danielkongos

Thanks for all the input guys! I agree Robert about the plant being the weakest part and the cropping. I'd like to see a different plant there or perhaps nothing just to compare a bit more objectively rather than just imagining, I'll see if I can do something in PS. I'd love to see this printed. I've been wanting to try out 20x30 prints of some of my photos but I'm not sure if they can hack it as they're just 6mp files. Perhaps with proper upsizing they'll be acceptable - I'm a total newbie with printing.
Best,

Danny

……guys.  Appreciate the feedback!  Steve the basic process was, I took three shots, one for each of the subjects (both natalie) and one clean plate with no mat on the ground.  Then comped them in PS.  Did all my tone, color changes etc.  It was actually very simple, but the comping process can be quite tedious where they overlap, or where I'd removed objects behind the subject, like a painting on the wall for example.  It was easier to have her jump in position like this, rather than just a green screen or something, so that the shadows on the stairs are real.  It's harder to fake shadows on uneven surfaces.

Cheers,

Danny

Hey John thanks for the suggestions and going through the trouble to make your ideas clear! To be honest I don't really like any of the changes haha. Feels cramped on the left, and cropping the bottom makes it feel like she's not falling as far imo. Also the extra space everywhere makes the environment seem more convincing to me. It makes it feel more like a mansion. I didn't want to copy rembrant's tones or style just a couple little ideas. For me, warming up the image prevents Natalie, who has naturally warm skin tones, from standing out. She's meant to be the star and the warmer pic makes her less of a focus imo. In the original you can see all those background shadows bright and clear, I just like them very dark as it simplifies the photo a lot. I wanted simple geometry in the pic and not too much to distract from the main subjects. Cloned staircase definitely works better in your crop, not sure it's necessary in mine as I don't find the railing distracting when you can see all of it. Anyway, further proof that this stuff is purely subjective! Thanks for the detailed input.
Regards,

Danny

Hi guys thanks a lot for the input and comments. The two subjects are both Natalie and they're both really in those positions. I took three shots, one of which was just a clean plate without the mat on the ground, and comped them. I agree in part about the lighting John in terms of lack of separation or perhaps depth, but I don't think I would brighten the shadows as I think they're part of the picture. The picture is called Duality so the shadows and light, free flowing and uniformed, glamourous and masked are all part of it, including the dying plant. One of my favorite paintings is Rembrandt's "A Philosopher in Meditation", so I took inspiration a bit from the yin yang themes in that picture. The main intent of the pic is promotion. Natalie is looking to be sponsored so the idea is to show her as being salable both as an athlete and as a personatalie.
Regards,
Danny

Woah! Thank you Elves for choosing this, I've been admiring the photos of the week for years now, never thought I'd get one chosen!

Thanks James, Jon and Gerry for the comments. I'm assuming you mean "vie usa" Jon. Definitely didn't intend that as political commentary, this is actually a pic for Natalie Vie, a collegiate champion fencer from Arizona, that's just her uniform. I can see now how it could be misconstrued! She's got a great name, but in this context it does look a bit like political commentary. Now I don't know whether I should just pretend it's intentional and invite any controversy I can haha.

You are correct Gerry that's an epée. Please rain away, I think the elves choose photos that elicit this type of discussion on purpose. The picture is saying or displaying something specific, but I don't think I'll say now as I like hearing people's opinions fresh, without too much preemption. To be honest (first time for everything), I actually really like certain advertising photography, and I think Avatar should've won the Oscar, so maybe I'm just a product of my ggggeneration. Oh how values change!

Kallol, Yulia and Dan thanks very much!  I'm glad you like it.

Cheers,

Danny

This is my favorite photo of yours or perhaps this one…

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=11039864

When I scrolled down though to comment the picture got cropped and I thought "this works perfectly as a square or near square crop".  Anyway just thought I'd tell you that, maybe try it see if you like it.  It works both ways, but as a square crop I could see a LARGE print of this hanging on a gallery wall…

cheers,

danny

excellent one!

Incredible as well.  Why have I not come across you on photo.net?  I need to explore more I guess because I can't believe I've missed these.  The pictures are great of course but you also have perfect black and white conversions…really tasteful.

…I think it's a bit amazing.  No really this needs to be printed as large as you can because it's fantastic.  Perfect tones and beautifully serene.

Mark and John.  I feel that the idea was strong but it didn't quite live up to its potential.  You definitely got what I was trying to portray though Mark,  I only wish the pic had a few aesthetic improvements. 

Cheers,

Danny

One of the photos I did for Natalie Vie, a collegiate champion fencer. I

figured it fit the fashion category best…

now that you put "dali" in your tags haha so disregard my previous clairvoyant observation haha.

Very salvador dali.   Would look great printed very large.

That's a great effect that the lens achieves.  You must have been centimeters away.  Very cool.

…like the picture a lot.  It's very crisp, colors are great, composition is excellent, the flies have funny expressions :).  I just don't like the border, I don't think it contributes anything.  But that's like my opinion man…

I can't describe why, but I like it a lot haha.  I know that's not very helpful, but it's the best I've got.

…it's very beautiful.  Colors like a painters palette!

…that the birds are perfectly frozen!  I don't think I would change anything and all the people's expressions are great.  Congrats on POTW!

It's a great scene!  I feel the left could be cropped out a bit, and the photo could maybe be a square crop, but that's just my taste.  Overall I like it very much.

tones throughout the image.  I personally wouldn't mind if the cliff in the distance was totally silhouetted.  It looks like it's been dodged and that makes it a bit hazy for my taste.  But that is such a minor, subjective criticism of an amazing landscape!

colors.  I know they've been enhanced, but it works really well.

I like the composition a lot but I don't really like the soft glow type effect.  Perhaps if you shot at a wider aperture you could isolate the tree a bit more?

dogs just look so human.  It's like he's posing haha.  Great pic…