An ordinary guy

draymorton · 11-28-2009, 08:41 PM

Outtake from recent shoot. Unfinished.

Overbeyond · 11-29-2009, 03:49 AM

Dray; your creativity has no end. Just a little light around the eyes and bob will be your uncle.

Overbeyond · 11-29-2009, 05:11 AM

Dray the background is so out of context that it works brilliantly.
Brilliant bloody background.
Oh! I could look at this forever.

draymorton · 11-29-2009, 05:31 AM

Thanks a lot, Tom! I've always wanted an uncle.

Light around the eyes: a) pretty much impossible at this juncture, b) the point was to have it so you couldn't see them; that's why I lit the way I did.

Here's the version i actually meant to post:

jetrim · 11-29-2009, 06:25 AM

Absolutely love everything about this one, Dray!

**Frog** · 11-29-2009, 06:27 AM

Looked at this last night and knew I'd have to come back again...and again...and again.

I'm afraid your subject is so centered with invisible eyes and the bunny is so out of place and it is so hard to pick details out in the back ground; well that makes it................................................ .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................

BRILLIANT

Overbeyond · 11-29-2009, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by draymorton

Thanks a lot, Tom! I've always wanted an uncle.

Light around the eyes: a) pretty much impossible at this juncture, b) the point was to have it so you couldn't see them; that's why I lit the way I did.

Here's the version i actually meant to post:

If it was your intention to hide the eyes thats fine; but I can see his designer glasses

draymorton · 11-29-2009, 06:39 AM

Thanks guys.

Tom - LOL! Well, those are his trademark.

I should have clarified as to exactly why I posted this in critique.
a) Wondering if it works overall.
b) Want to know if the background works with the subject to create a fairly cohesive (even though strange and incongruous) scene.
c) Do the near blowouts in his hat and shirt matter?
d) Does it matter than the rug is not symmetrical on both ends (if it does, that can be fixed).

The idea that emerged somewhat late in the game for this image was that his everything has burned down around him, but as long as he has his couch, bunny, guitar, and suit, everything's cool.

caleb · 11-29-2009, 07:18 AM

incredible work, none of what you're worrying about matters

Shebang · 11-29-2009, 07:22 AM

It is very weird, but it is very weird in an appealing way! Here's the one thing that bugs me -- and it's a nitpick. Because I "know" what everything is from the couch forward, I want the left leg of the couch better defined. I didn't want to have to stop at all and make sure that's really what it was -- and I did. The off-centered rug doesn't bother me at all, and I didn't even see the near blowouts that you mentioned. For me, the overall cohesiveness of the back and foreground work -- and works well! Very creative.

**Didache** · 11-29-2009, 09:35 AM

dray

This is a picture and a half, and one of the best I have seen in a long while. Everything works together beautifully, even though so much of it is incongruous. I like the eyes being shaded myself - it adds an air of mystery.

I also like the dark corners top L and R - it works like a sort of vignetting to draw the eye to the centre of the image.

The bunny is the icing on the cake, the cherry on the ice cream, the bonus in the pay-envelope, and the prize at the bottom of the corn flake packet

Cheers
Mike

**gahspidy** · 11-29-2009, 11:06 AM

Excellent work, Dray!! this one takes the cake. . .

**Greg McCary** · 11-29-2009, 11:12 AM

I think the Hello Kitty guitar is great. I do agree the couch seems to be leaning right. I don't think I would change much.

shootme · 11-29-2009, 01:48 PM

So I wasn't far wrong with my other post in your library Dray, seems everyone is gob-smacked. Well done again. If he had been wearing sunglasses and you could see the bottom of the rims, I'd say you could pass him off for Elton J.

draymorton · 11-29-2009, 02:00 PM

LOL Oh my god, Peter, he totally looks like Elton!

Thanks everyone for the very kind words. For some reason, it doesn't look nearly as good as a post here as it does in regular jpeg format on the desktop. The posted one looks muted and two-dimensional by comparison. I haven't had thid problem lately, of the posted images looking worse, but with this one, there really is a difference. And I saved in sRGB and everything.

Greg and Paula - awesome! That's exactly why I posted in here in critique. You guys caught details which, though important, never occurred to me! I'm going to do some work on it and post again.

**GB1** · 11-29-2009, 02:44 PM

Really neat, Dray.. this is an area I need to get better, the 'creation' versus the capture. You really put this together well.

The only area of the shot that sort of bothers me is the darkness of his pants and how the white shoes just appear at the bottom there, a consequence of the pants being so dark that they disappear. Can you make them a tad brighter?

Great work

G

draymorton · 11-29-2009, 04:30 PM

Thanks GB. He quite liked the SOOC shot and would have been very happy with it, but - of course - I couldn't stop there.

The pants - yes, I was wondering if they were a problem. I had originally dodged the pant legs on a blend layer, but that brought horrible chroma noise and pixelation out like nuthin' you ain't never seen before, so I got rid of the layer. There's just very little detail in that part of the image due to the lighting setup I used (I had initially hoped to only get his face and some of the upper body with the light source, leaving everything else in the shadows).

I could try to go back to the original image, grab the pant legs from there, and blend them in.

Or I could add more smoke down there.

photophorous · 11-29-2009, 07:15 PM

I don't think I have anything useful to offer, but I just wanted to say this is fricken awesome. The bunny cracks me up. I'm not sure I would have gotten the overall theme you suggested, but it's great anyway.

The only thing that bugs me in the slightest, and it is very slight, is the burned out lamp on the left. Considering that it is a lamp, it's not such a big deal, except that the one on the right is fine.

Paul

draymorton · 11-30-2009, 12:29 PM

Thanks Paul!

That was supposed to be an exploding bulb. lol But I could take it out.

BlueRob · 11-30-2009, 03:56 PM

Fantastic! all around Dray! the composition is awesome and all the lightning effects are right in the spot....and got to love that Kitty Squire LOL.
I think that the difficult part with this complex composition is to make all the items merge and compliment each other without taking weight out of the main subject...and MEN you did it!
Great work!

draymorton · 12-01-2009, 10:37 AM

Thanks a lot Rob!

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