'Ultra' Violeta. Beautiful Belly Dancer

[Michael Campbell]

I stumbled with my size 13 feet into this forum by finding a post by Alison on Belly Dancing.

Since I love photographing Beautiful Belly Dances I joined up, and here I am . I wanted to show some snaps I took a few days ago of a dancer called Violeta in San Diego , she is from Mexico originally and a lovely person as well.

Here are some of the first bunch of digital doodles .

Backgrounds were made with odds and ends like dry ice in the first one .
The Program Bryce with my Mac in the second one.
A shot of Mars in the third one.
A Scottish castle combined with a rock in Anza Borrego, the wild fires approaching my house in 2003 in Scripps Ranch just before it was burned to the ground and a sky effect I snapped in the Loire Valley in France.

Comments are welcome

[Coastal Flyer]

Well, she is and these are. Very creative and fun to view. Really nice photos. I live in San Carlos and had to evacuate during the fires also, but certainly did not endure the loss you did. Sorry to learn of that and hope you have since returned to somewhat "normal" life.

CF

[GB1]

Another SD resident here. Although the bottom shot shows that she might gain a few pounds, the other shots are very nice... the top shot is awesome! The dry ice effect worked well and I think the dancer has an excellant 'head on' pose and portrait. Very nice digital mergings effects as well. I dont know if I'd ever get anything as good as this out of PS.

Sorry to hear about your Scripts Ranch pad... hope you were able to rebuild it even better than before (they sure have those goats working to ensure the same thing doesn't happen again).

[Lava Lamp]

Welcome. These are all very good and creative. The lady is lovely and you show skill with the camera and Mac. I like the first best. The lighting on her face is done well and the dry ice and colors work. I like the second least. The edges of the dancer's body don't quite meld into the background enough -- on second glance she looks a touch pasted in. You can see the same issue in the third photo, but not as much. I like the fourth photo a great deal -- what an incredible background.

Overall, as I wrote, I think these are all very good and creative. I wouldn't be offering a good critique, though, if I didn't wonder if some of them have too much going on and if the backgrounds overwhelm the lady. Also some might find these a bit over the top...

[Alison]

Nice to know my images caught your eye
Yours are very creative. More like "digital art" than my pretty ordinary photographs..
Were these images taken in a studio?

[Michael Campbell]

Wow thanks for the kind words. Thanks also for the useful comments with which I agree, There is more work to be done on these I know. Another lady I photographed was Meera a while back and I went out following weekend to Fonts Point near Borrego and too a snap of the background. I titled this one Scorpion Princess.

There are a couple of versions. I originally made it as a panorama and liked the diagonal in the rocks leading up to her leg. Later I did the more cool background to bring out her skin tones. She could also do an incredible backbend #3.

Yes GB we lost everything when the house blew up I just had time to make it into the street with my wallet. The fire was going down the road at 25 mph and I was the last one to leave Scripps Ranch.
Below is a before "A Room With A View" and below the after. "A View Without A Room" !

We moved back 2 years and 2 weeks after the fire but the house is still not finished. At the moment they are working on th epainting the stairs so I have to go up and down a ladder outside my bedroom window to get downstairs!

[Michael Campbell]

Here is one of Rania
I pinned a $2 bit of orange cloth on the wall to make a background color and refined it in Bryce

[GB1]

Mike - Some very great shots here. I like how you masked her out and got her to look so good on the other backgrounds. The orange peel approached worked !!!

Too bad about your place there. The before and after shots are striking. Good evidence for the insurance adjustors for sure.

Thanks for posting - very inspiring.

GB

[schrackman]

While I am not into belly dancers, I do have to say these are some of the most creative shots I've seen in a long time. If I had to pick favorites it would be the first and third one with the sword, and the last one with the orange backdrop. Great job! My only critique would be the one where there is a fire background. Her smile just doesn't match what is going on in the background, IMO. She should have a more serious look, but that's just my opinion. Keep up the great work and I hope to see more of it soon!!

[Michael Campbell]

While I am not into belly dancers, I do have to say these are some of the most creative shots I've seen in a long time. If I had to pick favorites it would be the first and third one with the sword, and the last one with the orange backdrop. Great job! My only critique would be the one where there is a fire background. Her smile just doesn't match what is going on in the background, IMO. She should have a more serious look, but that's just my opinion. Keep up the great work and I hope to see more of it soon!!

Thanks I need little encourgement !
The last was from a trip to the Grand Canyon after WPPI.