快樂牛郎

Aside from posting your picture.  Please don't forget to share us, what/why you think it's good, etc ...
chobit 發表於 2012/5/2 10:24

I can share why I took the particular approach but I cannot specify what is good because that's not how I think of a photograph.

I can point out that something is bad if it bothers me. But if nothing bothers me, then technically it's good. But it's not a good photograph yet unless I also like the approach, the visual style and the particular process.

So for these two close-ups, obviously I wanted to single out the scars, the blood and the make-up. But I was also influenced by Chuck Close when I was conceptualizing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Close
   
There were maybe 10-15 photographers there shooting. I did not want to capture the whole scene because that's not the angle I wanted to take. Because I had the close-up adapter on me, this idea of capturing just their faces came to full bloom.

快樂牛郎

A couple more notes.

When I take photos, the intention is always to have them printed large and hung. So there would be some shots that don't look too impressive in a web size on the screen, but would stand out completely if printed and framed.

快樂牛郎

why is it always the same model?

快樂牛郎

I can never analyze a shot like you do. I am amazed how you can go through this entire analytical process. No one has ever taught me this kind of stuff so when I explore on my own, I can only tell myself, ok I like this and ok, I hate this.

Do you have another model or another style? Frankly I am quite tired of her.

快樂牛郎

I am kind of the opposite. 3 years ago when I first started taking pictures with a point and shoot, I would bring it everywhere and take all kinds of junk shots. But as I moved on, I use my gears less and less. Most of the time they just sit on the shelves. Instead, I spend all that time conceptualizing and designing the next shoot. In a way, I am taking photos in my mind instead of using a camera. Nowadays I only bring my camera when there is a shoot to do.

快樂牛郎

An out of focus one this time.

快樂牛郎

In this original post, I talked about how the eyes should normaly look into the directions where mor ...
chobit 發表於 2012/5/2 22:36

In all your shots the external light is usually the main source of light. It's simply too hard for me and this style doesn't appeal to me.

I prefer something like this guy's:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joc ... 008/in/photostream/

快樂牛郎

Same girl but with a different film this time to capture a different tone/mood.

The similar photos that I have seen were all horizontal with 2x3 or 3x4. I tried a few times with the square format before and it didn't work. I think I finally figured it out this time.

快樂牛郎

I always hear the pros talking about all kinds of technique to handle difficult light. Sure, if you work for a client and you have to shoot at a certain location at a certain time, then you do whatever you can do to get the job done. But those are just junk shots no matter what you do. The good stuff comes when you chase after the light, not to fight against it. The easiest lighting condition is also the best.

快樂牛郎

Remember that Paul/Chu Yan photo you commented.  that's a easy/standard setup, but you think it's boring.  The photographer probably play it safe for the same reason.

That was a studio setup where the photographer could choose any setup he prefers. The "easy" lighting condition I was referring to was just natural light from the sun.

PS: BTW, isn't not about fighting the light, it's higher contrast lighting is too help you create the kind of image you wouldn't be able to do with flat lighting.  Say those, extra shadows from the trees, and the higher contrast on the leaves which you want to blend into the shot.

If you just want high contrast lighting, you can achieve it easily with the right location. What I was saying is that, even if you can try to fix a bad lighting situation by using sophisticated setup, the result would simply look like it's a patch work. It's never gonna look as good as another shot that combines the right location and the best natural light.