Great picture!! How did you manage to keep still and clear the smoker?
Thanks Painter (and all others for their comments), this is actually a self portrait. I took the picture on my front porch at night. There was a piece of black velvet tacked to the wall behind me. Black velvet should be in every photographer's arsenal of things to have laying around.
Basically, it was so dark outside that the only light source was the match. I kept still by leaning against the wall and making repeated attempts. I moved only my right arm while staring at the camera. I didn't actually light the cigarette on most attempts. I tried only to get the match close enough to the end of the cigarette to cover up the unlit end of it. The little hook at the top of the flame streak was me yanking the match away as fast as I could to extinguish the light source. Then I walked over to the camera to end the exposure. There were a lot of failed attempts. It was tricky at first bring the match to the end of the cigarette without looking at it. Eventually, I got a few good ones.
I tried it about 75 times. This was the best. Take care, and thanks again.
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