A shot from the ESP Strobist GTG

Village IdiotVillage Idiot Registered Users Posts: 215 Major grins
edited August 24, 2009 in People
I think I over did the eyes. :D

I believe that this was just lit with a gold reflector. I was using the Canon 15mm f/2.8 fish. Suuuuuuuuuuper sharp lens and who says distortion is bad for portraiture?

3841338904_fddfb0347a_o.jpg
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Comments

  • thoththoth Registered Users Posts: 1,085 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    Village Idiot wrote:
    I think I over did the eyes. :D

    I believe that this was just lit with a gold reflector. I was using the Canon 15mm f/2.8 fish. Suuuuuuuuuuper sharp lens and who says distortion is bad for portraiture?
    The texture in those bars and all the lines are fantastic. I agree that you went a little crazy on the eyes but, honestly, I think the color overall makes the image less powerful. Did you try a B&W conversion by chance?

    Cool shot. thumb.gif
    Travis
  • Village IdiotVillage Idiot Registered Users Posts: 215 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    thoth wrote:
    The texture in those bars and all the lines are fantastic. I agree that you went a little crazy on the eyes but, honestly, I think the color overall makes the image less powerful. Did you try a B&W conversion by chance?

    Cool shot. thumb.gif

    Nope, but I cooled it down a lot. The gold reflector gave it a really, really warm tone that was just too "sunny" for a prison. I love the color of her skin though.
    On a scale of 1 to 10, my awesomeness goes all the way to 11.
  • thoththoth Registered Users Posts: 1,085 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    Village Idiot wrote:
    Nope, but I cooled it down a lot. The gold reflector gave it a really, really warm tone that was just too "sunny" for a prison. I love the color of her skin though.
    Yes, her skin color is quite nice. The color in the rest of the image is nice as well. It's not over the top and it shows off the texture in the bars and walls quite nicely. My personal taste would say B&W but you've certainly not done a bad job with the color in this shot.
    Travis
  • RichardRichard Administrators, Vanilla Admin Posts: 19,955 moderator
    edited August 21, 2009
    Cool shot. I like the warm color and would not convert to B&W, but the eye color is too much for my taste.
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  • marikrismarikris Registered Users Posts: 930 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    I agree with richard. You have some almost-complimentary tones going that are very pleasing. The vivid blue-purple eyes takes away instead of add to the image. But if you like it, you like it right thumb.gif

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  • Village IdiotVillage Idiot Registered Users Posts: 215 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    marikris wrote:
    I agree with richard. You have some almost-complimentary tones going that are very pleasing. The vivid blue-purple eyes takes away instead of add to the image. But if you like it, you like it right thumb.gif

    Not really. I was just playing around. I was thinking that dropping the opacity on them would help out a lot. What would be a good color? Her eyes are a very light blue which makes it easy to color.
    On a scale of 1 to 10, my awesomeness goes all the way to 11.
  • marikrismarikris Registered Users Posts: 930 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    Can you show a version with her original eye color?

    Houston Portrait Photographer
    Children's Illustrator
  • bendruckerphotobendruckerphoto Registered Users Posts: 579 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    Village Idiot wrote:
    I think I over did the eyes. :D

    You're not kidding. Other than that, great portrait!
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  • Tim KamppinenTim Kamppinen Registered Users Posts: 816 Major grins
    edited August 21, 2009
    I like it a lot! I would keep it in color. In black and white, you'd not only lose the great skin tones (which make the face pop very well) but also the cool rust colors on the gate. I agree that the eyes are too much though. Tone that down and it will be a better shot IMO.

    As for distortion, this is a great example of how you can get away with using a fisheye or other wide angle lens for a portrait. The fisheye distortion overall is very obvious but her face itself doesn't appear to be distorted much at all. By putting her head in the middle of the frame and keeping an appropriate distance (although I'm sure you were still very close) you successfully minimized the distortion and kept her from looking like a funhouse mirror reflection. Great job!

    Oh, about the reflector... what was it reflecting? Did you bounce a flash off it, or was there another light source that we can't see in the frame?
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  • Village IdiotVillage Idiot Registered Users Posts: 215 Major grins
    edited August 24, 2009
    The sun.

    There were skylights that provided light streaming down the center of the cell corridors. The reflector was probably about 2'-3' from her face.
    On a scale of 1 to 10, my awesomeness goes all the way to 11.
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