Lighting: Softbox with speedlight camera left, naked speedlight on the ground camera right for a little fill. Both gelled with 1/4 CTO to cool the ambient.
I think I have posted comments on something you posted before, long ago, but I do think it helps to state the following just in case...
My comments or suggestions below are not a criticism of you, your model, your talent or skill. I offer them in a friendly tone of voice and with the sole intent to help you with a second POV and set of eyes. If you read sincere questions and simple suggestions as "criticism" of you, then you will miss how I am trying to help you.
Of course this may be your own "style" or your own "vision" and I suppose we can assume that the images look just like they do because that is exactly how you like them. That is OK too. It just shows that there are differences of "opinion" on what looks good. IF these are exactly what you want and like, then by all means continue making your images look like that and have fun doing it. I can only speak for myself and what I do or do not find appealing in the posted photos. As I always say: "Follow your own muse."
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First....a question for YOU.
What is your concept for this photo? Please describe what you want people to think when they see this photo.
I am interested in reading or knowing what YOU think this photo shows and why you chose to pose your friend on the diving board.
So, for your question: My friend got some portraits for his facebook, I got his time to play with some ideas. My idea for this particular photo was to combine the light and landscape around Lake Geneva with his portrait, while practicing off-camera lighting.
Loving minimalism and surrealism/abstract art, I was hoping to try and convey the dull flat light of the morning clouds in a way that would make him appear to float above the lake. I purposedly tried to make for an exposure where the lake and skies merged somewhat, but while retaining enough details to recognize it as a body of water. Also, I tried to use the strong contrast of the diving board surface to make for a leading line "anchoring" the subject to the frame. What I personally like about this photo is that while it is clearly his portrait, it is also somewhat abstract/minimalistic, with a view over a lake that is quite different from the usual postcard type shots of this location. My hope for the lighting would be that it should perceived as non-obtrusive, but still help him stand out from the flat light surrounding him.
As for the portrait, I was hoping to showcase a young, confident man taking on the world in a (for him) foreign country and environment. A confident alien, in an alien landscape, as it were...
coresare wrote:
Would love to see it reversed with him staring off into the other direction!
That is an interesting idea. I am always hesitant about reversing portraits because of the possible changes in the symmetry of the face. I will definitely have a go at it, though. Thanks for the suggestion!
The light looks a bit "fake" (I.e. lit), I'm not a master at lighting (not even close) but the shadow from his cap is a bit harsher than natural light would provide, and the fact that his feet aren't lit kind of gives it away. I'm not against artificial light, but I want it to look as good as possible
Maybe moving in a bit with a wider lens would emphasize the line of the board while also bringing out the clouds etc...
I kinda like it, David. I'd straighten the horizon...take a bit off the left, and crop it just above the roller/bumper
under the board. It doesn't add anything to the shot and takes something away from your "clean" look.
Thanks a lot, Zalmy, for your valuable critique! Still struggling a bit (who am I kidding; a lot) with mixing artificial with ambient, so your comments and observations are very welcome! Did not notice the feet until now...
trenchmonkey wrote:
I kinda like it, David. I'd straighten the horizon...take a bit off the left, and crop it just above the roller/bumper
under the board. It doesn't add anything to the shot and takes something away from your "clean" look.
So much for being sure that the horizon was level -- but you're right about it beeing a little bit off
Thanks a lot for the cropping suggestion, I'll give it a try!
Who cares what it is about, who cares about a little bit of light here or there being out of place. Bottom line, freaking fantastic shot. Well done my friend.
trenchmonkey wrote:
I kinda like it, David. I'd straighten the horizon...take a bit off the left, and crop it just above the roller/bumper
under the board. It doesn't add anything to the shot and takes something away from your "clean" look.
Agree.
I appreciate that this is a real location shot but the image looks like a composite.. I wonder if the nasty sharpening halo is contributing to this effect
(I think it would have been fun to have him in the water fully dressed)
I really like the shot, but I don't love the processing. It looks like you set up some nice lighting and then went ahead and filled the shadows that it created, making it a bit too artificial for my taste. I also prefer the first crop--it adds an element of context that I like. I'd love to see it straight out of the camera!
