It's been a while since my last post so I thought I'd add some updated shots. More on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcgraths/
I find #2 just a bit generic but otherwise nice. The others are excellent. The 4th and last ones really make me wonder how you did them at a technical level.
Here are some details on #6: 8 second exposure. After the flash fired I move up close to the lens and shined a flash light in my face as you can see to the right of the frame. In photoshop I overlayed a texture to add to the glass lamp shade. Also added the particles using a paint brush in PS. Strobist: Vivitar 825HV inside lamp shade, facing up on 1/16 power. Triggered with eBay triggers.
Really like the last with the exception of the particles. The rest of the shot is so well done but the particles are too artificial looking (as you said above...done with the brush and PS and you can tell) for my liking. I have no idea how it could have been done to make it look less obvious to be honest though...no help there. #5 is great as well but it is too bad that dude on the left has his fingers cut off :-(
Wow! Some great shots here. I like all of them, but the first and fourth really stand out for me. I like 'dark' (I'm no technician...) shots and that first one really moves me! the fourth one has a great 'feeling' to it. I like the processing.
