Gangsta

kdog

Trying something new for me. Does it work?



Thanks for looking.
-joel

zoomer

Sort of. The shirt looks a bit blown and there is a light going through his head...but other than those nits I think it works pretty well. Maybe try a thinner depth of field next outing also.
It does look gangsta.

kdog

Thanks, Zoomer. I have more shots in this series that I may post which have better DOF and don't have the light going through his head. The shirt was a real bugger though against his dark skin, and I won't make that mistake again. Really appreciate your comments.

Nikolai

Hey Joel,
I like the expression and the location.
PS wise - I find it a bit overdone (at least on hands/t-shirt).
It laso leaves me wanting for a different pose/angle/framing...
HTH

kdog

Thanks, Nik! The shirt is pretty blown out on that shot, so that's mostly why it looks funny. Not sure on the "hands" comment, as they're in his pockets.
But yeah, it's mainly the lighting and processing that I'm interested in. My posing always sucks so isn't likely to get much better, But I do always appreciate the feedback. Maybe some of it will rub off on me some day.

kdog

Here's another.

BrettDeutsch

Just commenting on lighting and processing: both look good to me on the first one. I like the cool color balance. And I don't see why one would care that the t-shirt is blown out. It's a white t-shirt without any important details, so let it go pure white if you want (so long as you maintain some shadows to show that it's actually fabric -- which you did). But the whole second shot looks overexposed to me. I'd like to see the dark areas darker and also would like the highlights to be more in the mid-tone range since that's probably what he looks like in real life.

kdog

Thank you, Brett. I was wondering if that was too hot. You look at them for so long, and then you're not sure any more. I reduced the exposure and took the highlights down a bit.

anonymouscuban

Joel,

I like the first one much more than this second. I like the lighting, processing, location and pose way more on the first. The bright shirt doesn't bug me as much as that shadow blotch thing on his stomach. Looks weird and I keep looking at it.

And I'm gonna go against Nik here... I think you could punch the processing a bit more here. I think this shot calls for it. I try desaturating the BG a bit. Also, try using the High Pass filter in PS on this skin. Maybe somewhere between 150 and 200. Play with it. Also do it on a separate layer and use the different blending modes to see what works best.

kdog

anonymouscuban wrote: »

Joel,

I like the first one much more than this second. I like the lighting, processing, location and pose way more on the first. The bright shirt doesn't bug me as much as that shadow blotch thing on his stomach. Looks weird and I keep looking at it.

And I'm gonna go against Nik here... I think you could punch the processing a bit more here. I think this shot calls for it. I try desaturating the BG a bit. Also, try using the High Pass filter in PS on this skin. Maybe somewhere between 150 and 200. Play with it. Also do it on a separate layer and use the different blending modes to see what works best.

Thanks, Alex! I'll give your suggestions a try. I appreciate you checking in.