Take Me Slumming

[draymorton]

Not finished, but I'm going to need to send this to the sub.

I know I need to fix the right corner of the dress and the skin texture... and clone out the lines. No biggie. Mainly wondering...

How's the brightness level?

Does the crop work? I want to keep it basically as is, but should I: crop up a little (and I mean just a little)? Should I crop farther down into the dress? Should I crop in tighter altogether?

SHould she be centered or off to the right/left?

And anything else pressing you can think of.

Thank y'all.

p.s. I hope everyone has managed to stay reasonably unscathed this week. (Next up: locusts)

[Didache]

Hiya dray ... I love the idea to bits. The very girly dress combined with the macho tractor is very appealing. I like the pose too .. cut off just where it is. And no, I wouldn't offset her - she is the centre of attention. The light top right is rather on the fierce side though. I know you are going to work on it, but I think it will need a fair bit in that corner.

Small point - but I love the way her toenail colour matches the tractor paint. It's little things like that which count.

Cheers
Mike

[Greg McCary]

I agree with Mike on the upper right. Other than that well done.

[draymorton]

Thank you both. I really appreciate the feedback.

The light - I added it in to create a glow. Should I remove it? Just reduce it a little?

[armando_m]

Awesome !

The light on the corner gives the impression of fog into the far trees, which is nice, but looks unnatural on the dress given that the rest of the image is clearly visible, the foggy light on one corner of the dress almost looks like flare

[Didache]

dray ... only you know what you want to achieve with this image. The question to me is: Does the flare add anything to the image, or take away from it? Personally, the pose, the contrast between girl and tractor, and all the luscious details and textures, is interest enough. The flare, it seems to me, diverts the attention from the more interesting part of the picture. Perhaps you were trying to do something with the unfortunate bit of sky? If so, would cloning trees into that space work better?

Mike

[arne saknussen]

Very well done, Dray. Compared to the other shot a few months back, the subject, to me, is connected to the environment much more convincingly and really works in this shot. There are also a lot of storytelling possibilities as well.

[LeeIs]

love the feel of this. really well done. you tend to achieve a nice atmosphere to your shots.

i kind of want to see a bit more of the girl. there's an easy tension of being 'cutoff' for me. sorry can't help on how much more i wanna see, i'll probably know it if i see it though.

good stuff man.

[gahspidy]

Love the idea here, Seth. Excellent concept and as always has your signature style all over it.

I agree with Mike, especially in his second reply to you. There is interest enough in concept and detail that whatever your trying to achieve with the lighting in the upper right does not seem needed.

I am bothered a bit by the open area of foliage in the upper right (maybe its to do with my OCD) but I can't help but feel tension about it and want to close that space up. Fill it in with the foliage and lose the foggy effect?...
Her right shin seems to look a bit dodged and I'd suggest reducing that somewhat.

Honestly, I feel its really very good as it is now.

Bravo

[Overbeyond]

Sorry to be negative on this one Seth but I feel this lacks the subtlety of your other Girl On Tractor images. While the idea is similar, I feel composition wise this image is not coming together for me. I think I would enjoy this more if we saw far less of the tractor wheel, say, loosing the bottom up as far as the metal rim, just below the muck. Also I think not seeing her hands would be better too. This of course will alter the whole shape; something you may not be happy with.
As usual, with all your work, originality takes center stage so who am I to criticize?

[draymorton]

Thank you one and all for your feedback. It's important that I make this image work as well as it can, because I have to send it to the subject, hopefully without making a fool out of myself.

armando - thanks! I was hoping it would look more flare-ish than anything else.

Mike - thanks and points taken. I wasn't trying to cover up the sky with the flare, but yours and Gary's idea of cloning out the blue is a good one.

arne - thanks!

Liban - okay. I was trying to decide whether or not to include more or less of her up there. I'll try reposting an edit in a bit.

Gary - thanks. I removed the flare and will try cloning out the sky, too. And yeah, the leg, I know it needs fixing in a couple areas, including the dodged area that you mentioned.

Tom - thanks. Whether I'm happy with it or not doesn't matter. All that matters right now is whether she is happy with it.

Here's a crop closer to what you had in mind - with minimized flare. I know you wanted the wheel cropped out even more, but what do you think in general? Are we getting closer to something usable? I really do need to make something out of what I have before a reshoot will be possible...



p.s. thanks, but originality means nothing if the image doesn't work.

[ksbryan0]

Wow, I didn't think I'd like it better without the hands visible, but I think I do! Perhaps the crop is too tight - I'd like see more space on either side of the dress...especially the missing point of the dress on the right hand side of the image. Does the image really need the minimized flare on the right side? I really admire your creativity on this shoot!

[corei5]

I like the cropped version, nicely captured.

[arne saknussen]

Excellent crop, Dray! No hands actually adds to the story. Its like; "Daddy was supposed to take a picture of me, but I guess he loves his tractor more." (Just one story, I see others too.)

[Overbeyond]

Yes Seth, I think it is an all round better image now. Could the flare on the right be got rid of?

[gahspidy]

I think Tom had the right idea here ( I always trust that one)and the crop is an improvement and eleiminates the questionable issues of the sky and subjects cut off spot.
This is looking good.

[hminx]

Personal preference for the second version, it seem to concentrate your mind better as there is a lot less to distract

[timwaters77]

I like the first one better... It just balances better. I don't mind the lens flare that much either. I see it and I think "early morning".

[nitin]

the cropped version looks quite good to me