First shots from new studio - work warning - sexy but no nudity

[Arctirus]

Well as the topic states these are some of the first shots from my new home studio. My fiance who is also a photographer fortunately makes a great model, at least in my opinion, as well. I've got black, white and red paper backdrops and a couple alienbees 800 w/s strobes with softboxes. I'm also in the process of trying to jerry-rig a flash to use as a hair light as I can't afford a third strobe just yet.

I'm normally not into doing very much retouching but all of these are what I consider to be fairly heavily retouched.

First shot:



Although exposed normally I increased the contrast and darkened this shot significantly. Does it work or is it too dark?

Second shot:



Slightly darkened as well and given a green hue. Again, is it effective or too dark?

Third shot:



Although originally shot in a red backdrop (all of these are against red) I increased sharpness, contrast and added the yellow / brown hue.

[JK_Photo]

Well as the topic states these are some of the first shots from my new home studio. My fiance who is also a photographer fortunately makes a great model, at least in my opinion, as well. I've got black, white and red paper backdrops and a couple alienbees 800 w/s strobes with softboxes. I'm also in the process of trying to jerry-rig a flash to use as a hair light as I can't afford a third strobe just yet.

I'm normally not into doing very much retouching but all of these are what I consider to be fairly heavily retouched.

First shot:



Although exposed normally I increased the contrast and darkened this shot significantly. Does it work or is it too dark?

Second shot:



Slightly darkened as well and given a green hue. Again, is it effective or too dark?

Third shot:



Although originally shot in a red backdrop (all of these are against red) I increased sharpness, contrast and added the yellow / brown hue.

I don't claim to be an expert in the studio but I'd like to comment anyway.
Concerning the first shot with yellow hue. I think it is an interesting pose, however I would like to see her feet. I think it loses a lot by cutting off her feet, especially at the ankles. It appears she's wearing a stilletto(correct me if i'm wrong) which would heighten the "sexiness" of this image. In short I would include her whole body. I'm not crazy about the colour. I think I'd pump up the contrast even more and try to remove the yellow hue from the model - limit it to the background.
The middle shot I really like although the position of her leg is a little confusing. Hard to tell it is a leg and that makes me look and go "Cool face, what's that other bit"? But I do like the juxtaposition and the toning of the image.
The third shot suffers in the same way as the first. I feel a need to see her entire body in the shot. You've included enough of her leg to justify including all of it. Do you know what I mean? The pose is nice and the backgroundshadows are soft. Maybe it's just my monitor but i"d open up the shadows on the left side of her body. I don't know how much space you have but if you could move her farther from the background I think that would be an improvement as well.
I'm trying to set up a studio for myself as well. I'm also looking at the Alienbees 800's. They look like a good deal.

[Arctirus]

Yeah, I would have liked to see her feet in the yellow shot too but being as that they were stilettos they were poking rather obvious holes in the paper backdrop so I had to cut that off and have her stand right at the edge instead.

I wasn't sure about seeing her other foot in the B&W shot. I could have included it but I would have lost the tight framing I have this way for her being lost in a sea of backdrop.

[JK_Photo]

Concerning the backdrop, I notice there's a bend in it where it hits the floor. If you pulled it forward more and weighted the corners it wouldn't bend at such an acute angle. More of a swoop than a bend. You would minimise that hot spot(hotter, not hot) and make the floor and background blend more seamlessly.
As for the shoe heel on the paper. That's a tough one. Is it carpet underneath? I'm wondering if you have some large, flat, hard material you could place underneath the paper so her heel won't go through. Or a room without carpet.

[Arctirus]

Thanks, good idea about pulling the background forward. There is very thin solid indoor / outdoor carpet underneath but that's only because being against the rough concrete of my basement floor would make the background even worse.

[McMadCow]

The third shot is my favorite. It's an interesting and dynamic pose and the lighting effect is really cool. Personally, I think the fact that her feet are cut off actually adds slightly to the effect of motion, so I'm not complaining. The second one isn't necessarily too dark or too hued for my tastes, but I'm just not really getting anything from it. I don't even know why, maybe it just needs slightly more subject matter. That's hardly a criticism, tho, because it's totally a personal reaction. I think I would probably really like the first shot alot if I didn't see such wierd issues with her complexion. It looks blotchy to me in a distracting sort of way that shouldn't be distracting in this particular kind of picture. Otherwise, great start in the new studio. Congrats!