I love her outfit Manfred. The first picture is the one that grabs me the most, but I feel there is something lacking. Her face seems well lit but her chest and upper body are not.
I am not a human portrait photographer so just an observation.
Here is the SOOC shot.
I actually dodged the chest to bring up the brightness at the chest. There was really only one place I could position the light and the model moved in a way that the light was a bit higher up and feathered across. This suited me because I wanted to play up her face.
One can see the reflection of the soft box in her visor in this unprocessed version.
The round circle in the window of the second shot is the reflection of the soft box and I burned it down a bit, but I like the circle in made.
I like the exposure, atmosphere, and dynamic poses, only critique is the cropping in all three.
Manfred,
Of the three photos, I think no. 2 is the most successful, as it has the best pose, is well lit and has a generic background that while grungy is unobtrusive and doesn't compete with the main subject for the viewer's eye.
No. 3 is nicely posed but again because of the models black costume, she tends to get lost against the cluttered background which competes for the viewer's eye. And the green tape on the pipe insulation adds an unwanted colour element and should be cloned out.
No. 1 for me is the most flawed of the three.
The background as well as being bright and busy, which causes it to compete with the subject for the viewer's eye, has a number of elements which seem out of place: the yellow "Caution" sign on the furnace door, the green tape on the pipe insulation, and the raised lettering on the cast iron pipe all add touches of "familiarity" to a scene which should be jarringly unfamiliar.
Robert
FWIW . . . far be it from me to critique the excellent work you usually post, Manfred; you ARE after all, our teacher!
I agree that #2 is the best of the three. But for me, the wrinkled paint at her right elbow is a bit of a distraction, and if you were inclined to do something with it, am wondering how that might be changed in post.
And, yes, I remember Cat-woman and a few episodes, and think you've got her in the right environment.
Zen
She would have a promising career as a bondage and discipline Dominatrix
Thanks for all the comments. I spent some time mulling them over and have made adjustments based on the comments and my own observations. The original images were posted after I completed my first pass of refining them, i.e probably about 80% of the way to the final product.
The first and third are definitely the ones I like best and the third one works, but does not have the dark moodiness I am looking for. Here is the latest iteration and I suspect I will continue to revisit these over the next few days.
1.
2.
3.