Cindy Takes the Veil

[Bilsen]

NO she's not joining a convent.

Since I'm now SOO expert at speedlights in the studio I decided to play around with my new gels a bit. We had already decided to do this veiled set but, just to see what would happen, I put blue and red gels on my two 430EXs and aimed them at the BKG from each side behind Cindy. GEE who knew that red and blue make pink?
The key light Softlighter was just to camera left and I played around with the power settings to go lighter or darker.

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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6. AND THESE ARE JUST PLAIN OLD MISSFIRE ACCIDENTS
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7. just some smudging of the yellow light
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[meinster]

I like #5..

The other are very artistic.. to me the fact that her face gets lost in the shadow and veil take away from it..

I like your misfire accident..

the smudging of yellow light.. I am not sure what exactly, but I like it.. looks like it would fit in a house music club..

A suggestion. It may be interesting to have the same shots, but instead do a silhouette.. She knows hot to model her body and has some very interesting body shapes..

[Bilsen]

Thanks Meinster.

I think with the veil frames people will either love them or hate them and I can't argue either way. I could easily bring out her face more by dodging but I decided to leave the mystery by getting just of hint of all her gorgeous in this set.

I've done straight silohuettes with other models, like Marketa (below), and I wanted to try something that just approached the edge without going full dark.

[Bobby Deal]

John for me these do very little. Mainly because I see no real attempt to control the lighting on your part. It looks like you were playing around and having fun which is all good but the results as images leave a lot to be desired technically.

Learning to control colored light an using it effectively can be a big challenge, each color in the spectrum reacts to light differently so learning to balance color is challenging. For me controlling the spill of the light and separating the model or at least details of her from the color would have been more effective but that is a subjective opinion.

BTW Red and Blue when blended make purple not pink. The pink you see is the color being over powered by the output of the flash and further diluted by the white background. Do this on a black background if you want true reds and blues.

Of the gelled images I would say #5 comes the closest to being interesting to me. The last silhouette you posted is beautiful though.

Now I have to ask this question that is totally off the wall but I wonder every time I see it and I see it every time you post a new set.

What is the fascination with the hands over the head belly dancer pose? Personally I don't find it flatters your models well at all and it directs the eye away from the central focal point of the images.

[Bilsen]

Hi Bobby,

To an extent you're correct in that I was playing around, having a bit of fun and trying different things just to see what happened. That's pretty much the nature of what I'm doing this winter.

I've taught myself a fair bit about this hobby by trial and (a TON of) error. Honestly, controlling the light to the extent that you do is, at this point, way beyond me. Not to say I won't get there, but I seriously doubt it will be this winter. For now you are giving me way more credit for skills and knowledge than I merit.

Thanks also for the explanation of the pink. I was seriously wondering where that came from since I did expect something darker and more to the purple end. Now I know why.

As for the "snake arms" pose, it's a personal favorite (maybe quirk) in both standing and sitting poses. A lot of models see it in my galleries and specifically ask to duplicate it. I'll claim artistic license on this one.

As always, thanks for the C&C.

[meinster]

John

I have seen your silhouettes with Marketa.. quite beautiful..

I see how you wanted to keep an air of mystery with the veil.. I think it is just human nature, that when you see a non-silhouette image, your eyes migrate to the face, and when that is not clear, your mind automatically attempts to fix it.. when it can not do that, then it claims something is wrong with the image.

I do know how these kind of images are a love or hate thing.

To add one more thing to what Bobby mentioned (and a bit OT). Looking at #6. The way Cindy's egs are framed/posed makes them look short and awkward. I assume she does not have short legs..

[Bilsen]

Hi again Meinster,

Looking at it, you're right about # 6. Here's all of Cindys' legs so you can decide for yourself.

[meinster]

Yep.. long

BTW name is Heinz.. we are chums now.. lol

[Bilsen]

Agreed Heinz. Thanks.