play it again (contains One image)

This is from a shoot I did yesterday

cropped from a larger image because her toes where showing behind the guitar and I've not had time to remove them yet.

Play it again




C&C WELCOME

see if you can work out the lighting on this shot

James

well i dont understand lighting. so i think i will get a good lighting lesson here.

i think its a good shot

The lighting is good (better than the full body one in the gallery where her shoulder is burnt out), and the model is attractive enough, but I not ultra keen on the various cropped off bits - the tuning pegs, her little finger, and her left elbow. I like the guitar prop, although given the naked lady perhaps an electric guitar would be more appropriate?

An effective crop, James. Lovely expression. Gareth is right about the blemish on her wrist, but I like the silver bracelet. The direct gaze is most appealing.

I'm with the other camp James, the crop is not neccessarily to tight but we really need to see the head of the guitar and the tuning pegs, and sorry to say but cropping the girls fingers off is unforgivable, not bothered so much about the arm, and yes, lose the blemish.

Apart from that I think its a superb shot

ok people hear is the full size version of play it again with the scar removed from the models wrist



Play it again (version two full size image)






C&C welcome plus can you work out the lighting for this shot

James

Ok Gareth hears is the lighting

You wasn't far off so to put you out of your misery hear goes

Four studio heads and 4 reflectors where used

1 Rear right hand side light with a soft box 40cm x 120 cm.

2 Rear left umbrella white (shoot through) pointed to her right hand side but also at the background.

Two 6ft flags to stop fall off.

Two gold reflectors, to add colour and to lighten shadow.

3 Front right side 8ft hex soft box for really soft light.

4 Front left beauty light just to fill in on her face.

Gareth hope that make sense and thank you for trying

James

Gareth

lighter is brighter as the going goes did you see in the wind video early this year.?

I think if it was just head shot you can get away with two lights but not full body.

James

any way i'm pleased with the shot and the young lady is over the moon

Can we see a shot without the guitar

Sorry, but someone had to say it

I like this one James, it just needs a bit off the top, I can see Gareths point about the leg but it doesn't really bother me.

If you really want a tighter dcop my suggestion would be to crop to just below the sound hole and just above the head of the guitar, that would leave you with awkward bit of knee on the left and arm on the right which I feel would be better cloned out.

Of course you could crop even tighter to just below the bracelet and frets but that would cut through the sound hole.

Looks good, I prefer the full body shot. I don't mind her right leg, in fact i quite like it - looks nice and flexible

I would be tempted to have a go at cloning out the fingerprints on the guitar.

Alan and Tim

valuable observation again thank you.

I quite like the right leg and foot but wished I'd see the toes of the left foot.

I must admit it's one hell of a big step from head shoots to full length.
Gareth try looking at this man good trailer I may even buy his video

James

There are three sorts of photograph, differentiated by their individual purposes.

First, there is the record shot - pictures of teeth, or crime scenes, or houses for sale. They do not concern us here.

Then there is the memory picture. The dog, the daughter, the mistress; in other words, the near and dear, especially poignant when the subject is afar, or dead. Holidays, the first car, and similar subjects, are also record pictures. They need not be technically competent; their purpose is not to excite, but to aid reminiscence. Usually, they are of little interest to others.

The final sort is the real photograph. It generally needs to be technically beyond reproach, but it also needs something else - which I call the Wow! factor. By art or artifice, it needs to make the viewer sit up and take notice. To say, "Wow! I wish I had been there, or taken that, or knew that person".

Coming to the particular, this picture of the girl with the guitar is certainly technically competent, in the sense that it is in focus, properly exposed, and fairly well lit.

Taking the uncropped version first, there are however a couple of problems. The composition is not perfect. The pose appears a little forced, and the right leg has joined the ranks of the the homeless. And there is another problem, which affects the cropped version also.

Any picture of a person in which the face is prominent needs to tell us something about that person. I don't mean that she lives in Barnsley and likes knitting. I mean that we expect to be told something about her personality, her mood, what she is like to know, to be around.

And for that, the photographer needs to establish a rapport with his model. Especially when the picture is of a young woman, there has to be an almost palpable interaction between photographer and subject.

This can be difficult to achieve, especially if the model is young and comely, and the photographer is balding, fat, and middle-aged, as many are. If this is the case, then the model needs to be able to act, to simulate the effect of the chemistry that flowed between, for instance, Jean Shrimpton and Bailey.

Unfortunately, there is not a lot of chemistry on show in this picture; indeed, the model looks just a trifle bored, and so, sadly, both versions of the picture fail to elicit a Wow!

The girl is presumably an amateur, and perhaps the shoot had gone on for too long. Short and sharp is best, and it is always a good idea to try to involve the model in the process. This model is wondering when the shoot is going to end.

G

Fetches tin hat and pulls up a chair.

dunno about the pic not getting the WOW factor - but I've just had a WOW minute

She does look a bit bored and fed up and, James, you are right about the toes!

Someone recently posted a link to a fashion shoot with an iPhone where you can see how a professional model works her face constantly.

The lighting is good but TBH I thought it was one big softy, a big reflector and a hair light with a lot of bounce from the paper BG.