Clowning Around

[pixeldawg]

I was asked to do a publicity shot for a local clown, and due to schedule issues between us, ended up meeting them at one of their shows. I waited outside for the clown to finish their act and noticed that they have a really vivid, blue van that advertised their services. The clown came out and had hair, gloves and accents on their clothes that matched the van, so I decided to use it as a background.

This shot was made using natural light on the shadow side of the van and a little fill-flash (On camera, no less...) to give them a sparkle in their eyes and even out the texture of their makeup/skin. It was quite literally a five minute quicky portrait.

I like this shot. I like the color, composition and under the circumstances, think the the lighting is pretty nice too.

But, we all know it's not so much what I think about this shot as much as it is about what you think, so tell me... what do you think? :mrgreen:

 

[NateWagner]

I like the exposure on this shot. I think it's framed a little tight, I would probably like it more if it was just the head, or it had the whole hands in the frame.

My other thought is I don't really like the obvious on camera catchlight. I think they look nice if they're larger and off center, but not a huge fan of it like this. Personally I would clone them out.

 

[Craddie]

Besides the fact that clowns scare the crap out of me, looks like blue levels are clipping - check histogram and tone-down if that's the case.

Really sharp shot though!

 

[pixeldawg]

Hmmm... Clipping, huh? I saw your post and took a look at the original RAW file in CS3 and it's not clipping. How much are you seeing? I'm wondering if it's a difference between a JPEG and RAW file? Strange.