Professional wrestling promotional pictures

[hokies2379]

This was my first venture into promo pics for professional wrestlers. These will be used on event posters and 8x10s. Would love some constructive feedback.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

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[chuasam]

Lighting is a bit bland . Use harder lighting and maybe a kicker and/or a hair light. Possibly light the background

 

[KmH]

My first thought was also that the lighting was quite flat.
So I agree that for pro wrestler promo shots harder light (smaller light source) and multiple lights (kicker/hair) would produce a higher quality result.
Dead in the middle of the eye catch lights from an on the camera flash greatly diminish the amount of tension and drama of the eyes.
The eyes are very important for connecting with the audience.

IMO:
7 - is OOF - Out Of Focus.
For promotional use the DoF on 5 is way to shallow. The guy's face should be in focus.
4 - DoF to shallow, hands are not in focus.
2 - Dof to shallow. His face is not as sharp as his hand and the dark eye sockets (raccoon eyes) don't work for me.

Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

 

[hokies2379]

My first thought was also that the lighting was quite flat.
So I agree that for pro wrestler promo shots harder light (smaller light source) and multiple lights (kicker/hair) would produce a higher quality result.
Dead in the middle of the eye catch lights from an on the camera flash greatly diminish the amount of tension and drama of the eyes.
The eyes are very important for connecting with the audience.

IMO:
7 - is OOF - Out Of Focus.
For promotional use the DoF on 5 is way to shallow. The guy's face should be in focus.
4 - DoF to shallow, hands are not in focus.
2 - Dof to shallow. His face is not as sharp as his hand and the dark eye sockets (raccoon eyes) don't work for me.

Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

There were 4 light sources in this shoot.

4 and 5 were done that way on purpose. His face was not supposed to be in focus at all, the focus was on the hand signal he was doing, which is a "pro wrestling" thing. His fists were not meant to be in focus, his face was, as his screaming is a trademark.
These weren't mistakes, they were 100% done that way on purpose. This wasn't mean to be a LinkedIn headshot. I did what they asked for, which may have broken traditional rules.


7 must have uploaded weird, Bc it is tack sharp all around on my end.


Agree on 2. Not sure what happened there.

Either way, thank you very much for the feedback and the tutorial on DOF





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[chuasam]

Here's a couple of thematically similar images that I did ages ago in Photography school.

 

[Destin]

My first thought was also that the lighting was quite flat.
So I agree that for pro wrestler promo shots harder light (smaller light source) and multiple lights (kicker/hair) would produce a higher quality result.
Dead in the middle of the eye catch lights from an on the camera flash greatly diminish the amount of tension and drama of the eyes.
The eyes are very important for connecting with the audience.

IMO:
7 - is OOF - Out Of Focus.
For promotional use the DoF on 5 is way to shallow. The guy's face should be in focus.
4 - DoF to shallow, hands are not in focus.
2 - Dof to shallow. His face is not as sharp as his hand and the dark eye sockets (raccoon eyes) don't work for me.

Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

There were 4 light sources in this shoot.

4 and 5 were done that way on purpose. His face was not supposed to be in focus at all, the focus was on the hand signal he was doing, which is a "pro wrestling" thing. His fists were not meant to be in focus, his face was, as his screaming is a trademark.
These weren't mistakes, they were 100% done that way on purpose. This wasn't mean to be a LinkedIn headshot. I did what they asked for, which may have broken traditional rules.


7 must have uploaded weird, Bc it is tack sharp all around on my end.


Agree on 2. Not sure what happened there.

Either way, thank you very much for the feedback and the tutorial on DOF





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We're the four light sources inches apart from each other and in giant soft boxes? Because this is the flattest 4 light setup I've ever seen.

If you're going to use selective focus to blur out part of a shot you need to either commit to it (significant blur) or not do it at all. Using a DOF that makes the out of focus part of the image just soft but not clearly blurred just gives the appearance that you missed focus. I figured you did it intentionally, but you should have used a wider aperture to get more blur.

My biggest problem is that your subjects blend into the background. You need a rim/hair light big time to provide some separation and more three demensional lighting.

When you say "pro" wrestling.. what do you mean? This clearly isn't WWE stuff.

Piece of forum advice: asking for criticism and then telling everyone they're wrong when they give it to you is not a way to make friends or get future feedback

 

[hokies2379]

If anyone feels like I was saying they were wrong, it couldn't further from the truth. I was giving explanations behind why I did something, not saying their advice was wrong. I apologize to anyone who took my response that way.



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[Light Guru]

The Photoshop work on the hair of the man on the left in the first picture is really bad.

 

[Jamesaz]

I used to occasionally hire a make up artist whose main gig was doing make up for pro wrestlers before they went on tv. Truthfully, it was something I'd never thought about that makes sense. She used an airbrush to define the muscles and cover the steroid acne. These guys could maybe stand to benefit from some similar treatment. This suggestion is not meant to offend or belittle anyone in any way, just sharing a factoid from life.

 

[hokies2379]

I used to occasionally hire a make up artist whose main gig was doing make up for pro wrestlers before they went on tv. Truthfully, it was something I'd never thought about that makes sense. She used an airbrush to define the muscles and cover the steroid acne. These guys could maybe stand to benefit from some similar treatment. This suggestion is not meant to offend or belittle anyone in any way, just sharing a factoid from life.

Thank you.


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[smoke665]

@hokies2379 Looks like the others covered most of the technical parts. I have a question, was this done in a studio??? For me I feel like they're being shown out of their environment. IMO the addition of something to tie them to the sport, be it a ring, a stool, a towel, anything, would add much to the image.

There is an old run down building a few miles away where they hold wrestling matches on Saturday nights. Every time I've driven by I've thought "I bet there are some really interesting characters in there" but I've never got up the nerve to stop. Not sure I'd want to carry $$$$ equipment into this area after dark. Might have to get some back up and go for it.