David's Project 365

[Rose]

Nice shoes !!

[davidc]

They're lovely but they murder my feet

[Mike Farley]

They're lovely but they murder my feet

That reminds me of when my daughter was at university and had a part time job in a shoe shop. More than once she had a man ask to try on a pair of size 12 ladies shoes, saying that they were not for him!

If anyone has not already seen it, this film covers the same subject and is well worth watching. I am not sure why it did not do better at the box office when it was released. Chiwetel Ejiofor who plays "Lola" is so convincing in the role that it was quite a surprise when I learnt that he had played several much more macho parts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinky_Boots_%28film%29

[davidc]

Had a great time mucking about in the woods in the snow - took my umbrella, flash, stand, tripod... the works! Though I had a specific shot in mind, a self portrait, it didn't work out but I ended up liking this one anyway - a nice pic of my willing and able assistant/model!

Thought the whole shoot was a bit rushed because of the weather it was still good strobist practice.

Strobist - YN490 at 1/4 through umbrella, camera left.



http://500px.com/photo/23690509

[davidc]

There has been quite a lot of negativity about this shot from one guy at work in particular. Granted its hardly the best portrait ever, in the main it's a lighting practice/exercise. I can see some "errors" though don't think they detract from the overall image... Is it THAT bad?

[Mike Farley]

There has been quite a lot of negativity about this shot from one guy at work in particular. Granted its hardly the best portrait ever, in the main it's a lighting practice/exercise. I can see some "errors" though don't think they detract from the overall image... Is it THAT bad?

Oh, for goodness sake, sort it out the proper way. Thump him. Chances are that he is smaller than you so everything should turn out OK.

No? Maybe not. It really depends on what he is saying. I cannot say that I paid too much attention to it, which probably tells you all you need to know.

The first thing that struck me was a cross processed look, which you did not mention so I presume was not your intention. That kind of colouring doesn't swing my boat, but in some quarters that alone would be sufficient to confer you with instant hero status. Looking at it more closely, I also feel that the light on your wife's face is a little bright and I would be tempted to tone it down a smidgen. Then there is the tree growing out of her head. Once again, this is a no no for many, but not detrimental for everyone. We have already discussed this in the thread to which I have linked below. On that basis, you are now well on the way to netting a tax free £15k, which adjusting for inflation is probably more like £25k these days.

http://forums.croydoncameraclub.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=71&p=295&hilit=prize#p295

Then there is the question of your wife's position in the photo. A lot of negative space on the right, would it have been better to have had this on the left or to crop? I also wonder if you could have composed the image so that there is a bit less space above her head and perhaps the cut-off point on her body could have been a bit lower. The positioning just seems a bit strange to me and the top of her head is quite close to the mid point of the horizontal axis.

Good job that you will not be at the club on Wednesday, otherwise we might find ourselves squaring up ..............

[davidc]

Thanks for the feedback, some interesting points in there. Almost all mentioned by this other chap too.

At least you didn't come out with "the snow is fake", "well she looks thoroughly miserable with you" followed by "it's quite clear she's not enjoying herself", which dumbfounded me.

The cross-processing look was entirely deliberate too, mainly because I feel snowy shots often look unintentionally bland and monochrome. Indeed that's what these looked like coming out of the camera so I looked at other snowy portraits and tried to mimic the style. Part of this is learning more of photoshop too after all.

[Mike Farley]

At least you didn't come out with "the snow is fake", "well she looks thoroughly miserable with you" followed by "it's quite clear she's not enjoying herself", which dumbfounded me.

I was saving those for a follow up post.

It's true that there is no texture in the snow, but that is very hard to achieve. As for the other two comments, your wife seems very happy so I am at a loss as well.

[davidc]

She thought it was absurd I'd carried all my flash equipment up to Addington Hills in a blizzard, not to mention my tripod - except I forgot the tripod/camera locking plate so had to use the camera handheld.

[davidc]

http://500px.com/photo/23780493