LPS#4: Enough cheesy business...

Nikolai

How about this one for artificial?

The Oldest Trick In The Book:



In case you're wondering, this is one picture... :deal :wink

LiquidAir

An interesting idea. I think you can make this work.

Some suggestions:

Go for butterfly lighting which is symmetric.

Add a hair light because you need separation on the dark side.

Pose her so she is direcly facing the camera. The split looks off balance with this pose.

If you can, have her wear a black top on the dark side. I think you really want her wearing something dark on that side to complete the frame of her face.

Oh, and the drop shadow/ blur between the black and white at the top doesn't look right to me.

pyroPrints.com

It's pretty nice... but i think you can prefect your original idea

Nikolai

LiquidAir wrote:

An interesting idea. I think you can make this work.

Some suggestions:

Go for butterfly lighting which is symmetric.

Add a hair light because you need separation on the dark side.

Pose her so she is direcly facing the camera. The split looks off balance with this pose.

If you can, have her wear a black top on the dark side. I think you really want her wearing something dark on that side to complete the frame of her face.

Oh, and the drop shadow/ blur between the black and white at the top doesn't look right to me.

Butterfly: I agree. That was my original intention, but then I get distracted with another idea :bash
Hair-light: same as above :bash
Off-balance: agree. It's hard to make it exactly straight.. But, hey, who said it gonna be easy?
Wear black on the right: nah, I'm going for strapless, night club mode, besides it contrasts better with the black BG
The top:. mebbe, yes

Thank you for the straight C&C, appreciate it!

Nikolai

pyroPrints.com wrote:

It's pretty nice... but i think you can prefect your original idea

I can... And I may... But I wanted to try something else, too:-)

Thanks!

ChrisJ

I think it's well executed for what you were trying to accomplish... I'm just not wild about the finished product for some reason. Maybe it's her expression. I think she needs a dress strap showing on her left shoulder, and the left eye seems too dark and not crisp.

Just my 2c.

Annie222

I was going to try something like this with maybe work clothes and muddy hands, dirty mark on face maybe with one of my children showing the natural side (organic) and the dessed up side (artifical - for a child at least)

Edit - I'll loan you a child if you like (got 4 of em), some days 4 to many!.

Nikolai

Chris,

ChrisJ wrote:

I think it's well executed for what you were trying to accomplish... I'm just not wild about the finished product for some reason. Maybe it's her expression. I think she needs a dress strap showing on her left shoulder, and the left eye seems too dark and not crisp.

Just my 2c.

Thanks!
Yeah, I now see where you and Liquid are going.. Some hint of dress on the right is needed..
Good thing there's time still:-)

Nikolai

Annie,

Annie222 wrote:

I was going to try something like this with maybe work clothes and muddy hands, dirty mark on face maybe with one of my children showing the natural side (organic) and the dessed up side (artifical - for a child at least)

Edit - I'll loan you a child if you like (got 4 of em), some days 4 to many!.

Thanks for stopping by!
I think I'll pass on that loan, though :-)

richtersl

I think you're on to something with this idea. I like it!!

You should get a job as a makeup artist.

BistiArt

Jus ONE Pic?

Nikolai wrote:

Thank you for the straight C&C, appreciate it!

Nik and Liq(uidAir)

You guys rock...

Innovation is the modest theme of your colloquy, while stretching beyond the ridiculous to the sublime.

Nik, you certainly have fertile ideas...

You gonna explain how you did it in ONE picture? Some of us are not as far up the path...

Nikolai

Linda,

richtersl wrote:

I think you're on to something with this idea. I like it!!

Thank you!

richtersl wrote:

You should get a job as a makeup artist.

No, no, no, she actually *is* my MUA.
And assistant.
And she models, too.
Sometimes it pays back to have your own kids
Cheers!

LiquidAir

Nikolai wrote:

Sometimes it pays back to have your own kids

She did a great job on the makeup. You have an excellent assistant.

My kid turns 3 in July. He loves to help but he still need a little practice following instructions (he is a lot like my cat in that respect...) As a result, most of my competition shots are chosen to be things I can work on after his 8pm bedtime. I hope in a few years we will be able to go out shooting together.

That said, I have one idea for this cycle that he can help with We'll see if that comes together.

Nikolai

BistiArt wrote:

Nik and Liq(uidAir)
You guys rock...
Innovation is the modest theme of your colloquy, while stretching beyond the ridiculous to the sublime.
Nik, you certainly have fertile ideas...

Thanks, Joe!
I think Liquid Air and I were tied up enough times to skip the PC talk

BistiArt wrote:

You gonna explain how you did it in ONE picture? Some of us are not as far up the path...

Easy: it's called creative makeup:-) Hence the title..

Nikolai

LiquidAir wrote:

She did a great job on the makeup. You have an excellent assistant.

My kid turns 3 in July. He loves to help but he still need a little practice following instructions (he is a lot like my cat in that respect...) As a result, most of my competition shots are chosen to be things I can work on after his 8pm bedtime. I hope in a few years we will be able to go out shooting together.

That said, I have one idea for this cycle that he can help with We'll see if that comes together.

Start them while they are still young:-)

Can't wait to see what you're gonna come up with!

Nikolai

Version 2
Fixes:

batterfly light (more symmetrical)
dress strap added to the "night" side
hair light added
no separation line in PP

Same title, same model and same idea, though:-)

The Oldest Trick In The Book II:



What do you say, yeah or nay?

PaulThomasMcKee

Yea. Very well done.

richtersl

Nikolai wrote:

What do you say, yeah or nay?

Bravo! Красивейше сделано!


(I hope Babelfish got that right!)

Nikolai

richtersl wrote:

Bravo! Красивейше сделано!

(I hope Babelfish got that right!)

Hide! Russians are coming!
Linda, thank you!
Yes, babelfish works like a charm:-)

kingmamaof2

Ooo, I like this new version...well done!!

Nikolai

kingmamaof2 wrote:

Ooo, I like this new version...well done!!

Thank you!

Aurora

IMHO:

I Love the first....on the left, she looks shy and casual, whereas on the left she looks confident and modern. For me, the second does not impart that "personality". It's more literal, makeup on one side and not the other. I understand the symmetry approach, but think the first one delivers more.

I love the beads and how the transition blends accross the shoulder area in the second. Have you tried softening the transition area on the first?

I find the white to black transition across the top harsh, have you considered croping at the top of the hair?

Great Ideas for LPS#4!

Nikolai

Aurora wrote:

IMHO:

I Love the first....on the left, she looks shy and casual, whereas on the left she looks confident and modern. For me, the second does not impart that "personality". It's more literal, makeup on one side and not the other. I understand the symmetry approach, but think the first one delivers more.

I love the beads and how the transition blends accross the shoulder area in the second. Have you tried softening the transition area on the first?

I find the white to black transition across the top harsh, have you considered croping at the top of the hair?

Great Ideas for LPS#4!

Thank you very much, appreciate your C&C!

I'm not sure I'm getting the "harshess of the black-to-white transition" comment right. They are physically two different foam boards, they are important part of the whole juxtaposition, IMHO. Can you please elaborate on it? TIA!

Aurora

Nikolai wrote:

Thank you very much, appreciate your C&C!

I'm not sure I'm getting the "harshess of the black-to-white transition" comment right. They are physically two different foam boards, they are important part of the whole juxtaposition, IMHO. Can you please elaborate on it? TIA!

The harsh line distracted me a little, I scrolled down on the screen to cover it, and it eliminated that problem for me...thus the cropping suggestion.

I don't think blending for the b&w would help, I agree it would take away from your light vs dark. The simple approach is to crop it out, it gets rid of the distracting line, but you still have your white background on one side and black on the other.

Hope this helps!

Nikolai

Aurora wrote:

The harsh line distracted me a little, I scrolled down on the screen to cover it, and it eliminated that problem for me...thus the cropping suggestion.

I don't think blending for the b&w would help, I agree it would take away from your light vs dark. The simple approach is to crop it out, it gets rid of the distracting line, but you still have your white background on one side and black on the other.

Hope this helps!

Thank you, I see your point!

Nikolai

Submitted...
After thinking it over I decided to submit a combined version, mostly based on the v.1.
Reason: while v.2 was more symmetrical and overall better technically, it lacked the soul, IMHO.

Here's the v.3:

The Oldest Trick In The Book



EXIF:
Date Modified 2007-04-23 23:09:16
Date Taken 2007-04-19..21
Camera: Canon EOS 30D + EF 70-200L f/2.8 IS USM + PW + Sunpack 555AutoEx
Exposure Time: 1/250s
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 100
Focal Length: 173mm
Photo Dimensions: 600 x 800
File Size: 87.91 KB

I'm fairly pleased with the result (which is my primary point in the whole LPS thing anyway ), so as long as I don't get brand new totally brilliant idea I'm gonna stay with this version

I really appreciate everybody's comments and critique, it made me think a lot and I hope, improve a lot. However, at some point one needs to make a decision...

And here's the bonus for those who decided to stop by one more time: "The Making Of.."

Annie222

Thanks for the making of picutre - it explains it all.

Are you concerned that the entry before yours is similar, not the same but similar ? Im only asking because I thought the doll photo was very simlar to mine and wondered if posting in the forum was giving people ideas that they wouldn't have gotten had I not posted.

Nikolai

Annie222 wrote:

Thanks for the making of picutre - it explains it all.

Gald you liked it :-)

Annie222 wrote:

Are you concerned that the entry before yours is similar, not the same but similar ? Im only asking because I thought the doll photo was very simlar to mine and wondered if posting in the forum was giving people ideas that they wouldn't have gotten had I not posted.

No, not in the least... I know I did the best I could under the circumstances. Important thing is that I'm satisfied with the result, whether or not it makes top ten in this round does not really matter

However, I think things would change a bit in the Semifinals:-)

Cheers!

Flyinggina

Annie222 wrote:

Are you concerned that the entry before yours is similar, not the same but similar ? Im only asking because I thought the doll photo was very simlar to mine and wondered if posting in the forum was giving people ideas that they wouldn't have gotten had I not posted.

Not to worry Annie. If memory serves, 3 steaming tea pots(or maybe it was two, I haven't gone back to check) were in the top 10 of LPS #1. It would seem that the judges pick each photo on its merits and do not exclude one with a similar theme if they really like it too.

Good luck!!

Virginia

sherstone

Nikolai wrote:

And here's the bonus for those who decided to stop by one more time: "The Making Of.."

Thanks for the "The making of" -- very informative and cool to see, I love your foam board holder

Great choice in combining elements from both shoots to achieve the technical aspects and keep the soul, her mouth says so much in the first and final image.

Your knowledge of the dark side, shines through in the light.

Nikolai

sherstone wrote:

Thanks for the "The making of" -- very informative and cool to see, I love your foam board holder

Great choice in combining elements from both shoots to achieve the technical aspects and keep the soul, her mouth says so much in the first and final image.

Your knowledge of the dark side, shines through in the light.

Thank you!
I thought it would be useful to share the "behind the scenes" look... :-)
Appreciate your kind words!