Bohemian Interlude

[PhotoByTrace]

I had an enjoyable photo shoot over the festive season that had me trying something new. It all started about four months ago when my life-time friend Kimmy talked to me about some ideas she had for a photo shoot with her four-legged kids around a gypsy camp theme. We only see each other once, maybe twice a year, so I said to her, plan it out and we'd try shooting it between Christmas and New Year. And, somewhat surprisingly, it came to fruition.

I generally avoid shooting people other than opportunistically, as I'm not comfortable with communicating with them for a posed portrait shoot and don't wish to offend if my vision of them is very different from their own self-image. This was a little different as I'm comfortable with Kimmy and she is also very comfortable "in her own skin" so I figured it was time to jump in and give it a go.

The setting was her vision for the most part. I just helped try to keep balance between the props and the light within the various compositions. While we didn't have access to the traditional gypsy carriage that a gypsy camp image conjures up, Kim has some eclectic furniture and put together a bohemian scene with a modern fantasy twist. I loved it. And her four-legged kids were awesome; Zaldi (Clydesdale cross) was an absolute star and Jack and Chilli (dogs) made appearances too.

I'd make a few changes if I did it again. I used settings I often use for dog shoots where they tend to move a lot unpredictably (f/4, 1/500 sec; varied ISO); I'd slow my shutter speed a bit next time so that I could use less ISO. I'd also open up the aperture further on the 50mm to soften the background just a bit more.

I've attached a few of my favourites from the shoot, but if you'd like to see the full album you can find them here: http://www.photobytrace.com/kimmy-zaldi Any commentary and feedback is welcomed.

[Mark von Kanel]

Trace what a fantastic series, well done, Youve shown great imagination, i love them! some more PP on a couple of them maybe? a couples are a little bright for me. AWESOME! (any chance of an introduction to your model?)

[Shadowman]

Nice concept, agree with Mark about further processing the images. What a great opportunity. Images with fewer props work best.

[ashcroft]

Great shots! I love #2 - the head-to-head shot. It has great colour and texture with a very nice composition. Both models are very attractive and I wouldn't mind an intro to the pony! He can come and live in our field next-door

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely done.

[KimC]

Trace, being a horse owner, I enjoyed looking at your images. It's always so much fun to photograph someone who enjoys being photographed; all your models seemed so wonderful. I looked at your website as well, and you captured some beautiful connections between Kimmy and her horse- especially the stream pictures. I also loved some of the pictures you took the color out of as it allowed the viewer to just focus on Kimmy and the horse. I have to say, one of my favorites was the "truck picture" - I found that one rather cool.

[Manfred M]

TRAce- brilliant concept. The next step is to look at your execution of that concept, and that includes both composition and post processing. Others have already made those points, so I won't belabour them.

The third thought for you is the "storytelling" aspect of your work, and here I suggest you look at how feature films tell a story, by using a wide "establishing shot" to set the scene and then drill down into the details of the subjects at a closer level;' mixing up the types of shots and how they tell your story. Field of View and Point of View are important considerations here.

[Mark von Kanel]

Trace, being a horse owner, I enjoyed looking at your images. It's always so much fun to photograph someone who enjoys being photographed; all your models seemed so wonderful. I looked at your website as well, and you captured some beautiful connections between Kimmy and her horse- especially the stream pictures. I also loved some of the pictures you took the color out of as it allowed the viewer to just focus on Kimmy and the horse. I have to say, one of my favorites was the "truck picture" - I found that one rather cool.

Spured on by Kim, i went and had a peek as well, got to say i agree with Kim!

[Geoff F]

Great shots! I love #2 - the head-to-head shot. It has great colour and texture with a very nice composition. Both models are very attractive and I wouldn't mind an intro to the pony! He can come and live in our field next-door

Funny how different people see the same scene differently. That is the only one I'm not so keen about.

There is an out of focus leaf showing in front of the horse on the left side. And an out of focus bright flower on the right. Also, the bright central area just doesn't look natural to me.

[wilgk]

An absolutely wonderful project & fantastic to see it come to fruition so spectacularly!
I would love a swirl of misty fog to add to the atmosphere, but maybe there wasn't a generator to hand!
I love the, all, but seeing as how we are talking about #2, I find the crop of the horse's nose detracts from it for me, it is wonderful, but I would like the whole horse's head if that makes sense.
Also have you seen the work of this photographer? Yours is reminiscint of his to me, yours of course being better, because you have the horse! & you didn't have 25 assistants to help set up

Well done!
http://www.vonwong.com/blog/fantasy-...ostume-design/
http://http://www.vonwong.com/blog/f...ostume-design/

[ashcroft]

Funny how different people see the same scene differently. That is the only one I'm not so keen about.

There is an out of focus leaf showing in front of the horse on the left side. And an out of focus bright flower on the right. Also, the bright central area just doesn't look natural to me.

I know, I know, but he's such a lovely pony!

[PhotoByTrace]

Thanks all! Appreciate your feedback. And to those who looked at the full series... thanks for your dedication
I will revisit the PP on those that "grow" on me after a few days; which will include these. This is the first take at it, and I wanted to get some feedback, both here and from Kimmy, before investing too much time.

Trace what a fantastic series, well done, You've shown great imagination, i love them! some more PP on a couple of them maybe? a couples are a little bright for me. AWESOME! (any chance of an introduction to your model?)

Thanks Mark. Any further thoughts about the PP you'd like to see? I will revisit the brightness of some; they all started somewhat darker and I pulled them up some, but a day later I look back at them and want some more moodiness back in there. As for the intro, Kimmy's bodyguard-sized teenage sons may be a deterrent

Trace, being a horse owner, I enjoyed looking at your images. It's always so much fun to photograph someone who enjoys being photographed; all your models seemed so wonderful. I looked at your website as well, and you captured some beautiful connections between Kimmy and her horse- especially the stream pictures. I also loved some of the pictures you took the color out of as it allowed the viewer to just focus on Kimmy and the horse.

Thanks Kim. I'm glad you've enjoyed the series And yes, I enjoyed capturing the interactions between Kimmy and Zaldi. I look back and wish I'd done some the photos somewhat differently, but overall I'm happy with connections in the photos.

I have to say, one of my favorites was the "truck picture" - I found that one rather cool.

Ahhh, the farm ute. I was driving behind following them through the creek, saw the scene unfolding with the sunset lighting it up, slammed on the brakes, grabbed my camera off the seat next to me and took a quick pic through my dirty windscreen. I couldn't believe it turned out at all LOL.

Great shots! I love #2 - the head-to-head shot. It has great colour and texture with a very nice composition. Both models are very attractive and I wouldn't mind an intro to the pony! He can come and live in our field next-door

Ah Rob... I'm afraid I have first dibs on Zaldi; I've already suggested he may want to move north to live with me, but the reply I got from Kimmy was "where he goes, I go"

[PhotoByTrace]

An absolutely wonderful project & fantastic to see it come to fruition so spectacularly!
I would love a swirl of misty fog to add to the atmosphere, but maybe there wasn't a generator to hand!
I love the, all, but seeing as how we are talking about #2, I find the crop of the horse's nose detracts from it for me, it is wonderful, but I would like the whole horse's head if that makes sense.
Also have you seen the work of this photographer? Yours is reminiscint of his to me, yours of course being better, because you have the horse! & you didn't have 25 assistants to help set up

Well done!
http://www.vonwong.com/blog/fantasy-...ostume-design/
http://http://www.vonwong.com/blog/f...ostume-design/

Hi Kay,
Wish we could have had fog.... unfortunately none to be had, though we did try burning some incense reeds but the fine smoke was lost in the photos. As for number 2... there is a short series of these where I was simply in too tight and really needed to take a step back, I was very pissed at myself for chopping off his muzzle and ear tip; especially when these were the ones with the best expressions. I'm not familiar with von wong's work, but will take a look

Geoff are you critiquing 2 or 5? On 5 I agree with the leaf on Zaldi's rump and the foreground distractions. I'll look at them further in Photoshop.

[PhotoByTrace]

TRAce- brilliant concept. The next step is to look at your execution of that concept, and that includes both composition and post processing. Others have already made those points, so I won't belabour them.

The third thought for you is the "storytelling" aspect of your work, and here I suggest you look at how feature films tell a story, by using a wide "establishing shot" to set the scene and then drill down into the details of the subjects at a closer level;' mixing up the types of shots and how they tell your story. Field of View and Point of View are important considerations here.

Thanks for the thought on story-telling. Not something I have really explored, but I will take some time to look into further and think through some concepts in more depth as I have a couple of other friends lining up with horses and dogs, and I'd like to try something a little different with each.

[Mark von Kanel]

Thanks Mark. Any further thoughts about the PP you'd like to see?

These things are all subjective Trace but for instance on No2 id probably knock back the exposure and put in a slight vignette to draw the eye to the subject and away from the back ground maybe something like this

As for the intro, Kimmy's bodyguard-sized teenage sons may be a deterrent

Not Nearly as much a deterrent as the beating id get from my wife !

[Geoff F]

Yes, Trace, the image numbering has changed now, or perhaps I wasn't seeing all that should have been visible; but yes, it is the #5 as they now appear which I was referring to previously.

[PhotoByTrace]

Yes, Trace, the image numbering has changed now, or perhaps I wasn't seeing all that should have been visible; but yes, it is the #5 as they now appear which I was referring to previously.

I thought that may have been the case from your description; thanks for the feedback, it helped me take a step back and look again at the photo with fresh eyes

Not Nearly as much a deterrent as the beating id get from my wife !

I'm sure!