Alana

your work is something very special. I´ll never forget your pictures. Thanks for the lesson, teacher

Well there you go, Lannie. Good shot over the bow you made. Anyone may now carve it up, season to taste:-) for Oleg.

i do prefer the wide angle distortion here, and the way the legs are leading the eyes, very good indeed, the color treatment and the sky at the background is fantastic, the placement of the lights at the background is creative indeed, often people do not resort to this kind of placements, the placement of the hand is not at all distracting to me,

but somehow i feel the composition is not systematic or well organized, the lights at the background are placed in such a way as to compose it symmetrically but the other stands( except the two ) are of no mean, the lead in legs are not completely in the frame, some area on the front are out of the frame, we often choose a background, for any kind of photography, which is uncluttered or at least complimentary with the subject, but here the sky is very dramatic which tends to draw the eyes easily, and so the light stands( resulting a distraction from the subject), the legs with the face form a triangle but the placement of the hands are really a hindrance to the composition over all,

the most interesting part of portrait works are the eyes, but here i can hardly see any catch light, as well as i really can not understand whether the eyes of the model is open or close,

although, it is a creative photography indeed, we usually do not see this kind of portraiture works and i do think it is worthy of discussion...

Beautiful model shot and very good one to discussion.First,about the eyes I could n`t say anything.I`m not sure about them if they are open or close.The gesture is very well and the hand`s figure is good too.Good balance for the lights and devices at the back.One of the important things is the location of the shoes,that they are not really placed at the frame.The details are nice and the clouds and sky are very interesting.The angle and view point is very well and the person showed larger,because of this.The shot is very strong and really good for this forum.
Regards(Bobby).

This is really interesting. I really like the stretched legs & wide effect. A beautiful model, as well. I believe the lights add to it. There are other elements in the background which distract. The crop is too tight at bottom. One boot touches the frame; the other is cut off

Stunning shot I like the mood in the sky

It's a good commercial fashion/glam shot, and does a good job of highlighting the photographer's talents in that area. Unfortunately, the genre is saturated with work just like it, so there's really nothing all that unique about it.
I don't like it that parts of the boots are cut off.
It's worth a look, as is the rest of the photographer's work, but that's as far as I'll go with it.

I do want to qualify my highly negative reaction as expressed above by saying that many of Oleg's photos are splendid indeed. My negative reaction to this one, that is, does not extend to his entire portfolio, which is very, very good.

--Lannie

I think Jim Adams pretty much hit this one right on the head! Even the placement of the lights in the shot is pretty predictable--but effective. I also think Gerry (sorry for calling you George last week!) made some relevant comments as well regarding the styling.


Wide angle? You gotta love it--or not! What I find that works well here is that even though there is distortion, the fact that the legs aren't coming straight at us alleviates the gross exaggeration of size(yes, still exaggerated) and gives a bit more of a feeling of unity. The alternative, like many done by Bill Brandt, can work well, but generally not with feet, and serves to minimize the model more than this approach does.


I am not the first to say it, but the crop is a bit problematic to me as well. Having been in situations like this, sometimes it is difficult to maintain the way an image is coming together and solve this. Even backing off a foot or so, or moving forward a few inches ruins the dynamics of the shot, but you have to find a way to make it work. The problem is that we have neither here nor there with the feet. They aren't in and they aren't out and that is the problem, we just have some awkward tangencies and truncations. An alternative is to find a way to use the edges and the feet to feel like they are interacting, kind of like putting lights in a shot, you make the process become part of the image.

The image certainly has a certain amount of curb appeal, as do many of Oleg's other works.

Awesome photo! Her legs appear to be soooo long.

Very interesting photo -- like fantasy dream shot, or a nightmare with the foreboding background and the beautiful woman. The boots are a couple sizes too large for her.

Great artistic treatment, seen this sort of work before but still Oleg seems a master at it.

I wish the tips of the boots weren't cropped. The concept and execution look nice indeed, and the colors work for this type of shot. Not really my cup of tea, but still well done.

I know Christina. Take a willowy model to start with, stretch her out like that, and you got something pretty unusual to contemplate.

I am happy to see such work in front page. I like the not very usual composition and the process. Very interesting. Congratulations.

How incredibly contemporary!

I have this further reaction that this shot is maybe a far end of the spectrum of modern high fashion photography in the ferocious talent heavy world of New York. (A peek at Oleg's other works sort of affirms that.) The world , Oleg,you operate in, is so different from what most of what I and I guess most of us do that for me it would be about as challenging to learn as to do radiology and brain scans. No joke I mean it. Although I can't do it myself, I know it has a compelling interest as part of the field we inhabit, or it would not sell and not be a special study and expertise demand.
I admire the special study and sensitivity to that world.

Kitsch!

Absolutely gorgeous!!!

This is realy a super WOW factor photo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for sharing.

Ray

Interesting prospective...

Strong, imaginative and original image, excellent perspective. One thing, mentioned before, the boots (left one in particular) - maybe due to distortion or the choice of that particular type, they sort of dominate the picture - making not so good focal point. But still this capture is very impressive.

If this photograph was made for the purpose of selling boots, it succeeds!
As a demonstration of extreme technique for the purpose of selling anything, it also succeeds.
Simply as an artistic expression, then it's intriguing, but I don't empathise with the artist's need to emphasise footwear. My own expression would have used much lighter footwear, if any.
Also the gripping of the hem of the model's skirt ostensibly for modesty actually has the opposite effect. Much better and nicer for the model to let the hem go and let her undies be seen. There's nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about us or our parts but to act as if there is causes unhealthy reaction.
In that respect, the picture is rather juvenile.

I've never seen a more compelling focus on a hand. Yet a contributor says...."then I understand why the model’s hand is placed there. Then the hand is no longer are part of the photograph, but like a safety pin the clothing stylist would use. The clothing stylist could have corrected this problem (sic) and the model's hand is free to be somewhere else." Of course, I beg to differ and congratulate Oleg on a most clever and original use of the hand as a prop in this way, both physical and sensory. Excellent. (Very sorry Bill if I've missed some heavy irony in your comment)
Regards
Keith

I think it's an excellent shot. Abstractly, the shapes (lights, shadows, legs) remind me of the eyes, legs, and mandibles of a wolf spider, shot head on in macro. The treatment of the sky is deliciously dramatic, and the textures of the model and her boots are almost palpable.

I like the shooting into the sky light source, but the other junk in the background is highly distracting. A flooring texture that exaggerates perspective would help. Overall, I think it's a good start on a photo that illustrates the wackadoo world of fashion photography.