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Constructive Crit - is this shot any good?

N

Nil.Recurring

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I took this shot today, of my brother. I'm just confused, I quite like how it came out. But I was wondering what you guys thought of it. I realize his face could be a bit brighter, but it was quite difficult to expose both objects correctly.

Any input would be greatly appreciated as it would help me improve. 🙂

2240589402_dc22bfb9ef.jpg
 
I think if his face were brighter, that would be a problem. I think it would detract from the globe.

I'm not sure what to thing of his fingers though. The body language doesn't seem to match the expression. The fingers to me give the idea that he's thinking about reaching out and touching the globe, but his face doesn't look like that's what he's thinking.

Did you use a shadow recovery tool to brighten the face?
 
I like the idea of the photo, but not the execution. I think you should go back and do a couple things different. For one, take out the fingers. If it was me, I would play around with it, take one photo where you cant see the base, and one photo where you cant see the table, and then one just normal. Also, make it so the light doesnt reflect off the wall in the back. The fingers and wall take away from the photo, distracting.

I like the idea of the photo, makes me think of some godly presence looking on the world (not to say your brother is a god, but you know what I mean😛)
 
I agree - his face kind of looks like he's maybe scared of the globe, but his fingers make it seem as if he wants to touch it. It seems too conflicted.
 
I agree with the others that it's a cool concept but that the fingers are pretty distracting. You may also want to try re-shooting with him a little bit closer to the globe -- I feel like there's a tiny bit too much dead space in the middle, but that may just be me.

As for lighting, you may want to try using a snoot aimed at his face, from just outside the left of the frame, to increase the amount of light falling on his face without increasing the ambient light levels.
 
What was your purpose in taking the photo? Don't take that wrong, but what is it that you want the viewer to take away from this photo? This doesn't mean it has to be earth shattering - a rose laying on the cracked desert floor with storm clouds overhead; to a simply framed shot of someone's weathered face - they tell a story, thus giving the viewer something to take away from the experience.


On a technical note:

You don't have to have all of the lights off in a room to turn a white wall black. There are many ways to control light, or the spill of it. A good source on-line is http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ - David runs a great site, and there is a wealth of knowledge being shared from literally all over the world. Or, check out your local library, or book store. There are a bunch of well illustrated books on the market that show you the finished product next to a diagram of the lighting setup. Honestly, these are the best ways to learn lighting, a part from learning to read light. (You can do many things with light: color it, bounce it, diffuse it, etc... but, it must always travel in a straight line.)

HTH's

Art
 
You may want to take mulitple shots on a tripod and vary the exposure and then take the bits from each exposure level you like. Kinda like HDR photography. If you wanted to get the exposures pefect.
 
Fearless Leader said:
Kinda like HDR photography. If you wanted to get the exposures pefect.
Click to expand...

The exposure IS perfect for what he wants to do. 😉 "Perfect" depends on what you're going for.


Personally, I like the fingers being there on the table. However, I think "more" fingers would be better.....at least 4 fingers (not the thumb).

Also, the facial expression isn't great. That's my biggest complaint. Otherwise, it's a great photo. 🙂
 
miloblithe said:
I think if his face were brighter, that would be a problem. I think it would detract from the globe.

I'm not sure what to thing of his fingers though. The body language doesn't seem to match the expression. The fingers to me give the idea that he's thinking about reaching out and touching the globe, but his face doesn't look like that's what he's thinking.

Did you use a shadow recovery tool to brighten the face?
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree with you. I guess its one of those photos where one's monitor needs to be calibrated like mine to fully appreciate it. It looks fine on my monitor, but on an uncalibrated one it looks pretty bad.

I'll try to be more careful about body-language next time around, but its hard to get a 13 year old to co-operate! You really don't feel like being intrusive with them!

valdore said:
I think it's a cool photo.
Click to expand...

Thank you. 🙂

art gardiner said:
You don't have to have all of the lights off in a room to turn a white wall black. There are many ways to control light, or the spill of it. A good source on-line is http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/ - David runs a great site, and there is a wealth of knowledge being shared from literally all over the world. Or, check out your local library, or book store. There are a bunch of well illustrated books on the market that show you the finished product next to a diagram of the lighting setup. Honestly, these are the best ways to learn lighting, a part from learning to read light. (You can do many things with light: color it, bounce it, diffuse it, etc... but, it must always travel in a straight line.)

HTH's

Art
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice and a link to a great website about lights. I plan on reading and following his excecises in order to improve. I just hope I can find the time (and the gels he's talking about.) in order to improve. I really want to.

Abstract said:
The exposure IS perfect for what he wants to do. 😉 "Perfect" depends on what you're going for.


Personally, I like the fingers being there on the table. However, I think "more" fingers would be better.....at least 4 fingers (not the thumb).

Also, the facial expression isn't great. That's my biggest complaint. Otherwise, it's a great photo. 🙂
Click to expand...

Thank you abstract. I value your opinion. 🙂

I definitely agree with you guys about the body-language, but as I said, I find it a bit intimidating in talking to my subjects (or brother! 😛).
 
I think a "touch" more light on your brother MIGHT be interesting.

To do this w/o overdoing it, I'd use straws as a grid on one of my off camera flashes. It'd be very low power setting.

This would need to be color corrected to match the color coming off the globe.

Would it be better, hard to say.

I like your shot.
 
Yes. Creative, and profound in my opinion. Might use a little work with noise reduction and sharpen the highlights in the eye a little, or it could just be a photobucket compression issue.? As a piece of work it speaks to me. Good work. (i'm no pro, but i have good taste!)😛
 
Here's a question: what point are you trying to make? By turning the globe, you could highlight an area--Africa for example.

Everything is exposed quite nicely.
 
Nil.Recurring said:
I uploaded it to Photobucket. Should work now.
Click to expand...

Much better, thanks.

I like it quite a bit, although I would agree with some of the others here that your brother's fingers are slightly distracting. The simplicity of the globe/face dynamic works well enough that anything else feels extraneous.

Cool photo.
 
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