the devil's hands

couldn't decide whether i wanted to share this one or not...but in the end I figured what the hey, why not.

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/5374/untitled1pj8.jpg

AHHHHHHH GOD! that is such an awesome photo. there isnt a single thing i can complain about, or as some like to call " advanced critique"... jk. the composition, the concept, the DOF, the orange color cast...its all perfect. i also love the PP work. it is flawless. great job.

Whoa.

Far out man.

Dang. That's flippin sweet dude.

that's really cool :) you did a good job.

I only have 2 questions Brent:

1- is that a makeup job on his hands or is it all done in Photoshop?

2 - what were you on when you dreamt that one up?....and can i have some ?? =)

Interesting, unique and creative image Brent! :thumbsup: You did a really good job with laying this one out. Excellent imagery and execution. I particularly like your lighting set up and that the eyes are darkened on the "model"(is that you?). Just to play devil's advocate,(:lol:) did you consider toning this with a deep red or maybe a poison green? Could be interesting, anyway it's just a thought. Great job with the experiment ~ I would call it a huge success!

I really like this but for me its not dark enough to go with the title.

I would darken out the arms so that all you have is the body with the hands unconnected to the body. and burn in the highlights on the body so its just visible.

Just a suggestion.

Roger

afdlips- Thanks for the compliments. I think this is one image that I would not change if I had the opportunity to, as far as placement and lighting and everything. one of the few. it comes from shooting it once, then going "ok, we're going to redo this" because I had a better idea of what I was striving for.

Mr Yuck- Thanks!

Sweetdeal- thank you as well!

Jaedon - all PS, I have no skills as far as makeup goes... the very tricky part was shooting it so that the hands had some shadows and details on them to help lend themselves to the eyes better. But like I said, after the first shoot I rethought things and did it again. Haha, not tripping on anything. It comes as a biproduct of both seeing other photographers' work and watching pan's labyrinth a couple days ago. I had this idea a little while back when i didn't know how to do much with PS, so I couldn't pull it off, but I figured it was time to try it again.

CLK, thanks for the praise, and yes, I have tried a few other colors. The deep red worked well, but combined with the eyes I felt it was a bit too dark. The green just took the focus away from the bright eyes. I also have one where it is toned completely dark blue which I like but the mood is significantly changed.

Roger - thank you very much for the tips and suggestion, this could even lead to another shoot in order to accomplish the floating hands idea.

This is remarkable Brent. With each post I gain more and more respect for your creativity and photographic abilities.

Whoa. Creeps me out - but I can't stop looking at it! Flawless.

OK, I will ask the obvious question that everyone seems to have missed.

After all the work with concept, lighting, postprocessing etc., why such poor framing?

Ronnoco

because I like it that way.

Not my cup of tea. But I must say this is some great photography. This is movie poster, professional quality. I wasn't kidding when I said teach the class. If you choose photography for your future, you will do well Brent. I am glad to have the chance to see your early work. Nice....
Greg

Great work, Brent. I personally feel the framing is strong as it is. I would not think that centering the image so that both hands are showing equally and head in the middle would be the strongest approach. I like seeing more of the one hand and only half of the other eye. Good PP. Did you get any inspiration for this from the movie "Pans Labyrinthe" ?
Well done.

Nice Brent!
I like the framing of it.
Jimmy B

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Greg McCary

Not my cup of tea. But I must say this is some great photography. This is movie poster, professional quality. I wasn't kidding when I said teach the class. If you choose photography for your future, you will do well Brent. I am glad to have the chance to see your early work. Nice....
Greg

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Greg, again, thanks for the compliments, and just say we have a pretty wonderful instructor as it is. Some of her work can be found here... http://www.artnet.com/artist/4240192...-holcombe.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gahspidy

Great work, Brent. I personally feel the framing is strong as it is. I would not think that centering the image so that both hands are showing equally and head in the middle would be the strongest approach. I like seeing more of the one hand and only half of the other eye. Good PP. Did you get any inspiration for this from the movie "Pans Labyrinthe" ?
Well done.

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My thoughts also. I played around with a lot of PP on this shot, and I have one that is symmetrical but I really don't like the composition as much as this one. and yeah, i did draw inspiration, but it was more of an inspiration to revisit it since I had thought of this idea earlier before I had a good grasp on photoshop, so i wasn't able to do it. It just gave me the opportunity to go back and try it again. With the approval of my photo workshop prof., I am now beginning my project extending this idea even farther.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jimmy B

Nice Brent!
I like the framing of it.
Jimmy B

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Thanks Jimmy!

WoW Brent...

Really good job on that one..:thumbsup:

wow thats some great ps work it looks so natural not that hands are meant to have eyes but natural in the way that the eyes look like they actually belong there if that makes sense lol. great shot i love it.

Jay

Tremendous job, Brent! What a fun image! Sorry can't really critique but I did want to let you know that I enjoyed it.

I don't know how you did it, but I can easily see that image on a cover of a music CD (do they still sell those?).

:thumbsup:

Brent I wish you would post this one over in the gallery. I know I want to mark it as a favorite and I think a lot of the regulars over there will get a real kick out of this image. Once again well done.

OT,

I was thinking I would like to wait until my project is complete, but I figured since I already posted it here I might as well put it up in the gallery. Just an FYI, I won't be posting the other 4-5 shots of this series until the series is complete. I already have one more done :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by livin4lax09

because I like it that way.

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Too bad. It weakens an otherwise creative photo to the point that it would not be accepted in some venues.

Ronnoco

good thing I'm not shooting for galleries then, huh?

what is most important to me is liking the outcome. If someone suggest a crop or edit I don't like, I won't do it. If they don't like the image as it is, then it's too bad, because I refuse to change my vision just to suit what someone else wants, and I feel that's what sets real artists apart from others.

I was looking to make a comparison to another photographer's work, who shot the normal stuff in life, just fairly mundane stuff. His first gallery showing brought upon many criticism's, including Ansel Adams, who stated that he didn't deserve to be shown. But he didn't change his work. I don't necessarily LIKE his photos, but I respect the way he went about it, he didn't shoot and live his life for others, he shot what he wanted to and showed what he was happy with, whether it was accepted by photography legends like adams or not. If anyone could tell me what the name of this photographer is, I'd appreciate it. His two most iconic images are the light bulb on the red ceiling and the giant tricycle. Thanks.

EDIT: But let this not leave the impression that I do not accept ideas for how to make improvements. If this came across as me being unwilling to change, this is not what i intended it as. I simply am unwilling to change for others while ignoring my own personal opinion, commonly referred to as "selling out." That said, I still love to hear people's suggestions for improvement, because many times another set of eyes will notice something that can be improved upon that the original photographer missed or simply didn't think of. :)

William Eggleston is who you are thinking of.

Cheers
Mike

Thank you very much Mike. I was running a complete blank on the name.