Sijun Forums :: View topic - Between Darkness and Light (photography--big download)

Lunatique · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:22 am

I've been letting my lighting equipment collect dust, because I've been too busy and too lazy to deal with a whole lighting rig. I felt guilty having spent all that money on lights, but not using them as much as I should, so I decided to dust them off and shoot a session with them. I wanted to do something dramatic, lush, and a bit wicked, so I did a pretty heavy job on Elena's make-up (I do make-up for my models sometimes if I feel that they might not understand what I wanted). While shooting, I felt really bad because I thought I was doing terrible, but in the end, I actually shot quite a few keepers. The session was in two part; the first part is the dark and dramatic look I wanted--something that evokes the kind of shadowy intensity you feel from watching David Lynch films, the second part is sensual and luminous-- the opposite of the darkness of the first part. Elena kept the same outfit on, and only changed her make-up for the second part (she did the make-up for the second part). It's really intersting how the different looks affects Elena's mood, and also changes the way I perceive her from behind the camera. It was an interesting exploration of duality. I think I should dust my lighting rig off more often.

EDIT: I have no idea why the images won't show. The BBCode is correct as far as I can tell. I guess you can see the images in another thread instead: http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/245950/0#2031616

You can see the entire session here:
http://www.ethereality.info/ethereality_website/photography/1DMKII_portfolio/elena/between_darknes

lysander · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:26 am

the links are showing for me.
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jfrancis · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 12:43 pm

Odd.

It doesn't show as anything but BBCode for me.

I wonder if the & ampersand character is somehow confusing things

mxxx · junior member Member # Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Posts: 16

Impaler · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:38 pm

Did you use a soft focus filter on any of the Lightness series, or is it Photoshop, or wide-open aperture? It's a neat effect, specifically in reference to 21 and 22.

About Darkness: The shimmering moonlight effect that shows up in most of the pictures is beautiful, but I think maybe your key light (I assume? I'm talking about the warm yellow-ish light to the left) is too harsh.

http://www.ethereality.info/ethereality_website/photography/1DMKII_portfolio/elena/between_darkness_&_light/between_darkness_&_light-04.jpg is a good example of this. That greenish splash on her shoulder is distracting my attention from the better-executed and prettier play of light on the rest of her body.
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Odds · member Member # Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Posts: 374

nice, soft pictures Smile

great job lunatique, although i do agree with impaler about that yellow light. keep 'em coming.

B0b · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:51 pm

yeah deff the ampersand

nice pics luna Smile

Bg · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 4:13 pm

Great work man! 02, 07, 16 and 21 are my favs, with 07 being my absolute fave. It reminds me of a painting by Jason Manley, I think it was an ad for Baldur's Gate 2, it had vampire woman crouching on a railing. It's remarkable that you have achieved that same kind of painterly quality with a photograph!

btw. it would be interesting to know which ones you like most?
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Lunatique · Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 6:25 pm

Impaler - I did it in post. Photographers have been debating about the usefulness of soft-focus filters/lenses in the age of digital darkrooms. I personally feel that the soft-focus gives a different look compared to what you can do in Photoshop, but you have more control in the latter. In 22, I went for that soft-focus filter look, and in 21, I went for that big aperature look. I could've gotten that same look with my 50mm 1.4, which is a pretty big aperature, but I was in the groove and didn't want to stop to change lenses or re-do the lighting (the f/1.4 aperature would've thrown the settings of my lights totally off, and I'd have to adjust all of them--by then Elena would've probably gotten tired holding that pose).

The green/yellow light was me trying to give the lighting a bit of that wicked feel. I'm not so sure how I feel about it yet.

Timo - Thanks! I've been feeling pretty down about the lack of progress in my photography skills, and I think this session managed to gain me some additional hit points.

As far as my personal favorites go, they are probably 20, 05, 21, 02, and 15/16 (they are so similar, but different composition). I think the creator himself can never be objective, that's why I always ask for the opinions of others.

B0b, Odds - Thanks!

The rest of the session can now be seen here:
http://www.ethereality.info/ethereality_website/photography/1DMKII_portfolio/elena/between_darknes

Max · Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 3:40 am

I really like 02, 04, 08, 21 end especially 16! Nice!!

Impaler · Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 2:48 pm

Post, eh? What's your recipe? Or is that a secret? :D
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Lunatique · Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 8:47 pm

Impaler - my post methods are nothing special--far less complex than the kind of stuff you see in books that teach you digital darkroom techniques. For the soft-focus filter look, I just replicate the image in another layer, Gaussian blur it, and then change layer opacity to 50%. Can't get any simpler than that. Of course, if you want to have more control in selective detail, you could always erase what you want back in instead of changing opacity for the whole layer. The large aperature look works on the same principle, except I have two new layers instead of one. One layer is very blurred, and the other is less blurred. Anything that is far away should be very blurred, and the middle distances less blurred, and then full detail in the planes closest to the camera. Just selectively erase the layers as you wish, and that's it. It's really much simpler to just use the appropriate lenses for these looks, as your images will look more natural and less gimicky, but you have less control in detail that way. I try to keep my post work as invisible as possible--having obvious digital processes show in your photography is never a good thing.