Very colourful Diwali drummer

[Jim A]

Have selected this for a local competition. I have tried a number of creative lighting effects to be just behind him, just by playing around. What do you think the lighting in this one please? Positioning, intensity, colour etc? Also any other critique.

[Manfred M]

Jim - this is just not quite working for me. The background and the drummer just don't seem to fit together. It looks like he has been cut out and pasted onto the background.

[mugge]

The skin colour does not look right and I would tone down the vibrance a tad.
Cheers Ole

[Round Tuit]

I, on the other hand, like the vibrant colours whether they are accurate or not. I would however consider dodging the eyes a bit and I agree with Manfred that the background needs fixing. The bright spot is distracting and I see banding in the gradient. I wouldn't know how to fix it. Good luck in the competition.

[Jim A]

Thanks for the feedback Manfred, Ole and Andre (sorry Andre, don't know how to put a grave accent over the e in your name).
I have done quite a few modifications to the pic and hope this is on the right track? Added a vignette and also have toned down the vibrance, Ole!

[pschlute]

I love the vibrant colours

[Manfred M]

Jim - definitely an improvement with the eyes (you might want to push that just a touch more) and perhaps brighten up the face just a bit too.

The background and drummer still don't quite mesh. It looks like the drummer was pasted onto a new background and that somehow looks a bit strange and artificial.

[rpcrowe]

Diwali is a wonderfully colorful celebration... Am I viewing this image correctly or are my eyes going on me (at 81 my blinkers are not what hey used to be). It looks to me like the drum is in perfect focus but, the face is either OOF or there is movement blur...

[ST1]

The second image is the stronger of the two that you've posted Jim, I can see what Manfred means about the background and subject, not so much around the head but very much so at the subjects left hand. I have no idea how the could be tweaked to lessen the issue.
Great vibrant colours, good luck with the competition.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[rpcrowe]

I know that it is a very minor thing compared with the devastation that COVID-19 has caused throughout the world but, I really miss the ethnic celebrations that were once a vibrant portion of the San Diego lifestyle. This image was done during the 2019 Diwali celebration in San Diego's Balboa Park... It is a good example of how backgrounds can be blurred at relatively small apertures (this was f/4) when you are shooting with a long focal length (this was 131mm on a Sony full frame camera)...

The 2020 Diwali celebration was cancelled and it doesn't look good for 2021...