2024 SmokeNINJA Portrait Contest

Vivid Flow Studio has been lucky to receive an invitation from Nick at PMI Gear to take part in their Global Portrait Contest 2024.

After brainstorming some ideas, we landed on one that felt unique.

Since the name of the competition was "The SmokeNINJA Portrait Competition," the choice was obvious, right?

It had to be someone in a Ninja costume!

So we started looking for a ninja.

After extensive research, reaching out to some friends and many cosplay groups and forums, we couldn't find anyone with a ninja costume. I must admit, I was a bit shocked. I thought this part would be easy.

Anyway, back to the drawing board, and for some strange reason, it was even harder to come up with another unique idea for a creative portrait .

With time becoming our enemy. I began to feel nervous, as I did not want to let Nick down.

With my back against the ropes I decided to go with the flow and follow my instincts that led me down my favourite creative path. Dark and moody. And just like that. We hit the jackpot!

We were back on track.

All we needed was a really good makeup artist and a tough, brave model.

The search has begun.

Luckily, we found a local MUA - Alicja Broda (follow her on Instagram @alicjabroda_mua ) and she even knew a perfect model - Olivia Jakobczak (follow her on Instagram @_oliwiajakobczak ).

We quickly managed to figure out the best day that worked for all parties, and we were all set to shoot the following week.

Well, almost!

We needed one more thing. A prop. The hat.

A quick online search and we found one. You know, on that "tiny" e-commerce platform everybody buys from :) With a delivery date of the day before the scheduled photoshoot.

Not ideal but hey, I was confident.

And oh boy...

It did arrive as scheduled but was slightly damaged, with a significant dent in the front. With time running out, there was no time to order a new one.

So we decided that models would wear it back to front, in the hope no one would notice :)

Photoshoot day.

The next day, we went over to Alicja's (MUA) saloon to see the master in action.

And she delivered, big time!!!

The next step, transporting Olivia (the model) to our studio with the least number of heart attacks caused to random bypassers.

Mission accomplished!

As far as we know, no one suffered. Except for the poor model parading with this makeup through the city.

Let me tell you, she is a tough cookie!

Not only that. She took it like it was nothing 4 hours of blasting smoke at her.

Yeap, you read it right. Four hours!!!

My paranoia that everything had to be perfect took over, and poor Olivia had to suffer for that long. Take that, all those who think modelling is easy! :)

In the end, all turned out great.

The images we created together were nice, and we had a good time, ok maybe except for poor Olivia :)

Also, it goes without saying that I'm so happy that our original ideas for the photos didn't pan out.

The image we created that day was awarded the Most Creative Portrait Award!

We are also humbled by the judges' comments.

"This photo is a brilliant display of creativity. The use of smoke combined with the skull's imagery creates an intriguing and captivating vibe. The black background perfectly complements the composition, drawing attention to the intricate details. The smoke delicately resting on the hat adds a touch of sophistication. Overall, a masterful piece that showcases both technical skill and artistic vision." — ?Simone

Ferretti "Controlling smoke in frame can be really challenging because it has a mind of its own and is affected by movement, ambient wind and even your own breath, so to see a creative image in which the smoke is perfectly occluding the subject’s eyes in extremely satisfying and technically impressive. The lighting of the white smoke lends itself perfectly to the monochromatic nature of the image and it evokes the feeling of a Neo-noir painting, additionally the subtle lighting on the subject, hat and and suit jacket are all very well done and this image feels very balanced in it’s execution. Amazing work overall!" — Jon Simo

Special Thanks!

Huge thanks to PMI Gear and Nick.

Once again, a special thanks to Alicja and Oliva for finding time to do it on such short notice. Without you, it wouldn't be possible.

I would also like to thank, my family, my grandmother, friends and... what?... ohh these are not Oscars?! Damm ... :)

On a serious note, there is one person I would like to thank, none of this would be possible without her. My wife, Alicja (yes, another Alicja, not to confuse with Alicja the MUA.) aka The Boss. She bravely accepts all my craziness. Ok, almost all :)