NikonGear'23
Images => Critique => Topic started by: charlie on April 05, 2016, 02:21:59
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A select from a musicians shoot for their upcoming EP.
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Red and black together as the only colours always create a strong emotional impact.
I feel the red background perhaps is on the dark side. It might not print well to separate the front figures? Also ensure the red colour itself is well within the printing gamut or you could get some nasty surprises later !
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It is intriguing and I found myself making up stories about them.
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Beautiful image!
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Thank you for the input.
I feel the red background perhaps is on the dark side. It might not print well to separate the front figures? Also ensure the red colour itself is well within the printing gamut or you could get some nasty surprises later !
Yes, I see what you mean. Some areas where their shadows meet their silhouettes are lacking defined separation. Thanks for pointing that out, I'll look into adjusting it. It seems to view a bit better in photoshop/lightroom on the darker work spaces than here on the web browsers bright interface. Maybe my eyes are fatigued, or my monitor is to bright.
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Overly bright monitors have been the bane of many otherwise excellent photos when they are to meet their printer. The prints will come out too dark if you adjust them to look perfect on such systems.
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Mongo agrees with Tristin - it is a fabulous image. Subject to Bjorn's concerns about how it will finally look in print, Mongo loves it as is provided that is how it prints. The red is very suitably vibrant with great texture brought out by black tones within it. The silhouette in true black is very effective against the vibrant red background. Lastly, the two subjects, although in full silhouette, are posed in such a way that they still have a remarkable degree of animation and emotion. Excellent work.
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Love the picture, but as stated by others I would print it to see how it comes out on a front lit surface. The print is the evil stepbrother of monitor rendering.
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Charlie, I love the suspense in the image that you portrayed!
Which band/musicians are we talking about?
I have the same problem with bright monitors. Sometimes a photo looks perfect, then I post it here and it ends up too dark. It would have been even darker if I had sent it for printing.
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Here is a reworked version. I've brightened the shadows as well as the background itself to give the silhouettes more definition.
It is a delicate balance between brightness, contrast, vibrancy, and keeping detail in the reds.
I have the same problem with bright monitors. Sometimes a photo looks perfect, then I post it here and it ends up too dark. It would have been even darker if I had sent it for printing.
Yeah I have that same problem with my website seeings how it uses a white background also. It seems the actual image brightness doesn't change from Lightroom to the web browser but the perceived brightness does because I'm in a dark room looking into a bright screen vs a dark screen and my eyes adjust. I've always figured it was tricks my eyes were playing on me and not technical issues with equipment.
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The reds are, at least in this sRGB-version for web, dangerously close to being out of gamut for CMYK printing. You need at the very least get the appropriate profile from your printer and observe if the reds survive into print before the deed is actually conducted.
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I love the idea. I also like the way the contour of the figures are clearly rendered. I cannot comment on the print, but I like the revised version better.
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I think I like the first version better (and I like it very much). A darker mood suits the sceen well, at least on my uncalibrated screen...
I am a bit bothered by the apparent hump in the woman's back although I understand it is her shoulder...
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Beautifully done!
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As the thread starter, Charlie, indicated the image is to be printed, unfortunately preferring a given web version over another is moot. The question is how to get the image printed so match what one expects from it. Saturated red colours are not easy for printing and one may see significant alterations in rendition from the monitor view.
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The reds are, at least in this sRGB-version for web, dangerously close to being out of gamut for CMYK printing. You need at the very least get the appropriate profile from your printer and observe if the reds survive into print before the deed is actually conducted.
Clearly I am not practiced in the art of printing. Is keeping an eye on the CMYK values and making sure they stay under 100% the aim here?
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Use your printer's dedicated profile and look for out-of-gamut areas of the picture.
You will notice the reds tend to be paler and less bright in CMYK. Do not attempt to counteract this by pumping up the red saturation as this will only exacerbate the issue further.
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Mongo completely understands Bjorn putting us back on track as to the original purpose for this thread. However, whilst that is most important, Mongo could not help but re-look at the image given Olivier’s experienced eye and passing comment about the woman’s back. Looking at it again, and without being able to see the direction of her arm connected to that shoulder, it does have the possibility of looking like a hump or awkward. This becomes more apparent when comparing the original image to the same image without a “hump”. Mongo has done this very roughly and quickly for comparison purposes only. The comparison has not been posted because Mongo is not aware of your “edit permission” and because of the serious nature to which this original image may be put. However, would urge you to consider this aspect of the image if you feel it warranted.
In any event, it is still a strikingly excellent image.
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Well that is a possible but probably not intended interpretation. Any ambiguity can be removed by having a little light along the arm so it won't merge with the body shape itself. Probably can be traced as a lighter line along the arm contour directly from the original photo or a brightened layer made from it. This contour line need not be wide not particularly bright, as long as it solves the perceptional doubt that might exist
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Very good alternative suggestion Bjorn if Charlie does consider this to be an important aspect of the image.
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I loaded the printing profile and soft proofed the picture, it turned out that there was in fact some out of gamut areas in the background. I don't know that they will use this particular image or not for their art work, but thank you Bjørn for the warning, I will pay closer attention to these details moving forward.
As for the hump on her back I hadn't even thought of it, probably because I have in mind the outfit she was wearing which made the hump. Thanks Olivier for pointing that out and Mongo & Bjørn for your thoughts on it, and everyone else for their input.
Here are a couple more sans silhouettes
(http://charliechipman.com/media/original/Dean--Lexie2455-Edit.jpg)
(http://charliechipman.com/media/original/Dean--Lexie2429-Edit-drippy-wall.jpg)
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The last double portrait has a wonderful sinister atmosphere about it. almost like she is showing us the trophy, a beheaded male.
Probably not your intended interpretation for sure, but my immediate perception of the picture.
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Yes, and the disproportion betwenn both heads in this last image makes it even more striking.
Sorry for bringing up this hump stuff, it is actually a minor point in at picture that I like a lot!
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Striking shots.
The red-white-black color set reminds me of the 'white stripes' where it had been used successfully.
The first and the last picture are unique, the last is standing out in it's ambiguity.
His scar and her wrinkle tie them close for me.
Id like to see this as cover image. It would print great on a LP.
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Glad you posted these. Mongo is fascinated by the amount of character and potential in the faces and personalities of these two subjects for photographic work/album cover.
The silhouette and these versions are very good. In a perfect world you could have one as the front cover and the other as a smaller rear cover shot....???
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Beautiful portraits!
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Charlie,
The last image is just wonderful ...you can read many messages it is so strong. Bravo!
Have you considered a square crop ...LP cover.
Cheers
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I really like these a lot, both types of images work even together,,, Impressive.
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Thank you for your thoughts.
The last double portrait has a wonderful sinister atmosphere about it. almost like she is showing us the trophy, a beheaded male.
Probably not your intended interpretation for sure, but my immediate perception of the picture.
The emotion of the shoot moved through quite a bit of territory in a short amount of time as far as the interaction between them went, from playful to protective to this more sinister scene. The sinister ended up being my favorite from the shoot, it was intended to some degree but perhaps not to the extent of a beheading ;)
Charlie,
The last image is just wonderful ...you can read many messages it is so strong. Bravo!
Have you considered a square crop ...LP cover.
I have tried it as a square and it works though it is a bit tight so I prefer the rectangle. I suppose I could make a square version with more breathing room if need be.
For what ever reason when album art is involved I find myself talking different approaches to post processing than I would normally. Here is another version of the sinister portrait above, mirrored. I don't think it has quite as strong an impact as the original but I enjoy it nonetheless.
(http://charliechipman.com/media/original/who.jpg)
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The "Salome" image looks great! Love the idea and the execution (a bit of pun intended)!
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Awesome piece of work
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I have just come across this thread, and it has been very interesting to read it all in one session, rather than seeing it developed. These are really striking and creative images, and I look forward to seeing more of your work.
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Mongo forgot to mention that he thinks the male protagonist looks very much like Val Kilmer ....... ;D
It would be interesting to know if there have been any further developments as to the final image to be used (if it is permissible to know that).