Wrapped up

[shreds]

[IMG][/IMG]

A new year a new project

C&C welcome

[Manfred M]

A nice shot, but in my view you need to separate the subject from the background; the hair merging with the background does not work (thinking of a hair light here). On my screen the top right-hand corner seems to have some artifact as well.

[IzzieK]

Manfred is right. You need a hair light...she looks cozy...

[Geoff F]

As an alternative, how about a crop from the top to reduce the amount of black area? Possibly a square crop?

[rpcrowe]

I agree with GeofF in that a closer crop at the top along with a slight vignette might be appropriate...

[shreds]

Thanks Guys,

Definitely needs the crop, which I have done for another shot in this series and it looks 10x better.

It also removes the artefacts. That highlights the need for a New Year recalibration of this screen which does not show it, although from the pp I did, I know where you are looking at.

All the Best for '14.

Ian

[Shadowman]

Ian,

Nice image. I was just reading an article about Avedon lighting, which uses a white back drop, whereas this is almost a low key style. With Avedon lighting, the photographer tries to eliminate glare from the backdrop. While low key uses a single light source, what light source did you use and did it create a reflection on your backdrop, or did you expose your shot so that very little light reached the backdrop?

[Downrigger]

Useful thread and appealing image. I am just wondering - seems Ian wanted that dark hair to melt in, and to me it is interesting that way.

[shreds]

Had a chance to do a quick play with this; the square crop doesn't quite work, as the collar is fundamental to the shot (cozy as Izzie says!) so I have left it in a cropped, portrait format.




Does that help at all? Another ½" off the top maybe, but taking more off the bottom causes problems with the collar buckle.

I used a single light plus available light; the large window was to the left (model's right) and as I didn't have any of my studio lighting kit with me (shot in Bruxelles at end of last year) the only artificial lighting came from an off camera speed light (Nikon SB900).

A hair light would be interesting, but the set up would be different and might leave the shot in colour which would create more separation anyway. If I get a chance to replicate with the studio lights, I will post again.

Once again thanks for your help.

[shreds]

[IMG][/IMG]

The 'squarer' crop.

[IzzieK]

Ian...to my eyes, this more appealing. Now I am loving it more....

[Manfred M]

Ian - I agree with you; the collar plays a very major role in this composition. Losing the top of the image strengthened it a lot. I think that the first crop works a lot better than the second; cropping below the hair line breaks up the second crop too much.

I agree that it would be an interesting reshoot with a hair light, and I'm wondering how a rim light might work as well.

[shreds]

Thanks, Manfred.

The face shape to me dictates the crop shape and I am glad you liked the more rectangular of the two. I am not against square crops, indeed on occasion I actually prefer them, but it all depends on the subject.

I am reasonably pleased with this now.

[travis4567]

A totally different perspective.

[Manfred M]

A totally different perspective.

I'm not sure if it is just my screen, but the image does not look right; there are huge patches of blocked up shadows when I view the image with Firefox.

[Colin Southern]

A totally different perspective.

Sorry Ian, but the last one just doesn't fly for me; the black point is too low which is washing out the midtones without it being a high-key image. Also, the skin is looking very plastic -- it's not done with portrait professional is it?

I can also see the blocking Manfred is mentioning.

Edit: Apologies Ian - I've opened my eyes and realised it was Travis's edit, not yours.

[shreds]

Portrait unProfessional…..yuk.

[Colin Southern]

Portrait unProfessional…..yuk.

No arguments from me on that!

[shreds]

Manfred,

Just wanted to thank you.

It is indeed a while since I used the Spider that I used to share with a couple of friends, and I knew that it was well overdue for recalibration. (Slap over wrist)

Today I invested in a new calibration device (i1 Display Pro) whilst at a show (good price too). The screen is indeed just as different as you said and now not having to share the device means I will hopefully be less lax over checking it at least once a month. (Hopefully it shouldn't drift that much, that quickly, but worth knowing all the same).

[Manfred M]

No problem...

With a CRT screen I found that I had to reprofile every month or two; there really was a lot of colour drift over time. With the LCD displays, I do a new profile once a year or so, but quite frankly I see virtually no difference between the profiles. I expect any differences can be put down to measurement tolerances.