Smoke and Steam

What a great character portrait and also a self portrait, so maybe doubly hard to get it right without looking through the camera. The lighting is incredibly well done with the soft 3/4 backlighting lighting on the face and a soft fill to the front and the hard backlighting to highlight the smoke and the back of the head. Well done!

The wave like patterns of the smoke are intriguing as they float up into the sky. I first thought it was a slow shutter speed that created this effect but then the flames are crisp and sharp so I guess it must be the height and the wind movement that created this feeling.

This is beautiful image of the Jacobite steam train with the clouds of smoke billowing out of its smokestack. The textures of the soft white smoke contrasts so nicely with hard rocks and yellow and orange foliage of the landscape it travels through. I love everything about this picture.