes, beauty dishes and grids were employed as well. It was all captured with a 36 megapixel Nikon D800 using a Nikkor 24-70 f2.8 lens for the model and a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 for the red stuff. Everything is a straitforward in-camera shot except the blood. For that portion, I setup an 18" sculpting dummy in the same exact pose as our final model pic. I then employed marksman Christopher Grimes to blast the dummy from behind with a Supersoaker filled with "blood". The resulting explosions were then composited behind Siren to give the final result. I could have used high-speed strobes (Profoto, Einsteins, or speedlights) to freeze the blood but I wanted a little blur to give it some motion.

I could go on for hours explaining the Photoshop techniques, lighting scenarios, camera settings, the posing apparatus, blood recipes, latex lubing methods, and endless pre production details but I'll just let the final image speak for itself. Horns up folks.

Here's a link to some side shots and behind-the-scenes images from the various Crypt shoots: Crypt Studios Promo Shots

Crypt Studios: www.cryptstudios.com

Siren on Facebook: Siren

Please visit my website: www.gperryimages.com

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All Images Copyright © The Photography of Glenn Perry