Kristine the Conqueror

PhotosbyKW · August 28, 2009

This is a photo that I took of Kristine in MI. last year. The knife is from the movie, The Hunted. It comes with the option of kydex plastic or custom leather sheath. It was requested by the man who makes the leather sheaths for the knife.

Her skin and other overall colors were true to scene but her eyes had an unnatural blue tint to them. She'd previously had eyeliner on so that may have had something to do with it, but we didn't notice it at the time. Anyway- Following some good advice here, I spent quite a bit of time getting Vista to save Adobe Gamma settings and then I duplicated the layer and just desaturated the offending areas. I tried to resize it drastically but even at 50 percent, I couldn't get it to load here, so forgive me for having to use the PROOFED one from the Smugmug page. What do yall think of the revision?

NateW · August 28, 2009

So we (I?) can understand better: this was basically a product shoot for the sheath for the knife?

Guessing that this is the case:

Sometimes I've thought that magazines etc. for "more male oriented" products that use a female model tend to forget the product and only worry about the model. If this is what moves product, then OK, but it doesn't work on/for me. I'd suggest a more product centered image; of course she's helping to draw attention to the product, so she's a primary aspect of the image, but the product itself needs to be more of a primary, rather than secondary or tertiary focus point, I'd say.

OK, I've got opinions. They're mine and I share them, maybe too easily.

However.... Bluntly, this is what I saw when I looked a the image:
1) eyes/face
2) eyes/face
3) breast
4) eyes/face
5) your text (where I got the knife sheath bit from)
6) eyes/face
7) knife sheath.

One more comment on model pose/props: the hat being at that angle, with the fluff on her forehead and the general lack of clothing said to me: unrealistic.
I said earlier I prefer realistic!

Forgive me. I know a lot of men prefer a soft-touchable woman, even dressed up as if she's hard and tough, over a truly hard and tough woman.

Like I said, if it moves product...

(Admission: I'm somewhat hesitant to post this....)

PhotosbyKW · August 29, 2009

Thanks. I had struggled with that myself. I was up in MI. and shooting another and the knife was FEDEXed up there with a note, followed by a quick phone call to my host, then forwarded to me as to what he wanted. The model had never even modeled before at all, but she fit his description, and was willing to put up with it. They had this in mind for a poster at the BLADE show in Vegas, but I don't know whether they used her or not. They certainly paid her well, and she's been hooked ever since.

NateW · August 29, 2009

Heh. "Up in Michigan." Heh heh.

May I ask: where in Michigan?
I live pretty south (Brighton, N of Ann Arbor), but used to be in Houghton (Keweenaw Peninsula, UP Michigan).

PhotosbyKW · August 29, 2009

Sorry, My experiences up yonder are rather limited. These were up in the Durand/Flint area. How far is that from you?

We also spent some time up on Bois Blanc Island, which is just a wonderful place to camp, if you get the chance.

KAW.

MissB · August 29, 2009

nate shame on you for looking at her ...
eyes face
eyes face
boobs ... lol jk

Ok..I think its a creative composition for sure.. Im not sure what you were looking for as far as CC but I can tell you my HO. I think generally speaking "less is more" for product photography. I felt very distracted by all that was going on in the image.. the mud, moss, woods, I would have never guessed it was a product photo if I had not read your post. Because the product is sooo low in the image... my attention keeps wandering up to the top 2/3 of the image... and there is something off about her eyes... and expression that is distracting. I dunno.. I picture something covering her face (the hat pulled far forward.... like shes looking down) or even her looking off into the woods to bring my attention back to the sheath... does that make sense?

PhotosbyKW · August 30, 2009

I wish I had thought of that at the time...

NateW · August 30, 2009

PhotosbyKW wrote:

Sorry, My experiences up yonder are rather limited. These were up in the Durand/Flint area. How far is that from you?

We also spent some time up on Bois Blanc Island, which is just a wonderful place to camp, if you get the chance.

KAW.

Brighton is about 45 minutes or so south of Flint; Durand is (shortest) 34 miles or (fastest) 53 minutes.

Bois Blanc Island: wow! That does look like a nice place to go, just based on how far north it is. Being an island near Mackinac, I figure it must be pretty nice on the "naturey" scale, if you will.

PhotosbyKW · August 30, 2009

It was amazing. We spent several days doing primitive camping under a tarp on the isolated upper end. There were turkeys deer, and wolves about in broad daylight. I'll post a couple of photos under the landscape section. They view was pretty spectecular, without much editting at all.

time2smile · August 30, 2009

my 2¢,

Were can I buy one......

These days, this fits right in. The fact that the leather sheath is clean highlights it greatly.
Very nice....thanks for sharing

PhotosbyKW · August 30, 2009

Thanks. I was originally worried about the knife blade being scratched as it had just in from a gear review, but maybe it wasn't that big of a determent.

Knife is a TOPS Tracker, and sheath is from Hedgehog Leatherworks.

KAW.

InsuredDisaster · August 30, 2009

What knife? I couldn't get past the boobs.

Tim Kamppinen · August 31, 2009

NateW wrote:

Heh. "Up in Michigan." Heh heh.

May I ask: where in Michigan?
I live pretty south (Brighton, N of Ann Arbor), but used to be in Houghton (Keweenaw Peninsula, UP Michigan).

Nate, are you a former Techie by any chance? I graduated about a year ago... Just wondering.

(sorry for the thread hijack)

NateW · August 31, 2009

Tim Kamppinen wrote:

Nate, are you a former Techie by any chance? I graduated about a year ago... Just wondering.

(sorry for the thread hijack)

Yep, from 1996! Glad to see a fellow Techie on DGrin!

(wait, I just dated myself, didn't I?

Oh well.)

Kristine the Conqueror

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