"... IT CAME TO THE EDGE OF THE FIRE AND THE LIGHT FADED AS IF A CLOUD HAD BENT OVER IT..."
"...Then with a rush it leaped across the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its streaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs."
-- "THE LORD OF THE RINGS: The Fellowship of the Ring," Chapter 5: "The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm," written by professor J.R.R. Tolkien
PIC INFO: Resolution at 1368x2048 -- Spotlight on the Hell Cat Studio] 1:12 Scale Balrog, "Abyss Demon Statue," released in 2023-'24? 📸: Jesse Feyereisen, c. December 2025.
OVERVIEW: "Closing out 2025 with some heat! After a few weeks of “cold” photos, I wanted to switch it up with some heat, and what better character to bring the fire than a Balrog from "The Lord of the Rings"!
I was lucky enough to grab this Hell Cat Studio “Abyss Demon Statue” on sale recently, and while I have a different photo in mind for him, I couldn’t help but get him in front of a camera right away! I put some crumpled-up brown paper behind him for “rock” and surrounded him with a few lights and bounce cards.
I used an Ulanzi fog machine to create some smoke, and for a finishing touch, I used a laser pointer to really light up his throat and give that feeling of him breathing fire and heat!
In post, I combined 2 photos to get the smoke how I liked it, lit up his plastic flames, body cracks, and facial features in Photoshop, added some ember overlays, and finished it all up with exposure and color adjustments in Lightroom. Final personal photo project to share of 2025…bring on 2026!"
-- JESSIE F PHOTOGRAPHY [blogspot], published December 31, 2025
Source: www.jessefphotography.com/blog/a-balrog-a-demon-of-the-ancient-world-gandalf.
