In case anyone’s wondering, there’s a few reasons for that. Firstly, of course the subject itself is badass. Secondly composition-wise we have what I call a “dynamic diagonal” which leads your eyes from the main subject to the background following the same line. The subject is back/side-lit with hard light giving an intense contrasty look. Finally, and that’s probably the main one, the fog/smoke is lifting up the shadows as you move into the picture away from the camera, making the main subject much more contrasty and stand out from the background despite being overall the same colours/brightness.
In case anyone’s wondering, there’s a few reasons for that. Firstly, of course the subject itself is badass. Secondly composition-wise we have what I call a “dynamic diagonal” which leads your eyes from the main subject to the background following the same line. The subject is back/side-lit with hard light giving an intense contrasty look. Finally, and that’s probably the main one, the fog/smoke is lifting up the shadows as you move into the picture away from the camera, making the main subject much more contrasty and stand out from the background despite being overall the same colours/brightness.