Re: GESO - above the fold
Hi Bruce, I also like the low-key shots better. If you are interested in some more detailed comments, their a below. Please excuse the amount of text and the critical component of these comments. There are two main reasons why I like the low-key images better. First, in the high-key, the paper-white (pun intended) background makes the entire composition sort of hanging in the air. (And, in a more subtle way, if I realize (from seeing the floor) that they are actually against the wall, that gives a strange impression of them being pressed against the wall.) That's why the shadows in the low-key shots do their job well. The second reason is that the low-key shots do not contain the problem discussed in the second part of this message. As for other minor comments: I would consider bringing the shadows up a bit on the second image, as it appears a bit darker (especially with the darke skin tone). To be very nit-picking (and I don't have much of personal experience of setting up the studio lights this way), - in the image 3 (2b), I would have the model turining her head just a few degrees to her right (or widen the lights on the photographer's right), to reveal a bit more of her shadow-side [left for her] eye. That's about the purely photographic side of this gallery. Now, I would comment on what has been increasingly bothering me recently (my pet peeve, if you wish). Usually this is not much about the photographer, but the subject of the photos (models in this case). Typically it happens in the shots that do not include much of dynamic motion. Those are either posed shots (studio), i.e. the shots where the motion is completely frozen, or on-stage shots (e.g. not-the-top-level-show musicians on stage, not-the-top-trained fashion shows), where the motion is not considered to be the 1st priority for the main action (as in musicians on stage). The reason for this is that the subjects are not properly trained for the positions of their body, and especially limbs. AFAIK, the top-level fashion models have at least some dance/ballet, ... training as a part of their walking technique training. The same is applicable to many top-level music performers, especially in pop, pop-rock, musical, etc. -- Those genres that give a lot of attention to the on-stage action, and the musicians (especially the soloists) get trained how to move on stage. I think this is the first time I noticed this in your photos. In this GESO, it is especially noticeable in the last two photos. Those poses are rather awkward and non-ergonomic as seen in several aspects (to various extent). The first thing that struck me is how the feet are turned in. This is most noticeable in the last two shots. The models appear as they can barely walk in high-heels. (My wife tells me that there is some niche of mid-level fashion shots, - such as Macy's, J.C.Penny's, etc. sales advertisements, - that suffers this problem. She says that apparently some consider it to be fine and even beautiful.) The knees are also turned in (that's a concequence of the feet position). The right hand of the light-skinned model in the last shot also has a bit awkward position. (The photographer can be partially blamed for this, but I would argue if the model were well trained for this, and the rest of the pose were less frozen, she wouldn't have had this awkward hand position). In the second to the last photo, even though the hand positions are less unnatural, they still seem to be somewhat like those of a barbie-doll. I actually discuss some related concerns in my dancers and photography workshops, - primarily for the benefits of dancers, but also for photographers to know what to watch for. There, it is even more important, as most of the time the dance is the transition between poses, not a frozen (struck) pose. Last December, I was shooting at the jazz concert of the daughter of our friend, a prominent professional photographer. At that concert, I saw exactly the same situation: the poses the singer held (and the moves) where at times very awkward. I discussed that situation with my wife, who had exactly the same impression. But the situation was such that we were not in position to offer our advice. We both thought that it's possible that nobody ever pointed it out to the young lady. As a result, I scrapped a bunch of shots that contained an awkard pose, and, in some cases, had to go with a somewhat technically inferior shots (the ambient stage light was harsh, and I was shooting from a fixed point in the middle of the audience, 4th or 5th row, frequently pulled by my little daughter). So, in most of the shots posted, the awkwardness of poses/motion is not noticeable: http://42graphy.org/music/olivia_harris/ Igor PS. Apparently, I am not the only one concerned about this trend. Here is a fashion blog (in Russian): http://fashiony.ru/page.php?id_n=33076 that featurs a bunch of fashion photos that suffer the clubfootness. Google
Re: GESO - above the fold
On Mon, Jun 9, 2014 at 1:50 PM, Igor Roshchin s...@komkon.org wrote: Hi Bruce, I also like the low-key shots better. If you are interested in some more detailed comments, their a below. Please excuse the amount of text and the critical component of these comments. Igor, I welcome your critique, and I'm grateful to you for taking the time to write a thorough one. If I wasn't prepared to take the heat ... :-) There are two main reasons why I like the low-key images better. First, in the high-key, the paper-white (pun intended) background makes the entire composition sort of hanging in the air. (And, in a more subtle way, if I realize (from seeing the floor) that they are actually against the wall, that gives a strange impression of them being pressed against the wall.) You are actually getting my intended meaning and look then, Igor. I wanted them to look 2D, flat like paper -- paper-white even (though the wall is actually warm off-white). I arranged the three softboxes around me where I was shooting from so as to give the scene completely flat lighting and produce those curious surround shadows typical of ring-lights. They become paper cutouts themselves. They look a little other-worldly and unnatural You are free to choose whether you like the look/effect, of course. ;-) That's why the shadows in the low-key shots do their job well. The second reason is that the low-key shots do not contain the problem discussed in the second part of this message. As for other minor comments: I would consider bringing the shadows up a bit on the second image, as it appears a bit darker (especially with the darke skin tone). To be very nit-picking (and I don't have much of personal experience of setting up the studio lights this way), - in the image 3 (2b), I would have the model turining her head just a few degrees to her right (or widen the lights on the photographer's right), to reveal a bit more of her shadow-side [left for her] eye. Yeah, that too-dark eye bothered me too. I'm trying to embrace shadow more though, and I've got plenty of examples of faces even more severely shadowed so I figured I'd leave it for now and see if it grows on me or what. That's about the purely photographic side of this gallery. Now, I would comment on what has been increasingly bothering me recently (my pet peeve, if you wish). Usually this is not much about the photographer, but the subject of the photos (models in this case). Typically it happens in the shots that do not include much of dynamic motion. Those are either posed shots (studio), i.e. the shots where the motion is completely frozen, or on-stage shots (e.g. not-the-top-level-show musicians on stage, not-the-top-trained fashion shows), where the motion is not considered to be the 1st priority for the main action (as in musicians on stage). The reason for this is that the subjects are not properly trained for the positions of their body, and especially limbs. AFAIK, the top-level fashion models have at least some dance/ballet, ... training as a part of their walking technique training. Nope, not that I've seen. Dancers are highly prized though. I hope to shoot with one shortly. The same is applicable to many top-level music performers, especially in pop, pop-rock, musical, etc. -- Those genres that give a lot of attention to the on-stage action, and the musicians (especially the soloists) get trained how to move on stage. I think this is the first time I noticed this in your photos. In this GESO, it is especially noticeable in the last two photos. Those poses are rather awkward and non-ergonomic as seen in several aspects (to various extent). The first thing that struck me is how the feet are turned in. This is most noticeable in the last two shots. The models appear as they can barely walk in high-heels. (My wife tells me that there is some niche of mid-level fashion shots, - such as Macy's, J.C.Penny's, etc. sales advertisements, - that suffers this problem. She says that apparently some consider it to be fine and even beautiful.) The knees are also turned in (that's a concequence of the feet position). The right hand of the light-skinned model in the last shot also has a bit awkward position. (The photographer can be partially blamed for this, but I would argue if the model were well trained for this, and the rest of the pose were less frozen, she wouldn't have had this awkward hand position). I might have saved you some angst if I explained that I was trying to get them to dance The Charleston for me! :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJC21zzkwoE Note Step 3: turn your feet in and out. I was trying to coordinate them and capture some typical Charleston moves or looks. It was fun but only partially successful. In the second to the last photo, even though the hand positions are less unnatural, they still seem to be somewhat like those of a barbie-doll. Somebody suggest they try doll
Re: GESO - above the fold
consider it to be fine and even beautiful.) The knees are also turned in (that's a concequence of the feet position). The right hand of the light-skinned model in the last shot also has a bit awkward position. (The photographer can be partially blamed for this, but I would argue if the model were well trained for this, and the rest of the pose were less frozen, she wouldn't have had this awkward hand position). I might have saved you some angst if I explained that I was trying to get them to dance The Charleston for me! :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJC21zzkwoE Note Step 3: turn your feet in and out. I was trying to coordinate them and capture some typical Charleston moves or looks. It was fun but only partially successful. In the second to the last photo, even though the hand positions are less unnatural, they still seem to be somewhat like those of a barbie-doll. Somebody suggest they try doll moves. I let them do that for a while. Samantha, the darker girl, is a dancer -- though not the Charleston -- and has very fluid and graceful motion. If I had stuck with just her and spent more time I could have gotten more natural, less awkward poses. I actually discuss some related concerns in my dancers and photography workshops, - primarily for the benefits of dancers, but also for photographers to know what to watch for. There, it is even more important, as most of the time the dance is the transition between poses, not a frozen (struck) pose. Last December, I was shooting at the jazz concert of the daughter of our friend, a prominent professional photographer. At that concert, I saw exactly the same situation: the poses the singer held (and the moves) where at times very awkward. I discussed that situation with my wife, who had exactly the same impression. But the situation was such that we were not in position to offer our advice. We both thought that it's possible that nobody ever pointed it out to the young lady. As a result, I scrapped a bunch of shots that contained an awkard pose, and, in some cases, had to go with a somewhat technically inferior shots (the ambient stage light was harsh, and I was shooting from a fixed point in the middle of the audience, 4th or 5th row, frequently pulled by my little daughter). So, in most of the shots posted, the awkwardness of poses/motion is not noticeable: http://42graphy.org/music/olivia_harris/ I certainly have seen for myself that the most seasoned and entertaining performers have the best poses and move more confidently than their junior and less interesting counterparts. Igor PS. Apparently, I am not the only one concerned about this trend. Here is a fashion blog (in Russian): http://fashiony.ru/page.php?id_n=33076 that featurs a bunch of fashion photos that suffer the clubfootness. Google translation: http://goo.gl/x6if7R I'm not trying to follow a trend, that's for sure. I was pushing a personal envelope in trying to get two models to dance and catch some good poses, so I'm unsurprised to largely fail. But I got a few shots I was reasonably happy with. I really like shot #1: some action, the off-kilterness. Thanks, Igor! Sun Jun 8 13:07:41 EDT 2014 Bruce Walker wrote: These are all from a creative studio shoot I was invited to by Layla Azer, the designer of the newspaper dresses. I was the only one shooting with lights and I managed to produce two completely different moods with the models. http://off-axis.brucemwalker.com/post/87702525657/newspaper-dresses-designer-layla-azer-model Designer: Layla Azer Origami lily: FoldIT Creations Model: Samantha Liana Model: Krista Adler Makeup: Chantelle Krupka Hair: Nadia Amir Photo, retouch: Bruce Walker Location: Studio On Carlaw (Toronto) K-3, DA* 16-50/2.8 SDM, ISO 200. Lr, Ps, Nik Suite, Imagenomic Portraiture High-key: three Apollo softboxes forming a huge ring flash around me. Low-key: one Apollo Strip with 40 degree grid. Comments welcome! -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML at pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw Previous message: GESO - above the fold Next message: PESO. Kalanchoe. Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] More information about the PDML mailing list -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
GESO - above the fold
These are all from a creative studio shoot I was invited to by Layla Azer, the designer of the newspaper dresses. I was the only one shooting with lights and I managed to produce two completely different moods with the models. http://off-axis.brucemwalker.com/post/87702525657/newspaper-dresses-designer-layla-azer-model Designer: Layla Azer Origami lily: FoldIT Creations Model: Samantha Liana Model: Krista Adler Makeup: Chantelle Krupka Hair: Nadia Amir Photo, retouch: Bruce Walker Location: Studio On Carlaw (Toronto) K-3, DA* 16-50/2.8 SDM, ISO 200. Lr, Ps, Nik Suite, Imagenomic Portraiture High-key: three Apollo softboxes forming a huge ring flash around me. Low-key: one Apollo Strip with 40 degree grid. Comments welcome! -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: GESO - above the fold
So the cat is out of the paper bag:) Nice gallery, looks like the girls had great fun together. I very much like the low light portraits (like your PUG entry). I remember coats mimicking newspaper were fashionable in the past, but of course those weren't made from real newspaper. On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 8:07 PM, Bruce Walker bruce.wal...@gmail.com wrote: These are all from a creative studio shoot I was invited to by Layla Azer, the designer of the newspaper dresses. I was the only one shooting with lights and I managed to produce two completely different moods with the models. http://off-axis.brucemwalker.com/post/87702525657/newspaper-dresses-designer-layla-azer-model Designer: Layla Azer Origami lily: FoldIT Creations Model: Samantha Liana Model: Krista Adler Makeup: Chantelle Krupka Hair: Nadia Amir Photo, retouch: Bruce Walker Location: Studio On Carlaw (Toronto) K-3, DA* 16-50/2.8 SDM, ISO 200. Lr, Ps, Nik Suite, Imagenomic Portraiture High-key: three Apollo softboxes forming a huge ring flash around me. Low-key: one Apollo Strip with 40 degree grid. Comments welcome! -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: GESO - above the fold
I can report that all-newspaper dresses aren't practical either. The designer was running around constantly with a roll of tape to repair spontaneous wardrobe malfunctions that kept occurring. Thank you Attila; my faves are the low-key ones too. I'm exploring that mode more. Models reported that they had a blast. I had them attempting to dance the Charleston -- little success, much mirth. :-) On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 2:00 PM, Attila Boros attila.p...@gmail.com wrote: So the cat is out of the paper bag:) Nice gallery, looks like the girls had great fun together. I very much like the low light portraits (like your PUG entry). I remember coats mimicking newspaper were fashionable in the past, but of course those weren't made from real newspaper. On Sun, Jun 8, 2014 at 8:07 PM, Bruce Walker bruce.wal...@gmail.com wrote: These are all from a creative studio shoot I was invited to by Layla Azer, the designer of the newspaper dresses. I was the only one shooting with lights and I managed to produce two completely different moods with the models. http://off-axis.brucemwalker.com/post/87702525657/newspaper-dresses-designer-layla-azer-model Designer: Layla Azer Origami lily: FoldIT Creations Model: Samantha Liana Model: Krista Adler Makeup: Chantelle Krupka Hair: Nadia Amir Photo, retouch: Bruce Walker Location: Studio On Carlaw (Toronto) K-3, DA* 16-50/2.8 SDM, ISO 200. Lr, Ps, Nik Suite, Imagenomic Portraiture High-key: three Apollo softboxes forming a huge ring flash around me. Low-key: one Apollo Strip with 40 degree grid. Comments welcome! -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
Re: GESO - above the fold
Very nice, Bruce! The women are really cute! Cheers, Christine Sent from my iPad On Jun 8, 2014, at 1:07 PM, Bruce Walker bruce.wal...@gmail.com wrote: These are all from a creative studio shoot I was invited to by Layla Azer, the designer of the newspaper dresses. I was the only one shooting with lights and I managed to produce two completely different moods with the models. http://off-axis.brucemwalker.com/post/87702525657/newspaper-dresses-designer-layla-azer-model Designer: Layla Azer Origami lily: FoldIT Creations Model: Samantha Liana Model: Krista Adler Makeup: Chantelle Krupka Hair: Nadia Amir Photo, retouch: Bruce Walker Location: Studio On Carlaw (Toronto) K-3, DA* 16-50/2.8 SDM, ISO 200. Lr, Ps, Nik Suite, Imagenomic Portraiture High-key: three Apollo softboxes forming a huge ring flash around me. Low-key: one Apollo Strip with 40 degree grid. Comments welcome! -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
