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Glamour Portraits (Maybe NSFW)

anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
edited November 9, 2010 in People
I've been wanting to do a Hollywood glam portrait of my wife for quite some time. Kerry's thread inspired me to finally take a shot at it. Not exactly Hollywood 50's but I really like the way these turned out. This was a first attempt to get a feel of things. I shot all of these with two AB400s... one just to camera right up at about 8' and aiming straight down at her. The other was down low and pointing upward towards her on camera left. I used 10 degree and 20 degree honeycomb grid respectively.

Would love feedback on these.

1
1082171253_mYPf5-X2.jpg

2
1082174900_eJQzc-X2.jpg

3 - Sepia
1082238704_NvNz3-X2.jpg
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    kelvinkelvin Registered Users Posts: 18 Big grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Very nice work.... I like the sepia the best. The first two are good but have areas that washed out in the highlights. Just my thoughts!
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    blaser321blaser321 Registered Users Posts: 201 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    I really like them good contrast great model and poses may be a little blown
    but it doesn't bother me too much
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    adbsgicomadbsgicom Registered Users Posts: 3,615 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    #3 is the clear winner for me. The eyes are so sharp and amazing there and the lighting creates a lot of contour.
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    HackboneHackbone Registered Users Posts: 4,027 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Nice job. I really love #2.
    Charles
    www.cameraone.biz
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Thanks guys... I'm curious, who else sees blown highlights? There is no clipping on the histogram and I don't see anything on my monitor. My monitor isn't calibrated so I am curious.

    Here is a color shot of #2:
    1082173799_x2jqp-X2.jpg
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    divamumdivamum Registered Users Posts: 9,021 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Nice job, Alex! I like #3, but I'd actually crop to just above her hand (w/or w/of cleavage - both work for me). Why? For me, by keeping the emphasis on her face and shoulder, the comp is better balanced and (ok, so yeah, I'm a girl and don't have the same boobies response rolleyes1.gif) I think it's actually more sultry with just the bare shoulder.

    I might also clone out the ponytail to keep the look a little more polished in keeping with the rest of the image.

    I love the lighting - it definitely evokes a H'wood feel! Lighting, the look away from camera, rather "majestic" pose - great stuff. thumb.gif
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    adbsgicomadbsgicom Registered Users Posts: 3,615 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Alex, I don't see anything blown in #2. #1 the forehead looks blown. Looking really hard at it, I don't think it really is, but it seems very close.
    My only nit with #2 is I don't really like how the highlight hits her breast (CL). The light is much more sculpted in #3, and in #1.
    - Andrew

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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Thanks Andrew and Diva. Good advice as I may have one of these printed and matted. I thought about cleaning up the hair but decided I would wait. Here is #3 cropped to 8x10.

    1082238704_NvNz3-XL-1.jpg
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    adbsgicomadbsgicom Registered Users Posts: 3,615 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    What did you do in this last conversion of #3? There are a bunch of magenta tones that crept in. #1/#2 don't have them, so I know it isn't me or your standard conversion. Somewhere your sepia changed but not fully to b/w.
    Crop is nice!
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    briandelionbriandelion Registered Users Posts: 512 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Very nice. I checked against the histogram and don't see any any blown highlights, either. #3 gets my vote along with the color one you just posted. What I do notice in #3 are seemingly random magenta cast shapes that look superimposed over some areas.
    "Photography is not about the thing photographed.
    It is about how that thing looks photographed." Garry Winogrand

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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited November 8, 2010
    I really like the look you've achieved here, Alex. The lighting is great, hot areas (not blown) and all. Maybe it's just me, but the hand placement in 2 and 3 bugs me. The crop in #3 is better for that reason. I'm seeing a funny highlight on the rim of her nose around here nostrils in #3 though. I'm not sure if you sharpened the entire photo, but I wouldn't have sharpened that area. The color version of #2 is great too.
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    kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited November 8, 2010
    briandelion wrote: »
    What I do notice in #3 are seemingly random magenta cast shapes that look superimposed over some areas.
    Wow, I see that too, now that you mention it.
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Interesting... All I did was crop that shot, but I did it from SmugMug using the crop tool. Come to think of it, I made a copy in Smug and then cropped the copy. Are you guys seeing the magenta-fication in the crop or the original too? Because I see them now that I'm look at the original.

    If so, I'll have to look at the original in LR to see if maybe it happened during compression to JPG? I've had this happen before at it has to do with the Color Space I choose. Can't remember which causes it.
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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    adbsgicomadbsgicom Registered Users Posts: 3,615 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Original as well. They aren't sepia anymore either...
    - Andrew

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    IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    These are wonderful. The technical nits have been pointed out, but wow. Yes, in the b&w conversion in #1 the forehead looks blown, and in #2 the camera right upper shoulder looks blown, but in the color rendering, it shows clearly that it isn't. Forget the histogram. My advice is that if it looks hot in a particular rendering, fix it for that rendering.

    I see what Andrew is referring to, about the light in #2, but I think that only bothers me in the b&w. Her pose and facial expression in #2 are timeless and gorgeous.iloveyou.gif. I think the color rendering of #2 is the best of a great set.
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Thanks John... glad you like them.

    I think I prefer these in color as well. I see what you mean about the "hot spots" in the B&W but not the color. I bumped the contrast just a tad on the B&W and that maybe why the highlights look hotter.
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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    schmooschmoo Registered Users Posts: 8,468 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    This is a really awesome set. I love the lighting and I can definitely see how Kerry's initial thread is going viral. Great job with what looks like complicated setup. thumb.gif
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    schmoo wrote: »
    This is a really awesome set. I love the lighting and I can definitely see how Kerry's initial thread is going viral. Great job with what looks like complicated setup. thumb.gif

    Thanks Steph!! It might look complicated but it was actually quite simple. Just two lights with honeycombs modifiers.
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    QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    1 and 2 rock!
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    OK.. here is the same image exported with the three different color spaces. I only see the magenta artifacts in the ProPhotoRGB color space. How about you?

    sRGB
    1083502238_DZcsW-XL.jpg

    AdobeRGB
    1083500165_cEAyj-XL.jpg

    ProPhotoRGB
    1083501219_AtGqA-XL.jpg
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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    adbsgicomadbsgicom Registered Users Posts: 3,615 Major grins
    edited November 8, 2010
    Agreed. Cast is only in the third. Is the profile being attached, or stripped? I always push to sRGB for web publishing.
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    Jeremy WinterbergJeremy Winterberg Registered Users Posts: 1,233 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    Lovely shots of your wife, Alex! #3 cropped for me.
    Jer
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    adbsgicom wrote: »
    Agreed. Cast is only in the third. Is the profile being attached, or stripped? I always push to sRGB for web publishing.

    Not sure what you mean by attached or stripped?
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    Jeremy Winterberg wrote: »
    Lovely shots of your wife, Alex! #3 cropped for me.

    Thanks Jeremy. This is another version of #3. Slight adjustment in pose and also lighting. I think this is my favorite. BTW, I took Diva's suggestion here and cleaned up her pony tail. Watcha guys think... is this the what I get printed?

    1083628026_eQpnH-X2.jpg
    "I'm not yelling. I'm Cuban. That's how we talk."

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    blaser321blaser321 Registered Users Posts: 201 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    wow yes
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    reyvee61reyvee61 Registered Users Posts: 1,877 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    Alex these are fantastic and #3 is definitely my fave!
    For the record, I don't see any blown highlights on my display.....
    Bravo!
    Yo soy Reynaldo
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    reyvee61reyvee61 Registered Users Posts: 1,877 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    Ah, I did notice the cast in the original file posted on #3 but I was so drawn to her eyes I didn't comment on that...
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    adbsgicomadbsgicom Registered Users Posts: 3,615 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    What was your process for setting the different modes? Did you just map to ProPhoto and then export as sRGB (which is what I meant by stripped), or did you export an image that considered to be in ProPhotoRGB (attached)?
    In PS you can convert or assign, you have to convert the profile. Then at export you need to make sure you embed the profile. That said, not all web browsers respect the embedded profile; Safari does but I believe IE assumes sRGB.
    In LR, you do all your work in ProPhotoRGB or AdobeRGB, but the export to jpeg path defaults to exporting as sRGB (you can change it, though). This does the conversion to the color space.
    - Andrew

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    briandelionbriandelion Registered Users Posts: 512 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    anonymouscuban wrote: »
    Thanks Jeremy. This is another version of #3. Slight adjustment in pose and also lighting. I think this is my favorite. BTW, I took Diva's suggestion here and cleaned up her pony tail. Watcha guys think... is this the what I get printed?

    Although this latest is quite beautiful, I still prefer the original *3 in color. That slight difference in the turn of the head makes all the difference for me.
    P.S. Pro Photo rgb color space was the magenta cast culprit on my monitor. Maybe it won't show up at all on an inkjet print. ne_nau.gif
    "Photography is not about the thing photographed.
    It is about how that thing looks photographed." Garry Winogrand

    Avatar credit: photograph by Duane Michals- picture of me, 'Smash Palace' album
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    anonymouscubananonymouscuban Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 4,586 Major grins
    edited November 9, 2010
    adbsgicom wrote: »
    What was your process for setting the different modes? Did you just map to ProPhoto and then export as sRGB (which is what I meant by stripped), or did you export an image that considered to be in ProPhotoRGB (attached)?
    In PS you can convert or assign, you have to convert the profile. Then at export you need to make sure you embed the profile. That said, not all web browsers respect the embedded profile; Safari does but I believe IE assumes sRGB.
    In LR, you do all your work in ProPhotoRGB or AdobeRGB, but the export to jpeg path defaults to exporting as sRGB (you can change it, though). This does the conversion to the color space.

    Hmm... the only color space setting I made was in Lightrooms export dialog box. I chose the color space and exported it as JPG. I have no clue what color space was assigned before I exported. I assume it was AdobeRGB since I imported the raw file into LR and did all my post work within LR and CS4???
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