This is going to be a gallery wrap print (cropped to show what the front face will show) as a gift to our local dance instructor. Lighting at our dance events is horrid with huge differences between areas of the stage both in color temp and lux, and too many girls packed in tightly, and I always struggle to get good shots w/o flash.
The image is specifically warmed, I realize skin tones are not spot on.
I've posted my original, along with my current final.
I appreciate feedback on the image and the PP used.
I love where you went with it! I love the color and the crop! Though the fuzziness adds surrealism, I think its a bit distracting! Tone it down a bit maybe?
The stage seems tilted. The bright band of color, lower left of the stage draws my attention to it. I like everything else though, a lot. Looking at the original and the new one, it's hard to believe you were able to get that look, from the original conditions.
Interesting how you took a photograph and made it into a story. The kids with some distracted looks, some bored, some silly all turned to little mini stories and a slight mystery with the effect. The mottled lighting in the photo is distracting and a little annoying (as you professed ), but the same lighting adds mystery and a little intrigue in the after. So, the lighting goes from a debit to an asset with the proper artist effect. Very good lesson here on how to use things to one's advantage.
I would love to see these two photos in layers and slide the transparencies. At one point there will be a photo that is absolutely brilliant.
Now – that all said. Please elaborate on the camera, lens and post processing. We would all appreciate knowing how to enhance photos in this manner.
pretty cool! i think this is one of the better of 'this type' of processing i have seen. i am usually not a fan at all, but this one really works for me! well done!
I think you did a wonderful job and it will look nice in a dance studio -- the only negative thing that caught my eye right away was the unlevel stage. I am sure that dance instructor will love this!!!
Thank you everyone for the feedback. I'm hitting my head that I didn't notice the tilt - thank you!
Picture was taken the the 135L/F2, F3.2, 1/400, 1600 ISO with the 1dMIII. I'm generally shooting dance at a fixed ISO, and rapidly adjusting my aperture to keep my shutter speed around 1/500. Due to the poor lighting, there are generally just a few spots on the stage that light well, and infrequently the dancers are in those spots. The girl in the center of this picture is the dance instructor's daughter, so she was the target in this shot.
I did initial color work in Aperture then adjusted levels, burn and dodge in PS. I move the dancer on the right side in as her spacing was too far out for the crop I wanted. And of course cloned out the footlights. I also cloned some more curtain into the final view, but as this will be wrapped around the frame I didn't show this in this view.
My favorite artist is Degas, and I absolutely love his dancer work. I wasn't trying to make this look like a painting (though that skill I want to learn) but wanted to give it that classical look. Of course he had more talent in his fingernail than I'll ever have, but that is my inspiration.
I'm going to fix the level today, and hopefully send for final print since the consensus seems to be that other than level there are no glaring flaws. Again, I really appreciate everyone's feedback.
I can see the dodge and burn work now that you mentioned it. Good job equalizing, balancing and bringing out the center dancer. What form of softening did you use?
If the instructors main focus is children, I would say this would make a great wrap around brochure photo. Or header for the website. Creates a "feeling" that every parent experiences when seeing their child on stage.
