May model shoot

[davidc]

I'll leave the "genre" of this shoot undeclared after the controversy over the last one
Again, forum rules prohibit linking to a reasonable resolution



L'Air Mystique by David, on Flickr


Because We're Worth It by David, on Flickr


This Photographer Is Driving Me Insane by David, on Flickr

One more to come but it's 11pm and I don't have time to finish processing it

Originals are here -

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[Paul Heester]

Nice crop on the first image, really improves composition. The pp work on the second image is really good, fantastic skin tones.

[davidc]

Cheers! She did make the whole process a lot easier it has to be said.

I've actually reuploaded image 1 - something looked funny and her eyes were too BRIGHT WHITE. I checked back for the final PSD and I hadn't toned down the dodging - in the end I decided to just hide that layer entirely so her eyes are "as-is" from the mono conversion. I did experiment with a version of #1 where I photoshopped out all the wayward hair on the right but it looked very wrong and the hair motion is part of the shot anyway. Better to just crop out. The best composition element of all is that behind her there are two painter/decorators on a ladder I had to squat down at a specific angle so her body hid them. You should see the BTS photos

The PP was definitely something I had fun learning on this. Skin smoothing for me always looks super fake so I've tried toning it down and showed the "before" shots to show how good her complexion was anyway. I think I've got a pretty good method for it now that I can tone up or down depending on what is needed. Changing her hair colour to ginge was fun and though her eye colour swap has worked, I don't really think it's noticeable. Still, the technique has proven it works.

Just had a first pass at this one, thoughts? Not sure I'm finished yet so C&C appreciated.


kim4_test by David, on Flickr

[davidc]

Ended up going with this one with some subtle tweaks.

"Tired of Building Snowmen" is the title I went for. I continue to avoid twee, overly emotional titles for portraits and try to keep it slightly irreverant.

C&C on all is, as ever, welcome.


Tired Of Building Snowmen by David, on Flickr

[Mike Farley]

It does look as though that final shot has not been fully uploaded and is incomplete?

[davidc]

In what sense? It renders fully for me at work/home/mobile, can you do a print screen & upload? Maybe it's a local forum issue for you?

[Paul Heester]

Presume the foliage was a shade of green so the pp work to cool this down complements her features nicely. Im wondering if she'd had her arms stretched out either side whether it would have given greater depth to image, just a vague thought

A judge may say the top strip past her head is blown out but I know you would never clip the highlights! Im starting to worry I may be thinking like a judge

[davidc]

It was, the same hedge is visible on the earlier shots. I tweaked it to look like IR foliage in photoshop and liked how it made the image feel.

If a judge said it was blown out then they would be wrong I have histograms to prove it! And capped levels at 254 in contrast changes anyway, there's no 100% pure white in the frame.

[Mike Farley]

In what sense? It renders fully for me at work/home/mobile, can you do a print screen & upload? Maybe it's a local forum issue for you?

Strange, it is working for me now as well. As you say, probably just a local issue at this end.

[Mike Farley]

If a judge said it was blown out then they would be wrong I have histograms to prove it! And capped levels at 254 in contrast changes anyway, there's no 100% pure white in the frame.

You think those who sit over us would be worried about histograms and the like? It is far from unheard of for a judge to invent a spurious technical issue to justify marking down an image they do not particularly like, rather than simply admit that the shot is not doing anything for them.