Sleeping Beauty 1 (Warning - nudity)

[GB1]

Taken yesterday at Joshua Tree, California.

C&C welcome. This was originally a vertical format, hence cropped quite a bit here. I am interested on how this works.

Tons more images to edit. Nikon D200.

Gb

[Tyson L. Sparks]

This might be more of my personal preference rather than a C&C but Ithink the subject is too small and the rock too big. But thats just me. I think also it might be a tad over exposed but that is another preference. I would try warming it up some. Do you mind if I edit it?

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Sorry but I seen it said it was ok to edit at the bottom of the screen.

[gahspidy]

GB, I think this is not bad, but the model just does not stand out strong enough for me from the rock she is laying on. Partly because both she and the rock are slanting diagonally together so the lines blend and also the lighting here is uniform on both the rock and her. Tysons crop and warming is ok, but I don't feel that it is better or worse just different. For this shot as it is posed, I see you coming down on the bg exposure and skimming over the model with an off camera light. This might get her to show more dramtically off of the rock and create a little more mood.
Again, I think this is not bad, i just feel she is blending in too much and some lighting could help this.
nice stuff

[GB1]

Tyson - I like your edit, but wonder if the golden filtration goes too far. I could crop it some more but compositionally I don't want to cramp her any more. And I like seeing the Joshua tree back there .. places it Realize also that she was in direct sunlight, even if the sun was ~ 1.5 hr from setting. In the desert it's hard to find that middle ground - it's either bright sunlight or dark shadow. That's the challenge out there.

Gary - Thks, she does blend it quite a bit. I guess that is a problem. There was no real, easy way to provide supplemental lighting - and you would first have to answer 'What type of lighting' since she is already completely lit. Perhaps another color using a portable lighting system. Hmmm. Yeah, perhaps.. there's always possibilities, and I think that's a very legitimate one.

I have a week's worth of review and editing to do. Some will have even more contrast than this one. I guess I will learn a few PP tricks along the way this week,

G

[Greg McCary]

I am not sure what Tyson done but I like the edit. Crop and color looks a little better to me. Looks as though you might have sharpened it Tyson?

[GB1]

Tyson, it's official then - You're hired.

[F-15_Flyer]

That crops definetely where its at.

GB1:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...lver_Gold.html

[gahspidy]

It really has not been cropped much at all. your just looking at a smaller size image. the main editing has been the bumping up of contrast and warmer tones. the warmer tones might look more appealing and the increased contrast brings the model out further, but i prefer more space around her as in the original.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

I am not argueing back and forth, just adding my"opinion". I like to see warm pictures of people, with nice skin tone. All I did was changed the color space from RGB to lab color and adjusted the curves. I darkened it a tad bit and adjusted the a and b to 100 and -100 on the a and b. I also unmasked sharpened it at 150%-2 radius-threshold 1 that was all. It is like my standard work flow with CS2.Very seldom do I PP any more than that.Being a typical man I never would have payed much attention to the tree in tha back ground. Especially when it comes to people pictures, I am always looking at the person not the back ground cloths or no cloths. The big rock and the tree are just in the way to me. The towel is a nice addition. I like it where it is, leaves something for the imagination. Also my "opinion" I don't like unsharp images. But I am more of a photojournalist than and artist. Remember that it is just my opinion, others seem to like the original better. Beautiful model you have there by the way.


I also took the shadow out of her arm pit because it looked like a grease smug.

[Tyson L. Sparks]

Dang GB1, you have got some great stuff on your web page. With images like that, who am I to speak out. nice stuff!

[GB1]

Thanks everyone, for commenting.

F-15 - We actually used reflectors throughout the shoot, just not on this shot. This one was almost in direct sunlight. I guess it was possible to illuminate her w/ the gold here too.. with that light, it would probably mean decreasing the exposure a tad, making the surrounding areas (around her) darker. Probably worth a try to see what it looked like, but all hindsight now.

Gary/Tyson - It's all perception and opinion when it comes to art (in my opinion ), though there are globally accepted likes and dislikes. I've also read -- and agree with -- that people shots should lean towards the warm. Funny how you don't notice the rocks and trees.. I always notice the surroundings in shots, I guess I often see the bigger picture and how the objects fit together, rather than the details. I really didn't think that the original was unsharp, but feel Tyson's sharpened image is better (I'm always weary of sharpening too much...... can introduce artifacts and distortion and also produce an over-processed look, but this looks good).

Tyson - Thanks for the review of my website. I'm still working on it, whenever I find the time between photography Yeah she was a really good model... will post more images from the shoot before too long.

gb

[Overbeyond]

I know nothing about the technical end as far as this type of photography is concerned but I will say that she looks comfortably posed on what can only be very uncomfortable condidions. I also think the lighting is not too bad, so it works well for me.

[jgredline]

I also Like the edit too...If I may add...Kudos in a ''classy'' non pornographic photo..
It is nice to see true ''art'' for what it is..

[GB1]

I know nothing about the technical end as far as this type of photography is concerned ..

Yeah, sure .. whatever you say. (lol) Thanks. We were careful about not making her uncomfortable, as it's my feeling that this inevitably translates into the photograph.

As for the lighting, the more I look at Tyson's edit the more I like it. I will probably work on this image and make it very similar to his w.r.t. colors and perhaps cropping.

J - Thanks for the compliment. The was definitely the intent, making art.. Sometimes it doesn't work out but I'm glad this one appears to have worked. The model has a fine art background and was really interested in posing in artistic ways. Too bad I didn't really do my homework beforehand. Luckily, a friend of mine (also a photographer) was there to help pose her and he was the one who had the idea of the towel. I think it worked well also.

G