Courtney in abandoned store.

PhotosbyKW

This one is of Courtney. We sings, tends bar, and teaches theater at ECU. We shot this in an abandoned store, back in the woods. It was literally falling down, to the point that the two remaining support posts were leaning and bowing line longbows. The walls were covered by graffiti so I lit her with flash to kill the background and then brushed over the highlighted "snuff" that was still viewable. What do yall think?

Nikolai

PhotosbyKW wrote:

This one is of Courtney. We sings, tends bar, and teaches theater at ECU. We shot this in an abandoned store, back in the woods. It was literally falling down, to the point that the two remaining support posts were leaning and bowing line longbows. The walls were covered by graffiti so I lit her with flash to kill the background and then brushed over the highlighted "snuff" that was still viewable. What do yall think?

Using the flash to kill the bg is a good idea.
Love the pose and the smile too.
I also like how the color of her hair matches the color of the wood.
Watch for the whites clothes though, they do tend to steal the attention from the face (more intrinsic lighting needed).
Also watch your frame: you cut off one of her limbs and lost potentially great "corner line" with that beam.
Nice work overall
(buf can we have it without the PROOF next time? )

PhotosbyKW

Thank you Nikolai. This is one of a two shot sequence. I shot one slightly wider and this one tighter. The first shows her form better, but I just liked this expression so much better. Yes, I'd thought that about her shirt as well. In hindsight, with the same wardrobe, could I have done anything different to lessen the shirt's intrusion?

Sam

I like the lighting, pose, and perpsective. I hate the PROOF.

Sam

PhotosbyKW

I'm still at a loss as to the creation of a real watermark. Shoot, after most of the year on Smugmug, I just figured out how to do that.

thoth

I think this is the best shot I've seen from you so far. +1 to Nikolai's comments. Well done.

NateW

Not that I'm king of lighting or anything, but....
Try zooming the speedlight (assuming you used a speedlight) and aim more for her head? The overflow should get the rest nicely, I'd think, but the focus will light that which you care about more.

Same concept with any other light: snooted/barndoor'd a little or otherwise to aim more for her face.

Then again, half the fun is the half shirt.

Very nicely done.


Looking again, since your added light would have shadowed her face more from her hair (based on the shadow on her stomach I'm guessing where the light was), you might need to add another light to get her face more?
Nikolai? Any thoughts? I think this one is beyond my initial guesses...

Nikolai

NateW wrote:

Nikolai? Any thoughts? I think this one is beyond my initial guesses...

Knowing the treachery of the white shirt I would probably pointed my light higher...
Well, not true... Me being me, I would probably not have this problem at all, since she wouldn't be wearing any shirt to begin with...

Hackbone

Nice shot and agreed with Nikolai's comments. Like how the hip is kicked out some to add the S curve.

PhotosbyKW

Thanks all for your comments. Yes, she was a blast to shoot. She needed very little direction, and although we'd never met prior to the shoot, she just seemed to know just what I had in find.

Wil Davis

Great model, and I agree with the previous comments about the way you've taken the picture. I think perhaps a bit more light on her face, but all in all a nice job.

Actually, the first thought which went through my mind when I first saw the picture, was "…what a way to spend Easter!", but that's just me and my strange sense of humour

Thanks for sharing…

- Wil

Zerodog

Wil Davis wrote:

Great model, and I agree with the previous comments about the way you've taken the picture. I think perhaps a bit more light on her face, but all in all a nice job.

Actually, the first thought which went through my mind when I first saw the picture, was "…what a way to spend Easter!", but that's just me and my strange sense of humour

Thanks for sharing…

- Wil

Nice shot but the PROOF is really distracting in all of the shots you have been posting lately. Maybe you need to watermark in LR or something other than Smug mug? So you can do a smaller one? Or a lighter one?

PhotosbyKW

Sorry, and I appologise for that. So far, I have yet to sucessfully create a watermark in PS. I don't have LR.

Wil Davis

PhotosbyKW wrote:

Sorry, and I appologise for that. So far, I have yet to sucessfully create a watermark in PS. I don't have LR.

Here's a useful resource on watermarks and how to create them; I think you might need a pro-level account…

HTH -
- Wil

InsuredDisaster

Great shot. My only curiuosity, while the beam made a great prop, why shoot in a cetain location if you are going to throw out 99% of the location anyway? Why not just put up a hunk of wood in a studio?



Now, I'm not saying your efforts were not worth anything. Really great shot. But just seems an odd thing to do.

PhotosbyKW

In hindsight, that would have been about the same effect. The store had a lot of history around the community that it was in, and had been picked up and physically moved from the old location, and deposited back into another location back in the woods, so I was thinking that it would be a neat location. When we arrived though, we found that time had really not been a friend, and do to trying to maneuver around the structural damage there was just not enough room to frame much more than tight shots.

Supposedly- the antiques which were once inside, along with a recreation of the store are on display somewhere else, though, and that would be neat.

JimM

I think it is fantastic!!! Nice shot!