Cyndi Makes me uncomfortable

Bilsen

Well, not really but I've been hearing a lot lately about outside my comfort zone so let's see:

Voodoo shoot (New Orleans from the World Tour):

Avec window


2.Sans window


3.


4. Alas poor Yoruck, I knew him Horatio


5.


6.
and sometimes you go for mystical and end up with Doug Henning LOL

Hackbone

Enjoyed #6. Everything about it is great.

Bilsen

Of course Hack, the one that I thought didn't work.

lensmole

#5 works well for me except for the bright spot on her shoulder.

D3Sshooter

Love 4 & 5.
Maybe a local Temp. adjustment would make it even better.

Bilsen

Thanks D3.

Curious what local adjustment(s) you'd suggest. (serious question not an argument).
Part of the "discomfort" zone in these images was lighting to match the candlelight. It took about 4 gel changes to get to this point.

pathfinder

D3Sshooter wrote: »

Love 4 & 5.
Maybe a local Temp. adjustment would make it even better.

Wow, I like 4 and 5 a lot also; but the green yellow fluorescent tonality in the earlier photos I find less flattering, and not nearly as warm as I would expect candle light to normally appear.

Bilsen, I have seen your website, and your skin tones are normally spot on, but these images look yellow green to me. I just can't decide if that was your artistic vision, or not.

When I use the black cloth of the table for a neutral tone to set a curve, I think her skin tone readings on her shoulder are more preferable, as the cyan tone on her shoulder disappears. Ultimately, of course, color temperature is an artistic choice. The candles suggest a warm tone to me, but maybe others prefer the greener, more exotic, color scheme.

Bilsen

Thanks a ton pathfinder.

The WB is pretty much SOOC in this set but after reading your analysis I do think I would have expected a warmer (translation: redder) tone to it.

I had no intention at all of getting "natural" skin tones in this shoot. I gelled the key strobe to try and match the candle temperature. That could very well be where I missed with the combination gold and yellow gels that I ultimately used. Possibly I should have tossed a light red in there also. As indicated by the thread title, I was totally winging this shoot from start to finish.

In # 5 I also used a very light blue gel on the hairlight to get a "moonlit" sort of feel to the scene. That one seems to be the focus of interest on here.

I'm gonna go back and do a global warming (no pun intended) and see what that does. I'll post one here for comment later this morning.

michaelglenn

Solid set! #5 here is the winner for me. The composition, angle, elements, and stare really do this shot good justice. My only nits are that the skin looks a tad too yellow and the last shot is a little too crazy on the grain.

Big improvement from the last set too. Interesting use of light, and the elements totally fit the mood you portrayed with the model here

Bilsen

Thanks Michael.

I think this type of stuff reflects your comment in Japan about getting out of the comfort zone. This whole shoot was wing and prayer.

As I dais, I'm going to revisit the RAWs and see if adding a bit of red improves the WB.

BTW, here's the original "Stage magician" image with no artistic treatment:


To Cyndi and me, we went for Voodoo and ended up with "nothing up my sleeve".
To be honest, I'd have no problem watching her on stage even if all she did was burp.

D3Sshooter

Bilsen wrote: »

Thanks D3.

Curious what local adjustment(s) you'd suggest. (serious question not an argument).
Part of the "discomfort" zone in these images was lighting to match the candlelight. It took about 4 gel changes to get to this point.

A mix of present light is always a challenge,and indeed gels can work. On the other hand, you can in LR5 brush with a color temperature brush or even use a degrade to change the color temperature in certain parts of the picture.

Demian

Not sure how I feel about the grain, but otherwise #6/Stage Magician is by far my favorite. Beautiful shot.

Bilsen

Will take a loo9k D3. I don't use LR but I'm sure CS6 can do that also.