1 more for your perusal

thebeginning · May 11, 2006

very nice work matt. this and serpentine have the best composition of all your pearl shots. what's the gig you're trying to get? the caliber of these are top notch, I wouldnt be surprised if these made it into a magazine. one thing you may want to think about is vignetting. glamour shots don't typically have strong vignetting, and this shot is dynamic enough that vignetting doesnt really do much for it...i think it actually detracts from it. the skin tones kind of lose their realism when the effect is added, and it has a better 'presentation' quality if the image is left clean. just a thought. fantastic images!

question...what are you using to light these?

craig · May 12, 2006

The lighting is on point. Not sure about the pose. Somehow her arm seems awkward to me.

Digital Matt · May 12, 2006

Thanks guys.

Daniel, the vignetting imo actually helps this image quite a bit. The white background is very bright and stark, and I think the vignette draws the attention back to the center. For me, after seeing it both ways, it was clear that the vignette was needed.

The lighting is bounced flash with the aid of a homemade diffuser....basically a glad tupperware container with a flash sized hole cut in the lid, and fixed upside down on the flash.

thebeginning · May 12, 2006

ah, very creative

. it turned out well!

sorry to be unclear about the vignette...The vignette on the background is great, but it is the vignetting on her skin that is distracting. does that make sense?

THORHAMMER · May 14, 2006

very cool, I like it its higher end fashion esqe....

I wonder what would happen if the background was black and enveloping her...... kind of like shes sinking into it, but the pearls are resisting...

anyway its clear from my comments....

ive had too much wine tonight... :lol:

nice shot...

Cuervo79 · May 15, 2006

You asked for opinions, so here's myne...

WOW, :hail: the photograph is soo beautifull and the lighting is superb. The only thing I would recomend is to give a little bit of more light to just the pearls.
I tried to do it in PS, did a rough select to each of the different pieces (necklace, earing, ring, and bracelate) one by one playing with the curves making them lighter so to get more attention.
Although after comparing them side by side you have to be very carefull not to over do it because the ones I adjusted some lost the natural look and just look like white beads...

Luminosity · May 25, 2006

Ok I havent read through every word of everyone elses comments ( hurried reading tends to happen when you're at work and shouldnt be fooling around on the net

). So forgive me if I echo anyones sentiments.

I agree with a couple of suggestions people have offered up. I think it's a fabulous shot, Matt ! I always look at every shot you do because I'm rewarded everytime.

I'd be interested in a couple of other ways to get those pearls our undivided attention ( Terri is right, put your wife in any shot and she's gonna steal that attention, man ).

Angle her to the right ( her right ) so that her face is in front of her exposed armpit and her right hand is hanging down towards the left of the picture, just left of centre. Don't change anything else about her pose though; the tilt of her head to her right will work in continuing to expose the necklace and now the top of her right hand will be towards the viewer.

* While the dress is oh-so-funkylicious, have her slip on a strapless figure-hugging black top as to highlight, not distract, from the pearls. Not to mention that jewellery on bare expanses of skin is a beautiful vision.

* More light on the pearls, make those babies shimmer.

* Not sure about the top eyeshadow color, but the red lipstick rocks, it totally works !

That would be how I'd play with it anyhow. Not that I know much about advertising but I would always tend to punch up the product and tone down the rest of the picture, keep it simple and to the point.

Keep em coming Matt !