From the Proletariat to Our Dearest Leader

[daq7]

First efforts with speedlites. Be gentle. Or don't. It's all the same.

[draymorton]

Excellent. The catchlights in the glasses... perfect.

The only thing I'd change is the redness/saturation in the face and hands, but that's negotiable depending on what you're after.

[daq7]

Thanks Dray. I am inclined to celebrate the colors on the face and the hands, because I dont understand them and they are completely accidental. The hands I think are from the strobe boounce off of a warmish wall. I think the red in my face is accurate to my face. Better red than dead right? It is being hit with the slave bounce primarily which is probably very neutral color because of the white lace curtains it is mostly bouncing off of. I think some warm gel on it might help. But at this point I am congratulating myself one the nice blending between yellow and red.

We do what we have to...

[gahspidy]

Great work, Daq! You got a great mug for portraits i like the hats, glasses and jacket. Whats also good amongst amany things here is that your positioned in between the two arch backs of the sofa allowing you to be sort of framed betwen them.
i agree about the color in the skin. Seems like you were not relying totally on the speedlites but used the ambient light as well, which was most likely a different color temp than your flashes.
Still really well done.
i think this would look awesome in b&w as well.
great stuff!

[daq7]

Yes, the yellow must be from ambient light. I THINK I tried to shut all the lights off, but now I am not sure. Anyway, the details are always so complicated. Which is why they refer them as details I am sure.

[daq7]

Yeah, the hand looks very jaundiced compered to the face, but on the whole I am not sure I want to change it. The mild blending of yellow in the side of my face perhaps balances it?

Not sure.

[daq7]

A second take:



Ivan Albright, the painter that did the painting, "a picture of dorian gray" did a painting called "into the world came a soul named ida." Very creepy picture of advanced decay of a woman who was once a child. Ugly and disturbing, so needless to say it influences me.

[daq7]

By the way, I was wearing nothing from the waste down. Ha.

[LeeIs]

By the way, I was wearing nothing from the waste down. Ha.

haha, a little too much info

I like them both. The 2nd one is better imo.

[BlueRob]

Great composition in both of them.
As for the first agree with the other on the red / yellow saturation (easy fix in Lightroom) also I dont like the chopped hand...since is a first plane thing I would like it to see it all.
The second one has a stronger character IMO, but what ruins the shot is the strange reddish "glow" on some parts of the jacket.
Some vignetting and "painting with light" will make this shot more powerful IMO.
:thumbsup:

[daq7]

Yeah I agree. The jacket needs to be fixed, and in general the texture toned down just a bit.

I sure wish I had the first one with the whole hand. I may try to reshoot. The swivel lcd and the live view make doing this so much easier, because i can mostly see the pose the camera sees. I

[daq7]

I think the second one needs to be recropped as well to remove the distracting crap on the right side.

[BlueRob]

I think the second one needs to be recropped as well to remove the distracting crap on the right side.

I disagree with that mate...well again...everything is a matter of taste and you have obviously a clearer picture of what you intend.

For me the crop is OK as is, just try some vignetting or darkening gradually from the subject towards the outside...that way you keep/ boost the subject without cropping out the surrounding artifacts which add mood to the scene. What I also like is that you show most of the sofa which IMO is good and strengthens the overall composition.

[Frog]

What bothers me in the first is that it looks either like somebody else's hand or a disembodied hand. It is so dominant that it does not appear to be the subject's hand.

I guess your attire limits your composition...for this sight anyway.

[daq7]

Hmm Rob. I think you are probably right. When I rework it I will try that first.