The Story Behind the Photo
January 2026: The Color Red
Scott Southern
“Tropical Pull”
I had decided to do a self-portrait. My inspiration for this photo was two-fold. First, I am always amazed at Molly S. Williams self-portrait photos that she does. They are amazing!!! Second, I was in a tropical mood just having finished a great fiction novel – Don Hula Island Spy in The Curse Of The Atomic Tiki! (See image below.)
My planning for this photo was quick. How can I get a red self portrait? Wear a tropical shirt. Use a single flash with a red filter to turn the portrait red. The flash was used on a separate tripod off to the right of the camera. I found the best photo was right at sunset. You can see that in the upper left corner. These photos were taken in my backyard. When you go to tropical art, you usually see a tropical drink and that is where the light painting idea came from. I did a separate light painting photo of the tropical drink. These photos were both photographed the same evening.
Photo Tools & Settings
Self Portrait: 50mm Lens / f/8 / ISO 100 / Time: 30 Seconds
Light Painting: 50mm Lens / f/11 / ISO 100 / Time: 40 Seconds
I used light painting photo tools to create the tropical drink. The tools can be seen in the photo below
My post processing was done in Photoshop. I copied & pasted the light paint into the self-portrait photo. This was a fun photo-shoot evening!
