Blue Barrel: a Y2K fisheye AI photoshoot
Blue Barrel is a solo magazine-cover set from the rap-and-skate era, shot through a 15 mm fisheye from floor level. Hands and boots near the lens swell, the royal-blue backdrop curves around the figure, and the face stays near the center where the bend is gentle.
Art direction: Alex But
- Camera
- 35 mm film SLR
- Lens
- 15 mm fisheye
- Aperture
- f/11
- Shutter
- 1/250 s
- Film
- ISO 100 slide
- Light
- Bare strobe
Best for
Six frames from this shoot
Five frames and one detail, made by haloshot from three phone photos of one person.
Frame 1 · Blue Barrel 
Frame 2 · Blue Barrel 
Frame 3 · Blue Barrel 
Frame 4 · Blue Barrel 
Frame 5 · Blue Barrel 
Detail · Blue Barrel
About the fisheye lens look
One bare strobe with a small reflector sits right above and beside the lens, so the light is hard and frontal: short shadows under the chin and hat brim, bright glints on silver rings. A second head floods the paper to an even blue. The 35 mm film SLR works 0.5 to 1.5 meters away at f/11 and 1/250 s, loaded with ISO 100 slide film for dense blacks and punchy color.
Clothes, place and when to pick it
Women and men are styled apart by haloshot here: women get the orange-and-white hockey-style jersey cinched with a white web belt, baggy jeans, thick-soled boots and silver hoops, while men wear it loose over a long waffle thermal with nubuck boots. Stacked rings and a white bucket hat run through both. Shot on studio paper, it fits album art with your face on the cover.
How it works
Add three photos of yourself: face, half turn and full length. haloshot renders a free five-frame preview of Blue Barrel with your face. Pick the frames you like and keep them in 4:5 HD.
How to use a fisheye for a floor-level cover shot
A full-frame fisheye close to the subject enlarges whatever is nearest the lens and bends every straight line that misses the center of the frame.
- Hang royal-blue paper with a floor sweep and flood it with one strobe for even, saturated color on slide film.
- Put a bare strobe with a small reflector right above the 15 mm fisheye; meter f/11 at 1/250 s on ISO 100 slide.
- Shoot from the floor at 0.5 to 1.5 m, with boots or ringed hands pushed toward the glass and the face central.
- Bracket flash power a third of a stop each way, since slide film forgives little.
The fisheye sees 180 degrees diagonally, so check corners for stands and feet.
Set notes by Alex But, art director · Updated
More Y2K shoots
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Shoot Blue Barrel with your face
Three photos in, five free preview frames out. Keep the best ones in HD.