Hollywood set, real world application...

[Johnny Perkka]

So, like I said in the Hollywood challenge thread:

"Creative challenges make us go beyond our comfort zone and make us come up with different stuff that we would not normally do. And then it can sometimes be applied to the real world photography. The client wants something different, and when you have done it already for fun, it's easy to pull it out of your bag of tricks..."

Here is a good example. When we were doing the shoot, I used Mariias baby brother as a stand in to get lights right while Mariia was putting the makeup and hair on.



He liked the picture a lot, so I gave it to him. And when he showed it to the parents they were so happy and proud of him "daddy's little boy looks all grown up.." Which led me to think that it might be a nice, "different" setup, to use on a paying shoot too...

And if anyone has not already seen it, here is the picture we created with the same light setup:

[gaopa2]

Both of those are very nice photos! Cheers, Bill P.

[patterfr]

Just looking at these, and from an artistic view, I like both of these. I like the pensive mood of the first and the "beauty" of the second.
From a technical aspect, whatever that is, it doesn't look like these are taken with the exact same setup, since the central face of the boy is dark and the face of your fiance is much brighter. There is either an extra light or the light from in front for the boy is set at a much lower power.(or didn't fire)

From a lighting setup as compared to the Garbo original, the Garbo has more of a spotlight from above on her eyes and this one has a light from below. So that the only thing I don't like about it is the shadow both on her nose and the shadow projecting up to her eye-almost horror type lighting.
Just my thoughts, but I agree with your assessment that the challenges take us out of a comfort zone and should absolutely be continued.

[k9ofkaos]

Johnny, these are awesome. Truthfully I take the other side from you in the rules vs no rules debate, but your work speaks for itself and backs up what you say.

[Dratom]

these are a little different, but I like them!

[JMC]

Wonderful exposure in the second!
Excellent capture and mood.

[Johnny Perkka]

Originally Posted by patterfr

From a technical aspect, whatever that is, it doesn't look like these are taken with the exact same setup, since the central face of the boy is dark and the face of your fiance is much brighter.

Yes, there is a subtle but noticeable difference. I said earlier to Sis in pm that I need to invest on a reflector holder. See the kid is holding it, on both occasions, so it is not exactly the same. And I switched from white reflector to silver one in between. The reflector holder would have also helped to have the light coming from higher, hence the nose shadow. It is also the only thing I did not get right, I'm glad you picked it up I had pics without the shadow, but they were not perfect in other ways.

Originally Posted by patterfr

I agree with your assessment that the challenges take us out of a comfort zone and should absolutely be continued.

Yes. That is the important thing...

[Rain Lily]

What an interesting study of reflected light as well as lighting setup, Johnny. Reading yours and Fran's comments is teaching me a lot.

And your point is definitely well taken. We can't know what we can do or what we like until we try it, right? That comfort zone is just too comfortable sometimes, lol. Hard to get out of. But getting out is such a learning process; whether we like the results or not, we learn.

[Johnny Perkka]

Originally Posted by Rain Lily

We can't know what we can do or what we like until we try it, right? That comfort zone is just too comfortable sometimes, lol. Hard to get out of. But getting out is such a learning process; whether we like the results or not, we learn.

I'm pushing it a bit here, but this is also the reason I personally don't like the light meter. It takes me straight to the "right" exposure, so I don't get to see the "wrong" ones in between... And sometimes the "wrong" exposure is what I have seen in my head as the right one...

Like camel user Brooks said: "There's always a correct exposure for the intended previsualization of the scene. There's also a correct exposure that allows the maximum amount of information in the shadows and in the highlights that your sensor (dynamic range) can deliver in a single capture.
Those two exposures are often not the same."

I'm feeling that comment a lot...

[nldunne]

These remind me of the old movies, John. Is that your idea?