A Gears of War Engagement

[sm4him]

e.rose!!!! I've missed you and all your smileys!

I'm with cloudwalker...I don't really "get" the whole gamer thing, so it's kinda hard to give a very objective critique on that aspect.
But overall, I think it's a fun series, and given what you've said about your friend, it really captures who they are.

As Derrel so eloquently and subtly pointed out-- -- the saturation is a bit high. #4 seems especially oversaturated, to the point that I thought they were standing on some kind of blue gravel, like you'd put in a fish tank, not on a parking lot.

In 10 and 11, I don't know that I think she looks "weird"--like you, I'm not sure I know what that means, exactly. But I think maybe the processing has given them both an almost HDR sort of look, almost like they are animated rather than real people....
...uh...come to think of it, given the "gamer" theme, that might just have been what you were going for. Duh. So yeah, never mind.

 

[e.rose]

They're a bit too bright and over saturated for my tastes. I like the processing when applied to images like 8, but it looks too unnatural when applied to people, I think.

Also, I'm jsut curious, is his hair grey? Or is that just the way that the light reflected off of it....

He's a greyING blond... yes. Haha. :sillysmi:

Thanks for your feedback. :sillysmi:

In 10 and 11, I don't know that I think she looks "weird"--like you, I'm not sure I know what that means, exactly. But I think maybe the processing has given them both an almost HDR sort of look, almost like they are animated rather than real people....
...uh...come to think of it, given the "gamer" theme, that might just have been what you were going for. Duh. So yeah, never mind.

Ding, ding!

Thanks for your feedback! :sillysmi:

 

[tirediron]

I'll be honest Rose, these are not to my taste, and I can't say I really like them, BUT that's because I know only slightly more about computer games than I do about particle-matter physics, and understand even less. Once I spent some time Googling "Gears of War" I came to the conclusion, based on what I saw, that these are really appropriate, well suited, and in short, 'Good job'! :thumbup:

 

[Geaux]

I, for one, like the over sharpening effect added to them, BUT......the skin smoothing is over the top for me, even if you were going for a gamer look, it came across as over processed skin.

 

[e.rose]

I'll be honest Rose, these are not to my taste, and I can't say I really like them, BUT that's because I know only slightly more about computer games than I do about particle-matter physics, and understand even less. Once I spent some time Googling "Gears of War" I came to the conclusion, based on what I saw, that these are really appropriate, well suited, and in short, 'Good job'! :thumbup:

Hahaha, thanks for your feedback! :sillysmi:

I, for one, like the over sharpening effect added to them, BUT......the skin smoothing is over the top for me, even if you were going for a gamer look, it came across as over processed skin.

Thanks for your feedback

 

[Diddy2theJJ]

Hey e.rose,
I am a gamer myself so I might be able to offer some insight. Of course everything is personal preference....for the sake of discussion, my opinion is that you are getting more of an anime look with the over the top saturation and skin smoothing etc and not so much a gears of war look. Gears of war is a gritty war game that takes place in a darker setting. Here's the cover via Wikipedia:

In my opinion the photos don't really capture that feeling. To me, if I were doing a gears of war shoot, I would almost desaturate the photos more, and add some grain to them. But....if you are happy with the photos, and they are happy with the photos, then that's all that matters!

 

[RebeccaAPhotography]

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh--Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh---Bat-Man!

"Holy Super-Saturation Batman! The colors have become so bright the citizens of Gotham City will be blinded!"

"Not if we can help it, Boy Wonder! Quick, to the Bat Lightroom, for a quick pass of Dial Er Back A Notch!"

"But Batman, won't the man and woman notice that they have been brought back to normal levels of saturation? What might happen?

"Good point, my young companion, and a very impressive inquiry. It's a chance we have to take young Robin--the eyes of the entire city are at stake. Proceed we must, to lower the saturation, and save the residents of Gotham from a fate worse than Jersey Shore!"

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh--Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh---Bat-Man!

Omg Darrel I literally just keeled over laughing. To the point dh was like wth beck what's so funny lol! Thanks for the good laugh.

 

[Robin Usagani]

To me, if you want to use the prop on the photo, then really use it! If you introduce the guns on the photo, you already have passed the cheesy limit. You should have gone all out and make it really cheesy. Show them on a crouch position shooting or something. Make them dress up like soldiers. Make them look like they are on a mission together giving hand signals.

I agree with what everyone was saying about the saturation and skin smoothing as well. I think your skin smoothing is good. But you should only use it for like model photos. It is a little over the top for an engagement session.

 

[MWC2]

I use to work for a video game developer (not as glamorous as it sounds by the way) and as a gamer I think these capture what the client was looking for, they are fun, bright and over the top.

I also think part of the "weird " look peor""" look people are commenting on is the combo of the young lady's hair colour (bleached/orangish blonde) and the stark/almost black eyebrows, it adds to the anime/fanasty look of the images.

Besides some of the backgrounds being a little too busy and fences running thru heads, I think they are very well done for the genre.

e.rose - how are you PPing these? I really like the colour POP and I can't seem to nail it at all.

 

[Cuzzy]

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh--Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh---Bat-Man!

"Holy Super-Saturation Batman! The colors have become so bright the citizens of Gotham City will be blinded!"

"Not if we can help it, Boy Wonder! Quick, to the Bat Lightroom, for a quick pass of Dial Er Back A Notch!"

"But Batman, won't the man and woman notice that they have been brought back to normal levels of saturation? What might happen?

"Good point, my young companion, and a very impressive inquiry. It's a chance we have to take young Robin--the eyes of the entire city are at stake. Proceed we must, to lower the saturation, and save the residents of Gotham from a fate worse than Jersey Shore!"

Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh--Duh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh---Bat-Man!

I know it's early in the year but I vote this for comment of the year!

I agree though, even though you are going for that "gamer" look I just dont think the over saturation pulls it off.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Your avatar has had too much skin smoothing it should have wrinkles

I'll let you know I have no wrinkles...

You okay over there?

Are you kidding? Haven't been right in my head for a very long time

At least that's what I'm told when I say I listen to Yoko.

 

[usayit]

A little too much processing for my tastes... The dress and weapon do not seem to go together... perhaps military uniforms would be fitting.

#11 is my favorite of the bunch.

 

[Ronaldo]

Yep, they're super cheesy, but that's what they wanted...

Well, here's 10mins of "cheesy" work:

1.

2.

 

[e.rose]

Hey e.rose,
I am a gamer myself so I might be able to offer some insight. Of course everything is personal preference....for the sake of discussion, my opinion is that you are getting more of an anime look with the over the top saturation and skin smoothing etc and not so much a gears of war look. Gears of war is a gritty war game that takes place in a darker setting. Here's the cover via Wikipedia:

In my opinion the photos don't really capture that feeling. To me, if I were doing a gears of war shoot, I would almost desaturate the photos more, and add some grain to them. But....if you are happy with the photos, and they are happy with the photos, then that's all that matters!

Well, they're also HUGE into anime, haha.

The gears of war inspiration was more the location and the fact that they wanted to use the lancers in some of the images. I didn't really want to make the photos super gritty, because they *are* engagement photos, so I didnt' want them to look super dark or depressing, haha. But I was just sort of running with the idea of a general surreal look since we were playing with the idea of video games... not necessarily trying to match the feel of GOW specifically as far as the PP goes.

But I appreciate your input and I definitely see what you're saying.

To me, if you want to use the prop on the photo, then really use it! If you introduce the guns on the photo, you already have passed the cheesy limit. You should have gone all out and make it really cheesy. Show them on a crouch position shooting or something. Make them dress up like soldiers. Make them look like they are on a mission together giving hand signals.

I agree with what everyone was saying about the saturation and skin smoothing as well. I think your skin smoothing is good. But you should only use it for like model photos. It is a little over the top for an engagement session.

Thanks for your feedback! :sillysmi:

I use to work for a video game developer (not as glamorous as it sounds by the way) and as a gamer I think these capture what the client was looking for, they are fun, bright and over the top.

I also think part of the "weird " look peor""" look people are commenting on is the combo of the young lady's hair colour (bleached/orangish blonde) and the stark/almost black eyebrows, it adds to the anime/fanasty look of the images.

Besides some of the backgrounds being a little too busy and fences running thru heads, I think they are very well done for the genre.

e.rose - how are you PPing these? I really like the colour POP and I can't seem to nail it at all.

Thanks for your feedback! :sillysmi:

Her hair and eyebrows weren't a product of my doing... I'm not sure if you're suggesting that they are, or if you're just saying that her look in general helps to add to the anime/fantasy look... but that's totally what her hair and eyebrows look like! Well.. used to, anyway... she dyed it back to brown a few weeks after our session.

As far as PP... it's a LOT of playing with sliders in LR, and pulling most of them WAY past the point you would normally feel comfortable setting them at, haha. There really isn't a set formula I can give you because it varies from photo to photo depending on the lighting... and some photos it doesn't work on *at all*... at least *I* don't think it does. So there are a lot of variables in there.

If you're not able to get it to work, it just might be that the image you're playing with just might not be right for this kind of PP.

Your avatar has had too much skin smoothing it should have wrinkles

I'll let you know I have no wrinkles...

You okay over there?

Are you kidding? Haven't been right in my head for a very long time

At least that's what I'm told when I say I listen to Yoko.

HAHAHA... true... true... :lmao:

A little too much processing for my tastes... The dress and weapon do not seem to go together... perhaps military uniforms would be fitting.

#11 is my favorite of the bunch.

thanks for your feedback!

Yep, they're super cheesy, but that's what they wanted...

Well, here's 10mins of "cheesy" work:

1.

2.

Interesting, haha.

 

[MWC2]

Oh no I knew it the hair/eyebrows weren't your doing, I've coloured my red hair that blonde before and had that same result. ;-)