Golden Eyelashes - Opinions, please.

[Granddad]

I'm working on another set for one of the dancers I shot at the end of November. She was wearing gold eyelashes and in this shot they really stand out. Neither of us is entirely sure if they look good or make her look a bit like an alien. This is a detail from a full length shot and I'm showing one with the golden eyelashes after processing and one with the eyelashes converted (repainted). The repaint job could be better but it's mostly opinions of the effect that I'm after - although any suggestions on how you'd go about the conversion would be welcome. Thanks in advance and C&C on the overall processing is also welcome.

1)


2)

 

[thetrue]

I like it better with the black lashes. The gold make her look like she's creepily spying through her lashes or something.....idk. Just creepy.

 

[LaFoto]

True enough, the golden lashes give off the impression of at least one pupil showing (of the near eye), which IS creepy. Hence the more black is better. I agree.

 

[Granddad]

Thanks, I thought I'd get some useful 2nd opinions. I saw that and checked the original RAW file to make sure it wasn't something introduced by the processing. It's there in the original, too. I agree, that's what makes it look creepy.

I'm making a list of things that don't work for dancers, I'll have to write some guidelines to send to my subjects before a shoot. Fake eyelashes are something I have to contend with quite frequently, what is good for performance isn't always good for portraiture. Sometimes the fake eyelashes are so big it's hard for them to keep their eyes fully open. Another pet peeve is glitter in the hair, on the face and neckline. It looks good in a performance but in a portrait it tends to look like a bad case of dandruff!

 

[Derrel]

I kind of like the golden eyelashes...they look "showy"...the obviousness of them is part of their allure. I've seen photos of dancers and actors with outlandish makeup on, and the most pleasing photos to me are the ones that make it seem that the photos are attempting to SHOW US, the viewers, that the photos are about being an actor, or dancer. In other words, the photos are not so much photos of a person cast in a photographic situation, but are instead images of the "mask of the actor"...the makeup itself, the costuming, and so on. (Not sure if my words are doing my thought process justice here!)

 

[Granddad]

I kind of like the golden eyelashes...they look "showy"...the obviousness of them is part of their allure. I've seen photos of dancers and actors with outlandish makeup on, and the most pleasing photos to me are the ones that make it seem that the photos are attempting to SHOW US, the viewers, that the photos are about being an actor, or dancer. In other words, the photos are not so much photos of a person cast in a photographic situation, but are instead images of the "mask of the actor"...the makeup itself, the costuming, and so on. (Not sure if my words are doing my thought process justice here!)

I hear what you're saying, Derrel and you have a point. I think I'll do two versions, one with the eyelashes blacked and one with the gold BUT with the underlying eyeball that makes it look so creepy cloned out. Not efficient use of business time but I'm taking my photography seriously and enjoying myself far more than I ever did when I worked for a living.

 

[thetrue]

I think I know where you're going there Derrel, but I think in this instance, for this particular image, it doesn't work.

 

[Granddad]

I worked on the golden eyelashes to remove the creepiness but I still prefer the black version.

 

[malloryw]

The gold lashes are interesting and I honestly do like them but after seeing her with black, the black just looks better.
The gold would look better to me if she was looking up, but because she is looking down something just seems off about it.

 

[tirediron]

...what is good for performance isn't always good for portraiture...

A'-friggin'-men!!! I've shot a couple of dancers with these gold lashes, and I find that they work reasonably well when the eye is open and she is looking toward the lens, but with the eye closed, not so much.