My band's debut album cover

[Tristin]

Took well over a thousand shots to get this image.  It is mostly one image, part of the retina is focus stacked from a second image.  Was not an easy one to capture!



Here's a link to the music, for those into aggressive and heavy music. 
www.refusecontrol.com

[Akira]

Tristin, congrats on the release!  That should have been an intensive work, but it's worthwhile.  I listened to the album on Bandcamp.  Frankly this is not entirely my cup of tea, but it surely sounds cool.  I would need to investigate your lyrics to understand your message, of course.

The bass player is credited as "studio bass".  Do you mean, for the live shows, you perform as duo with the drummer?

The cover image well coincides with the impression of the music.

[Tristin]

Yeah, we havent found a bassist that fits yet.  I have a unique setup that fills the sound out, but would still be great to find a bassist!

[Frank Fremerey]

Picturewise I feel the eye is heads down and the fire is not organically fit into the pupil.

So. Photo good, editing not good for my taste.

Will listen to the music asap.

[Jakov Minić]

I agree with with Frank on the flames. I think the album cover would be just as good without it!
I like it hard and heavy. It reminds me of what my friend used to listen to in the 80s like Kreator, SOD, Sodom, etc.

[Peter Forsell]

Retina, really? Or iris? Very nice image though.

[Frank Fremerey]

Peter
The pupil is in flames (aperture)
The Iris is around the pupil (camera body?)
The retina is in the back of the inside of the eye (recording medium)

[Tristin]

The fire was not edited into the image, which is what made it difficult to get this image.  As for the direction of the fire/eye, it was intended to be jarring. 

[Gary]

Dude, I'm sweating just listening ... You guys must be awesome live.  If you're ever down south, PM me and I'll take some snaps.

[Tristin]

Thanks Gary, where in socal are ya?  We'll be better than the album, we record our instrumentation live and continue to get better. 

[Gary]

I'm in La Mirada. A little community about 15 miles south-east of LA.

[elsa hoffmann]

it's one of those images what will attract many different views and opinions. But this is an emotional image as you are so closely involved in it. Therefor - if it conveys what you want it to - it succeeds. Nicely done.

[afx]

I absolutely like the idea of creating such an image in camera instead of combining flame and eye in post.
Fits my way of thinking.
Well executed!

cheers
afx

[Frank Fremerey]

The flames are reflected? Cool. Real flames? A projection?

[Tristin]

It was a bonfire.  I found the only way to get a decent sized reflection was to be really close to the fire and the fire had to be really big.  Then for the fire to come from the pupil, the subject had to stare directly into the heart of the fire while holding their eyes open.  The we would squirt lighter fluid into the fire while we cracked pictures out and cross our fingers for a good one.  Oh, and it had to be at night to avoid unwanted reflections in the eye.  Combine all that with shooting on a stopped down 180mm macro whilst focusing on the eye of someone squirming and trying to stay still in a lot of heat . . . . haha.  Took over a thousand shots to get this one!