Korgscrew
Group: Super Admins
Posts: 3511
Joined: Dec. 1999 |
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Posted: April 10 2003, 14:46 |
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I'd actually rather they didn't think of anything more imaginitive - I feel that's the problem with the pictures, they're trying too hard to be 'clever', 'art' or something like that. Number 4, the black and white, seems the most flattering to Mike, but it's wrecked by having what looks like a tatty old decorating sheet hung in it (though to Andy Earl's credit, the positioning of the pole suspending it obeys the rule of thirds quite nicely ). Removing the backdrop would help, if it wasn't for the fact that it would then mean that Mike was backed by the bright white sky shining through the trees, which would distract all attention from his face, parts of which are appearing as white themselves. I don't find the pose of Mike against the tree too bad, though the way his hands are in his pockets makes it look a little like he has a large stomach (not as bad as in the colour version of the same setup, though! ). The leather jacket's also a bit shiny for my liking...
I think my favourite is number 3, though the colours are a tad on the cold side, making Mike look rather old and pale. A tweak of the colour balance helps, but really, taking it on a day with warmer light, or in a different setting would have helped. The fill-in flash he's used doesn't help the matter, I almost always find that doing that provides a rather hard light (bouncing it off a gold reflector would be the answer, though it would either take an assistant stood there with it, or a couple tripods that might be a bit inconvenient to carry into the woods). The light area right next to Mike's face means he blends into the background a bit (it's also not too dissimilar in tone to Mike's face).
I see what he's trying in the first one, with just having the eyes in focus to draw attention to them and nothing else, but certainly for this photo, it doesn't do anything for me (perhaps because it means that the only things in focus in the picture are Mike's rather bored looking eyes).
Number 2 doesn't do anything for me...it's all dull and grey, and Mike looks like he's pregnant. I used to use a big roll of paper as a backdrop for portraits, which despite being dirty and covered in footprints (anyone curious about it can see what it looked like here), somehow appealed to me more than what's hung up behind Mike there.
Andy Earl has taken some great photographs in his time, and even some good ones of Mike...somehow his last lot (both these and those for Tres Lunas) seem to be rather lacklustre, with a feeling that neither of them are really enthusiastic about the job in hand.
I think I've said enough...
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