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thebasedsloth · Sep 19, 2012

_DSC6973-Edit by TheBasedSloth, on Flickr

2WheelPhoto · Sep 19, 2012

Nice, in the second shot I'd have tweaked the LR4 "shadows" slider JUST enough to make out that kewl whatever it is behind the subject =)

amolitor · Sep 19, 2012

Very nice. I have nothing to add, really. There's some stuff, but since you obviously did it on purpose I'm not going to criticize.

I like the light in the first one, it looks like a fire, but the context is wrong so there's some ambiguity there -- is it a fire in a semi-urban setting, and if so, what's up with that? if not a fire, what?

The second one is a great evocation of mood, with almost equally interesting light.

The darkest regions of both are very well handled.

amolitor · Sep 19, 2012

The subject is reflected in the doorway..

thebasedsloth · Sep 19, 2012

'Some Stuff' you say!? Please, Explain!

amolitor · Sep 19, 2012

thebasedsloth said:
'Some Stuff' you say!? Please, Explain!

Basically, I find the light and the model very interesting and good, but I find the settings and background less good. The first one is ok, I'm just not in love with all the elements of the background. Is it someone's back yard? The background elements, anyways, don't really cohere into anything -- they're just "stuff" that's there. The second one is a great idea, but I am finding the background again pretty uninteresting. I get the idea that the guy is waiting to be let in, or waiting for the door to open, or something, and that's really fantastic -- that's the evocative part I mentioned. The door itself has some stickers and crud on it that seem to detract from the image, to me, and the cinder-block wall is also both distracting and not very interesting. On the one hand this stuff makes the scene more "real" but on the other hand I think they detract from the strength.

If it were me shooting the second one, I'd hunt around for another door somewhere else that had a plainer wall, or a more interesting wall, and a door with less stuff, ideally a door with nothing but a plain panel of glass. Then I'd try to duplicate the light.

But it's not my photograph!