I had this one in mind for a while, as I have a piano that I don't use anymore so I decided to include it in my photography work. I used mostly natural light, except for the backlight shots. I shot mostly the Sigma 30 1.4 Art and Canon 22/2 EF-M and a few with the Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50 1.8. I also shot a roll of Kodak t-max 100.
I've never done these type of shots so I could have probably done it better. I hope you enjoy.
Evocative. You took an attractive model and sort of sidestepped her beauty for the sake of the concept and the composition. Still beautiful but in a variety of ways. I am a little unsure of the cropping in #1 but the conversion is very good. #2 and #8 are my faves. I enjoy the full body profile of #2 emphasizing her legs and the lines. I like the pale tones of her surroundings. By contrast, #8 is just in your face bold both in terms of tone and theme.
Thanks!
I wasn't sure about the cropping in #1 either but I kinda like the overall feel of it and the vantage point (I had to climb on a chair for this one).
I too like #2 the most, which was actually the photo I wanted to make in the first place and had in my head.
#8 was shot with the Pentax Spotmatic 35mm camera on Kodak T-max and it's just a machine scan so it came out with too much contrast. I like the way the light falls and emphasises her body.
We decided to try another theme there so I had the hairstylist change her hair to a more "messy-morning-after-party" look and we poured a cup of whiskey for her to hold.
The whole idea was to break the rules and get out of the "sugar coated" feel that you might expect from such a theme. I had decided to have it all in B&W but 4 felt like color.
Too much contrast? Maybe. I am not particularly an automatic black and white high contrast lover, but this one works for me. I would like is to see is a whole body version of this shot. The length of her right arm leads me to the glass very nicely but the image ends rather abruptly for me there. Another idea I had was to tone down her right arm a bit. That part of the image seems to detract me from her face which may be a good trick considering how pretty she is,
Not sure I got the arm thing right. Unfortunately this is the original - no full body shots on this one. It was too tight for that and the 50mm I guess. I have some wider ones with the eos-m but none of them came out great. I should probably crop a bit further, just below the knees as I don't like how I've cut her legs righte across the shins.
There's another shot that reveals more, but I find the pose not so appealing.
Thanks for the additional shots. I really like the feel of these. The whole cropping issue can be so problematic. Ideally, I would prefer the full body for these but, even if you had a wider lens, that might not have worked in terms of presenting her in a natural way. The biggest issue for me now is her right hand. I can't tell if the size and visual weight is from distortion, positioning, lighting, or the contrasty film. The brighter left hand is not distracting at all. In the final pic, the arm has a different position and the hand appears thinner. It is also more evenly lit so lighting may be the main factor. To me, only a really good pic could stand this much scrutiny and still be enjoyed and admired. I also like the dark bottom on the second version. The shadows seem to lessen the effect of the crop. I also like the slightly darker tone of the background--makes it less severe and frames her nicely.
