Turn for the unexpected

[charlie]

A select from a musicians shoot for their upcoming EP.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

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 !

[Andrea B.]

It is intriguing and I found myself making up stories about them.

[Tristin]

Beautiful image!

[charlie]

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.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

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.

[Mongo]

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.

[BW]

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.

[Jakov Minić]

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.

[charlie]

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.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

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.

[Akira]

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.

[Olivier]

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...

[elsa hoffmann]

Beautifully done!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

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.