A second image featuring a priest character, following "Something Wicked This Way Comes." It's a rich source for material, and it's likely not over yet. I really enjoyed the last one, and I wanted, at first, to stay in the world of "Wicked" but there is not much of a point in doing that, there is nothing fresh about it, so I chose the most dynamic pose of the shoot, and started from there. It was staring to go quickly into a zombie priest thing, and that is certainly silly and pointless, so I took some new elements I shot this week, the aerials and antennae, and decided to blend that in with the angst-ridden and pained priest. Now it was going somewhere.

In the end, at least for me, it was simple: the power of prayer, directed up to God or Heaven, and getting no answer. He is using all his strength, cutting through a stormy sky and rain, to reach the absent, unresponsive God. I imagine every priest or man of faith goes through doubts or periods of loss of faith - how can you see what goes on in the world for any length of time and think that we are overseen by an omnipotent, benevolent landlord? I put the umbrellas in at the last minute, a reference to the fact that we need protection from the fallout of this absent God as depicted in the Bible.

A bit of a monster edit - this one was nearly 50 layers, and the layer masking was truly a challenge.

A Before and After version of this image is available on my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/michaelbilottaphotography

This was partly inspired by a line from a favorite movie from childhood, "Raiders of the Lost Ark." The titular Ark was referred to as a transmitter, a radio for speaking to God." Priests are supposed to represent the presence of Christ on Earth, so if they are getting no answer, what chance do the commoners have!?

Model: Felix P http://www.modelmayhem.com/1611725

A blog featuring this image and some of the photoshop techniques used is available on my website at:

http://michaelbilotta.com/blog/blending-layers-and-digital-frosting