Ukrainian photographer Olena Zaskochenko created this portrait as a personal project for herself. “Every photographer should shoot something just to be creative,” she says, and for this particular project, “I wanted to shoot some artistic makeup.” To help bring her vision to life, Zaskochenko brought in professional makeup artist Tatyana Chernichenko to create the look, and then she began setting up the shoot.

Captured in her home studio in Trnava, Slovakia, Zaskochenko used two stripboxes and a beauty dish to light the model. She then climbed up on a ladder and positioned herself close to the ceiling, standing over the subject to get the impactful gaze. Overall, Zaskochenko says she admires the final shot for its dramatic effect, but also because “the model doesn’t look evil.”

(Captured using a Canon EOS 6D and an 85mm lens at f/5.6 and 1/125 of a second and ISO 200.)

Photo © Olena Zaskochenko

Check out more Photos of the Day, and email rangefinder@emeraldexpo.com for submissions.