I'm aching for some critique if you have a moment...

[cruelkitti]

I looked for a thread specifically for critiques but was fruitless, so forgive me if this thread is misplaced. I'm just hoping to get an outside eye on some of my recent work. Namely a series I'm doing titled The Earthen and Ethereal. A few people have told me that the armlessness just bothers them, but I'm not changing that, that's part of feel that I'm going for. I'm looking for critique in regards to technique (with editing and the photography) and overall photo quality. A description I used to describe the feel I'm going for " They're the Earthen. They're not human. They frolic, invisible, like twisted little doe in the shadows of the forest until there is no one to witness their presence and they take a solid form. Deadly but playful, feral and fierce. They sometimes take a more human form, other times not. They don't follow the laws of physics so any representation of arms or legs they may choose to form are strictly for play and imitation. Sometimes they appear as raw bone and hide, clicking and clacking as they walk...an unsettling sound. Other times they'll be formed of pure light pouring through the trees..."

 

[ronlane]

Honestly, it will help you get c&c if you will post the pictures on here instead of just supplying the link.

I clicked on the first one and looked through a few of the pictures. They are dark to me, but that is the feel you are going for.

 

[cruelkitti]

c&c?

 

[cruelkitti]

ohh. haha I misread that as getting c&c as a resource to post pictures. Comments and critique, I presume. done and done. Thanks

 

[Braineack]

#1 looks too shopped and I don't understand the content.
#2 needs a second flash or repositioned as you can't see the subject's "skull"
#3 is pretty cool. I think this is the best of the lot; the highlights are a little hot. and again, wish there was a second light.
#4-5. too under for me; i don't like the placement of the key light behind the subject.
#6. this is a good capture, but you can't see the mask so it kinda defeats the point.

 

[Designer]

I applaud your effort. Frankly, I think your watermark is intrusive.

 

[cruelkitti]

#1 looks too shopped and I don't understand the content.
#2 needs a second flash or repositioned as you can't see the subject's "skull"
#3 is pretty cool. I think this is the best of the lot; the highlights are a little hot. and again, wish there was a second light.
#4-5. too under for me; i don't like the placement of the key light behind the subject.
#6. this is a good capture, but you can't see the mask so it kinda defeats the point.

Thank you. Exactly what I@m looking for. Unfortunately, I only have one light and can't affird a second at the moment. As far as being too shopped, I was going for a sort if painting apoeal. Fantasy. I agree on the light positioning, it was directly to the left and the nettles and bushes limited my light-positioning. As for my watermark being intrusive, I've been told in the past my watermark wasn't big enough several times so I made it bigger. It doesn't really bother my eye so I'm going to leave it.

 

[cruelkitti]

Yikes, sorry about the typos. Touch screen, ftw.

 

[Ilovemycam]

I don't like em much. Odd angles and hard to see. But my work is nothing along your line of work, so it may not weigh much.

 

[Granddad]

Welcome to the forum! This is a good place to get C&C.
Interesting concepts. Not my style but I know people who love this kind of thing.

 

[kundalini]

When I think of the term "Ethereal", it conjures up visions of bright, airy and SOFT light and SOFT images. You've gone in the opposite direction with your lighting for the very HARD light and HARD shadows casting your subjects more into the macabre. Instead of the light hearted, free flowing forms and virtue that would be expected, we see acute angles, dominating postures and subjects hidden behind masks.

You nailed "The Earthen" part.

 

[cgipson1]

lighting is too HARSH! Get a diffuser.... and yea, you need another light, or at least a reflector. No detail in the dark areas.... exposure wise, the first and the last are the only ones I would keep.

 

[kathyt]

Your lighting is in desperate need of some helping hands. As in, at least, one other light. Your shadows have no detail, and the models are lost in the darkness. I really can't tell what is going on.

 

[amolitor]

I think the limblessness is an error, it's too jarring, and makes it look like amputees playing dressup. Pose to create the illusion of joints that work the wrong way, or something, perhaps.

Balancing the weirdness with the normal is important. There's a process called "suspension of disbelief" in play here, which requires a fairly delicate mixture of reality with fantasy to create something that we're willing to take as shown, without dismissing it as "fake looking" and without thinking (on the other end of the spectrum) that there's nothing much unusual here.

Lighting is what it is. I have no objection to it. It conveys a feeling as it is, which may or may not be what you want. It's definitely dramatic.

 

[kundalini]

I reread the OP's description.....

... I used to describe the feel I'm going for " They're the Earthen. They're not human. They frolic, invisible, like twisted little doe in the shadows of the forest until there is no one to witness their presence and they take a solid form. Deadly but playful, feral and fierce. They sometimes take a more human form, other times not. They don't follow the laws of physics so any representation of arms or legs they may choose to form are strictly for play and imitation. Sometimes they appear as raw bone and hide, clicking and clacking as they walk...an unsettling sound. Other times they'll be formed of pure light pouring through the trees..."

On second opinion, you may have hit the mark of your vision with the subjects and their costumes. However, the lighting has not been your friend here.

Instead of waiting until it is dark(ish) outside, you can shoot these when there is daylight to give you plenty of ambient light for detail of the background, but adjust your settings to darken it slightly. That would put less demand from your one light, thus lightening their shadows with some more emphasis of the ethereal feeling. The addition of a couple of reflectors wouldn't hurt either.