Green Hum: a vending machine AI photoshoot
Green Hum is late-1990s street nostalgia shot at overcast dusk beside a row of lit drink vending machines and a small kiosk. Their fluorescent tubes tint the near side of the person soft green on daylight film, while the far side stays a cool gray-blue.
Art direction: Alex But
- Camera
- 35 mm compact
- Lens
- 40 mm
- Aperture
- f/2.8
- Shutter
- 1/30 s
- Film
- ISO 400 color
- Time
- Overcast dusk
Best for
Six frames from this shoot
Five frames and one detail, made by haloshot from three phone photos of one person.
Frame 1 · Green Hum 
Frame 2 · Green Hum 
Frame 3 · Green Hum 
Frame 4 · Green Hum 
Frame 5 · Green Hum 
Detail · Green Hum
About the fluorescent cast look
Two sources do all the work: flat gray sky from above and cool-white tubes spilling sideways from the machines at close range. Daylight-balanced ISO 400 color negative records that tube light as green-cyan, so the cast comes straight from the film. A 35 mm compact with a 40 mm lens at f/2.8 and 1/30 s keeps the person sharp and the street gently soft, while a passing cyclist smears.
Clothes, place and when to pick it
Pick woman or man and haloshot changes the layers: women wear an oversized olive, navy and cream plaid shirt open over a faded floral long-sleeve, men a brushed plaid overshirt over a gray printed tee. Baggy jeans, a charcoal beanie, a black crossbody bag and white sneakers stay the same. A narrow shopping street suits a nostalgic post or album art with your face.
How it works
Add three photos of yourself: face, half turn and full length. haloshot renders a free five-frame preview of Green Hum with your face. Pick the frames you like and keep them in 4:5 HD.
How to photograph the green fluorescent cast on film
Daylight-balanced color film records cool-white fluorescent tubes as green-cyan, so a subject close to lit vending machines at dusk picks up that tint on the near side.
- Find a quiet shopping street with lit vending machines or a kiosk, and arrive at overcast dusk.
- Load ISO 400 daylight color negative into a 35 mm compact and set its 40 mm lens to f/2.8, 1/30 s.
- Stand the subject within a meter of the machines so tube light falls sideways on the near cheek.
- Frame verticals at eye level from 2 to 3 m, and ask the lab not to correct the green out.
Keep the subject on the sidewalk, clear of passing cars and bikes.
Set notes by Alex But, art director · Updated
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Shoot Green Hum with your face
Three photos in, five free preview frames out. Keep the best ones in HD.