Redemption

The fallen angel rises...

This is just beautiful imagery. I am eager to see more of your work based on this.

uplifting :-)

I must believe someday I,ll be able to do something like this. It,s outstandig Jingna.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Iker

Please note the following:

 

 

 

This image has been selected for discussion. It is not necessarily the "best" picture

the Elves have seen this week, nor is it a contest.

 

 

Discussion of photo.net policy, including the choice

of Photograph of the Week should not take place here, but in the

href="/bboard/forum?topic_id=1562">Site Feedback forum

.

 

 

The About

Photograph of the Week

page tells you more about this feature of photo.net.

 

 

Before writing a contribution to this thread, please consider our reason for having

this forum: to help people learn about photography. Visitors have browsed the gallery,

found a few striking images and want to know things like why is it a good picture, why

does it work? Or, indeed, why doesn't it work, or how could it be improved? Try to answer

such questions with your contribution.

 

 

Yes, "Willie the Cropper" is back and although not in great form, will attempt to critique this week's POW.

 

My first impression, without looking at your gallery art was that I didn't particularly like this image. When comparing it to your others, I still hold that position. It's not that it needs cropping, which is my specialty, but rather that it suffers from too much floating material. There are the arms out front with white cloth, then the same material is floating above the girl and behind her head and again behind her back. It's too complex for what it is and that's the beauty of your other images. They are seamingly simple and straight-forward. I don't think darkening the corners brings one's attention to the subject either. It looks phony, as I'm sure it is.

 

Please don't let me burst your balloon. You do deserve the honor of being chosen for POW, but in my, book any one of the others shown on Photo.Net rate higher than this one.

 

Sorry for being so blunt. Normally, I'm a pretty nice guy.

 

By the way, I wouldn't crop it at all.

 

Willie the Cropper

wonderful image !

I think Willie has a valid opinion, but I see the image in a different way. I believe the flow of the fabric is what makes the emotion of the image. It gives a feeling and helps me connect with the image. Something that is otherwise often achieved through the eyes of the model. Is she being pulled towards the light or falling away? My only real suggestion for improvement would be to work on the magenta halo. I like the hint of color, but it feels too consistant to be natural, maybe play a bit with the density and opacity as it falls around the fabric. Overall I really like that the image makes me feel.

I like the color and tones , also the pose.Inspiring !

amazing pose and elegant tone! exquisite!

My first blush with seeing the thumbnail was that this was a nice fashion image, but when I opened it, it started to fall apart a bit.

 

My problem with this is chronicled above and relates to the fabric. First, it feels as if there is just too much fabric that doesn't belong there--it appears this is not all dress, but added fabric--whether it is or not is irrelevant, it is either a bad choice of dresses or a not so skillful attachment. The fabric around the body, still attached, looks messy. The blowing fabric behind the head looks natural and has a nice flow, but around the waist and butt becomes very distracting and just seems, again, added. What bothers me maybe the most, altho by just degrees, is the column of fabric going up and out of the frame in front of the model. This looks like it was hung there, above the set, hoping something good would happen--it didn't. Essentially, I feel that the photo, due to the fabric, has lost all sense of being organic and has become forced.

 

The thing for me, and goes to my feeling that one should post only their best, is that this feels like a test shoot that really didn't work--an experiment to be refined over time with the information gathered. I say this because some of the still shots with this fabric in your portfolio are very nice. You do seem to have an eye for styling and composition, but it feels that that was subordinated here to effect a test--which is totally valid and important to do, and keep, in private. Maybe you were excited about the good things in the shot and just didn't see that the flaws were so great.

 

It would be great to see you refine your technique here and post one that lives up to the quality of the bulk of your work.

The feel of joy and freedom. The incredible lightness of being. I like it very much. Jana

I'll have to side with Holly DG, and say again that I too "believe the flow of the fabric is what makes the emotion of the image". Then I do not have the same problem with the fabric as Mona Chrome. It is perhaps messy, but what I see here is a person who was completely "burried in white sheets", escaping from a matrix of some sort, or getting out of a cocoon... And so, nothing shochs me about all the veils: they could be in virtually any sort of position, as long as they'd would seem to be flying, it would still be ok, because "messy" is what all birth and all escapes are anyway...

 

I must say I really like this image, because it is truly different - even when compared to most "hair motion" shots. Here it's not just the hair that's moving; it's everything, and so harmoniously ! Besides that, I like the skin color - although it's very strange indeed ! I like it because it matches the background while contrasting so nicely with the bright white veils. I like it also because I see it as an opposition between the old and the new, as if someone already grown up would have a re-birth of some sort...

 

What I may find a bit over the top would be the possible blurring of some areas of the image at post-processing stage, but the image is presented too small here, and it's quite impossible for me to draw any clear conclusion on this matter at this size.

 

That said, I really like what I see here, and I like the complexity that others have criticized. This image is complex but, to me, more poetic than lots of nice but more expected images in your portfolio. Regards, and all the best for the next ones ! I'll surely keep an eye on what you'll post in the future.

I like the concept, but looking at the rest of Jingna Zhang's folder, I think she can take this farther. Like Mona, I find the fabric to be in disarray. But most of all I would prefer more definition in the model's face. Part of the problem is that the tonality of the background matches that of her face. The model is positioned to create a silhouette, but the silhouette effect depends on some contrast between face and background. I do like the muted skin tone; it reminds me a bit of Fuji Astia.

Love the concept, agree with the comments about the unnecessary column of fabric in front

and must add that I feel that someone should be prepared to catch her: she appears about to

topple over. I think I would have preferred a slightly more upright pose.

make me feel free ;)

No question it's a very good shot. A little too much flowing motion for my taste

This image is special to me. I came across Jingna Zhang's images about six months ago and have humbly admired them since, some more than others. This particular image I find very engaging. My first impression was that I needed to figure out what the model is doing so I had to examine all the details. I still wonder why it's called "Redemption". I like it for the wonderful flow and softness the white fabric gives it, the feeling of envelopment and movement. Who wouldn't want to be wrapped in white flowy silk? I wish the lips of the model were a bit more defined as well as the some of the flowing hair that lacks focus.

I reacted with instant interest to the thumbnail and liked the original concept. The lighting gives it an ethereal feel and there is a "floating" quality that is intriguing. It must have been quite a trick to set this up and to capture the motion of the model so that her hair flows with the diaphanous material so nicely! Well done. I am now perusing Jingna's web site - http://jin.zemotion.net - to enjoy more of her work.

I love the placing of the her head on the white linen,and the choice of the angle. The perspective here enhances the affect immortalizing it. I like the fill light that takes away hard shadows and softens the hard light too.

Cross between Frank Petty and Victor Skrebneski

What I found interesting, and unique in your work, is how you take the static beauty of these models and get this nice sense of motion into many of your pictures. I find I like the pictures where something looks like its moving. The gown blowing, the strap crawling down the woman's back, the blurred paper.

Amazing!

The feeling of movement is delightful and the model's dreaming expression is perfect. Small suggestion, if you try this pose again ask the model to put her left shoulder back and lessen the angularity of her arm which would make the over all effect even more flowing. Stonedance

wonderful!!!! beautifully toned and captured....!