BLOOD

[thebasedsloth]

Untitled by TheBasedSloth, on Flickr
A little too heavy on the sharpening, I'm now realizing.
Shot this in my friends basement with my new Fuji X-E1, His girlfriend Julie did the makeup and threw the fake blood on him.
One umbrella in front, a little camera left, as fill, another speedlight aiming at the ceiling in front for key. White reflector on the other side.
Dodged and burned through photoshop, Did a little cleaning up on the background. Added a texture overlay.
All questions, comments, and critique appreciated.

 

[Overread]

Have you done much to the whites of the eyes? They look very white - almost the clinical style of white they like to use for fashion magazines and the like.

 

[thebasedsloth]

I think that was just a side effect of the multiple High pass filters I threw over those areas. The soft light blended ones brighten up whites a lot. Typically I would have toned them down but I felt it worked for this kind of image, It gave it more of a surreal feel

 

[Overread]

It certainly carries that, but my view is if you're going to whiten the whites that much then the irises should be brightened up a fair bit too to compensate so that the viewer is encouraged to be engaged with the whole eye in the emotions it carries and not just the "creepy" factor of just the whites of the eye.

 

[thebasedsloth]

Good call! I can agree with that

 

[Braineack]

the sharpening doesnt bother me at all compared to the fake dust/scratches. specifically the scratch across the chin/finger and the spots on the the forehead.