Yeah - I knew it was you

by the way, great to have you back. you've been missed.

so, give up the "shop talk" on how you created this.

Hehe, and the last button of his vest (or whatever that thing is called) is undone! That's so charming :)

shows skills King well done . Or is that Elvis. He reminds me of the great L.B. Can't be .

thelmablizzard you have me laughing.

Yeah! Good call to feature this one.

I love this, would really like to hear some of the details of this. Excellent photo!

Love it! Shared it on Facebook - we collect 8s :)

great shot! congrats

This is excellent in so many ways!
Nice to have you back, King! :)

Thanks for all the high praise, folks.

@JeffBiset, who wrote, "very nice picture except that it's not really a blur effect." Yes, it is. Why do you think not?

@George (notice the rim light?) and others who asked me to describe how this was shot:

Except for the blur, this is a simple 4x5 studio portrait shot as part of an add for Magnavox.

We wanted only the baton hand to be in motion and to describe a simple figure 8. The trick was to confine the spotlight to that area. After a bit of practice with the model and an assistant using a small follow spot behind and to one side of the model, I built a mask out of 32"x40" cards to constrain the spotlight to the model's hand.

The spotlight was covered with a blue gel to bring the color temperature closer to that of the flash, and the exposure balance between the spot and the flash was adjusted to get what you see.

Then, after a few practice Polaroids, we put this on film. This is an un-retouched, un-Photoshoped scan of the original film.

Thanks for asking.

Now, that's a fantastic job there, King. I wonder how many would go through all that trouble today to get a shot like this. How long ago was this? Is it Ektar, Portra, or transparency?

the mask was put over the spotlight? i don't understand how confining the spotlight to that area would achieve the blur.

i did notice the rim light, which by the way worked out very well for me recently. thanks for your input. *much* appreciated :)

@MaximusM3...Thanks. This was shot on Ektachrome daylight transparency sheet film around 1985.

@George...The large mask (or flag) was placed between the spotlight and the model. It had a cutout that allowed the spotlight to shine on the model's hand (as my assistant followed the hand with the spotlight), but not to spill onto the rest of the model or into the lens.

I'm glad your shots worked out well as I was sure they would.

in that case, did the model stand very still while you exposed for a second or two? i don't imagine so, but i'm still not *getting* how the blur is achieved while the model is so tack sharp.

@George,

Once the model is in position, the camera is focused and the film loaded, every light in the studio is turned off except for the little spotlight. On opening the shutter, the flash fires, lighting the model. After that, only the hand is (fully) illuminated for as long as it takes to complete the figure 8. The shutter is closed. The mask/template/flag described earlier, keeps extra light from falling on the model's body while the hand is executing the figure 8.

Excellent work! Congratulations once again King - well deserved.

King, thank you for the info on lighting!

Hi King!!!
Congratulations for this featured! Your work are sincerily fabuluos!

i'm very happy since Ws has came back!

@Jem...thanks so much.
@ursula...you're very welcome--now how do you do that thing you do?

@Perseida,

Yes, it's great to have WS back. Do you still live in...was it Spain?

Cheers,

King

Granada, I Live in Granada :) Don't you remember?...I'm still waiting your visit ... Shared it on my Facebook. Nicely shot Mr King!

@Perseida...I've been wanting to take my wife to Spain since my only visit to Madrid and Pamplona some years ago. As I work for American Airlines and we fly to Madrid (and Barcelona), a trip to Granada would not be difficult. Will you show show us around?

i saw it more as a motion efffect more than blur. The image of the moving hand even if motionned is quite sharp in fact. Hence my remark.
At the end this is a very strong and mastered picture.

Definitely you are the master not only of blur but also of lighting. I am still openmouth with this brilliant idea.

Sure King!

Well this sort of makes me speechless
A classical gem

Now I get it.

@Perseida...thank you. I don't think we can visit before 2012, but stand by!

@ Babylon and Willem de VL...thanks very much!

@JeffBiset...I would say that the motion in the hand is well defined, not sharp. Thanks for your kind words.