Hotel Room

[GB1]

From a photo shoot last March. Comments?

G

[Levi1990]

I think my critiques on this would be to have a wider angle lens on your camera. As it stands, I feel that she is very contricted in the shot by having her foot cut and the top of her head cut off. Watch your horizon line too. It's crooked judging by the top of the headboard. I like the way she's lit, but watch the hot spot on the head board. That could ruin a shot if it was blown out any more then it is.

But over all, I like the idea for the shot.

[Frog]

I'm too old for shots like this.
I agree with everything Levi said

[Franglais]

It looks distinctly tilted down on the right hand side, I would fix that if possible.

I thought at first that you should have left all of her shoe in but finally it's symmetrical - you've cut off her forehead and her toe which gives a sort of dynamism.

On my screen it doesn't quite fit in so I actually see it cut off just below her knee. I think it works just as well that way - her fishnet becomes the fetish object. If you leave it as her high heels then I would have lightened that part of the image a bit to make it more prominent.

I find the bright spot on the furniture behind adds to the atmosphere. You've not in a perfectly-lit studio, you're in a dark hotel room with imperfect light.

[armando_m]

My biggest critique is that it look like you ran out of space

If you were this close maybe have the model lean towards you , so she has a big foot and a slightly bigger head

maybe have her climb on the bed, that would give you more space ...

I like the shadows on her abdomen

[GB1]

Thanks everyone. I first need to say that I cut off her head and foot in post processing on purpose. Like Charles said, I was looking for a little dynamism (and tension).. first cut off part of the foot and liked it, and then needed to do the same to the top of her head to even things out. I post the original pic here so you can compare. Looking at them again I think I prefer the full image.

Levi1990, I definitely see the tilt on the bedboard, but as the full image shows, it was either that or the wall molding. I chose the bed. Yes, I see that hot spot. I agree that it would be better w/o that, but I am not sure how to fix it in post and still have it look natural. (Ideas anyone?)

This was actually a group shoot where we rented a hotel room and had a bunch of models and photographers shoot at different times. Shooting in there was difficult cause you couldn't place your studio lights where you wanted, and didn't really have the time to work every detail like the bright spot on the bedboard. Alas, it was a fun shoot, just a little chaotic.

Frog, you're never too old.

Charles, thanks for the interesting observations. Funny because I also saw other 'images' in this one, crops, that may allow for completely different shots. If it was in a studio and wasn't so busy I think that would work better.

I actually did a little trickery here already when it comes to lighting. Her legs were way too dark, so I duplicated the main layer, lightened it until the legs were right (or almost right), then hide the layer. Then I used a paint brush with a light color to selectively un-hide her legs. Seems to have worked pretty convincingly.

Thanks Armando. I shot this w/ a 24mm if I remember correctly. You don't like the foreshortening effect? I think it slightly distorts the image but in a good way (here anyhow - not in general. Sometimes it can ruin a shot). Btw, I did get that Nik B&W software you mentioned - this image is using it.

G

[LeeIs]

GB, I like the original shot you posted. It's soooo much better than the cut off limbs/heads version.

I love the light, direction of shadows, mood, pose, eye contact, patterns on the carpet, composition, surroundings, tonal range in the B&W. Basically, I like everything about it. Except for maybe that hot spot on the headboard. Other than that, everything seems to be in check, nice shooting.

[GB1]

Thanks Liban. I realize the full frame has the most information and avoids the risk of the image looking all chopped up, but I also see another crop here ... just not sure what it is. But anyway, here's another try!