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JustJazzie · Feb 28, 2014

Weird! So it does open in camera raw- but when I look for camera raw as an application I can't find it!

Is there an advantage to using camera raw over aperture??

JustJazzie · Mar 1, 2014

runnah said:
Nikon? should be nef files.

Sorry, I just saw this. I shoot sony so my files are .arw

Gavjenks · Mar 1, 2014

A lot of the poses look pretty awkward. I'd expect a film noir spy lady type to be more fluid and slinky rather than tied in knots. The last photo in this regard is the best, I think (pose).

JustJazzie · Mar 1, 2014

Gavjenks said:
A lot of the poses look pretty awkward. I'd expect a film noir spy lady type to be more fluid and slinky rather than tied in knots. The last photo in this regard is the best, I think (pose).[/QUOTE
Thanks for the feedback. I'll take it to my next session.

TreeofLifeStairs · Mar 1, 2014

I had to download a patch that let me open the raw files.

By the way, is that your new prop phone that you just got?

Derrel · Mar 1, 2014

I think maybe you ought to ditch the grid and use the standard reflector, or maybe try a fairly small softbox, something like say a 24x24 e-Bay cheapie, or perhaps one of the ones Adorama sells specifically for the Flashpoint 320 and 620 lights. These look excessively salt-and-peppery to me; the light tones are mostly bright,bright white, and the blacks are very dark, and there's like one sort of gray shade in the middle. I like the overall "noir" concept, but I think the grid is making a small pool of light that is actually a whole bunch of very teeny-tiny, straight-ahead-due-to-the-grid light sources, and there's not enough "spill for fill". There needs to be more light bam spread, AND it would look nicer if it had was a bit more-diffused. (my opinion, of course)

I LIKE using a gridded light source, but I almost always use it with the Speedotron snap-on mylar diffuser, which takes the "raw edge" off of those tighter 10-degree type grids, and adds a degree of diffusion that makes them, well, look better. In these, her sexy legs, and stockings, and shoes sort of disappear, because the light source's beam spread is so narrow, so small a pool...and on the highlight side, her arms are chalk white, and then other things very close by are in heavy shadow. More fill lght, or diffusing the gridded light, would make these more appealing to me.

If you do not have a mylar diffuser, I'd suggest cutting up a milk jug and making something similar, and affixing that to the front of either the grid, or to the standard reflector used alone. Adorama's generic barn doors set, the one with the colored filters, DOES COME WITH a mylar diffuser in a filter holder, and it's similar to the Speedotron mylar diffusers, but uses an entirely different mounting system.

Rags · Mar 1, 2014

Regarding the images...

The high contrast is neat, but her skin isn't.

The coarseness should be smoothed.

Nef is Nikon's proprietary raw. Usually ACR (Adobe camera Raw) is included in the PS copy.

If you registered your copy, you might be able to download it.

If you don't want to bother, try Google's Picassa3 (free).

It's a raw converter and has some nice preset effects

But for these , you need PS

Good luck

Rags

jenko · Mar 2, 2014

I really like the pose in the 3rd across from the top.

Like others have already mentioned, there is a lack of tonal range, and the details are lost in the highlights/shadows.

JustJazzie · Mar 2, 2014

TreeofLifeStairs said:
I had to download a patch that let me open the raw files. By the way, is that your new prop phone that you just got?

Indeed it is! I cant wait to use it some more.

Derrel said:
I think maybe you ought to ditch the grid and use the standard reflector, or maybe try a fairly small softbox, something like say a 24x24 e-Bay cheapie, or perhaps one of the ones Adorama sells specifically for the Flashpoint 320 and 620 lights. These look excessively salt-and-peppery to me; the light tones are mostly bright,bright white, and the blacks are very dark, and there's like one sort of gray shade in the middle. I like the overall "noir" concept, but I think the grid is making a small pool of light that is actually a whole bunch of very teeny-tiny, straight-ahead-due-to-the-grid light sources, and there's not enough "spill for fill". There needs to be more light bam spread, AND it would look nicer if it had was a bit more-diffused. (my opinion, of course) I LIKE using a gridded light source, but I almost always use it with the Speedotron snap-on mylar diffuser, which takes the "raw edge" off of those tighter 10-degree type grids, and adds a degree of diffusion that makes them, well, look better. In these, her sexy legs, and stockings, and shoes sort of disappear, because the light source's beam spread is so narrow, so small a pool...and on the highlight side, her arms are chalk white, and then other things very close by are in heavy shadow. More fill lght, or diffusing the gridded light, would make these more appealing to me. If you do not have a mylar diffuser, I'd suggest cutting up a milk jug and making something similar, and affixing that to the front of either the grid, or to the standard reflector used alone. Adorama's generic barn doors set, the one with the colored filters, DOES COME WITH a mylar diffuser in a filter holder, and it's similar to the Speedotron mylar diffusers, but uses an entirely different mounting system.

thanks for the feedback Derrel, I love how you always not only tell me what the issues are, but also suggest ways to improve the problem at hand. I have a bunch of diffusion material that came with my ebay softboxes so perhaps I can try to rig that in next time. I will have to go back and look into the original files (aside from the first one which I know the details are gone) because I am wondering if my loss of detail is coming from the gradient map I used in PS. I thought it was punchier, but perhaps a generic B&w conversion would have been better for this set?

jenko said:
I really like the pose in the 3rd across from the top. Like others have already mentioned, there is a lack of tonal range, and the details are lost in the highlights/shadows.

thanks for your thoughts!