Soft shoulders

[George Holroyd]

This is a bit of a departure for me as far as tonal range goes, but I like the result. I'm considering another series that uses softer light and focus, something more feminine.

Comments and criticism are welcomed.

 

[Asher Kelman]

This is a bit of a departure for me as far as tonal range goes, but I like the result. I'm considering another series that uses softer light and focus, something more feminine.

Comments and criticism are welcomed.

Georg,

So important for you to branch out and this is an excellent start! It's fresh and more personal and has none of the brutality of your previous series. Another thanks to your patient and giving wife! I do like both the decision to show just head and shoulders and reveal only the top of the torso. The light seems rather flat. Do you have overcast skies? I'd like to see even more dimension on her left lower arm and the superior aspect of her left breast starting to appear.

I, personally am taken with soft focus especially in black and white. I'm more experienced in the use of the 50 1.2L and then large format special lenses, like the PS945 cooke and it's parent, the early 20th Century lens for movie stars, the Pinkham and Smith Visual Quality lens or the many other lenses, including an assortment of inexpensive Petzvals or single meniscus lenses that devotees use.

What lens are you using and at what aperture? Would you even consider vaseline on a plain glass filter or a net stocking over the lens to help with this esthetic style?

Asher

 

[George Holroyd]

Asher,

This was shot at about 1:00PM on a flat day with window light coming in from about a foot and a half away and 3/4 left of the model using a Nikon D7000 and 85mm f/1.8 lens at f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 400. The image was processed in LR3 with a quarter stop of exposure and some sharpening, contrast, grain, and clarity adjustments. I'm not sure this is the end result I am looking for but it comes close, process-wise.

I have another (NSFW) image that I will post, which better captures the look I am after.

As for the composition, there are a few anatomical landmarks that I find very sexy, the clavicles being one.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Asher,

This was shot at about 1:00PM on a flat day with window light coming in from about a foot and a half away and 3/4 left of the model using a Nikon D7000 and 85mm f/1.8 lens at f/5.6, 1/250, ISO 400.

How tall are the windows? The bigger the better!

The image was processed in LR3 with a quarter stop of exposure and some sharpening, contrast, grain, and clarity adjustments. I'm not sure this is the end result I am looking for but it comes close, process-wise.

George,

I don't believe one can really finalize the finish of a picture without printing samples on the papers one might use. Each print informs us differently, so essentially one has to prepare images for the web as best as one can but tune it finally for the paper and inks one is using. I do wonder at the mention of "grain". Are you one of the folk that actually adds grain? I have never seen the before and after effects of that. I'm not in any way against the process, but as of yet, have not seen a convincing improvement in a nude or face.

Asher

 

[George Holroyd]

How tall are the windows? The bigger the better!

The windows are floor to ceiling in height.

I don't believe one can really finalize the finish of a picture without printing samples on the papers one might use. Each print informs us differently, so essentially one has to prepare images for the web as best as one can but tune it finally for the paper and inks one is using. I do wonder at the mention of "grain". Are you one of the folk that actually adds grain? I have never seen the before and after effects of that. I'm not in any way against the process, but as of yet, have not seen a convincing improvement in a nude or face.

Asher

I agree with you as to the importance of seeing the final print. In my opinion, an image is not a photograph until it is presented in physical form. As a digital photographer, I'm limited in my options as far as printing goes. I have to realize my vision, to the extent possible, prior to printing. Particularly, if I plan on outsourcing printing, using lightjet technology.

I've added grain in this (and the Nude on futon image) for effect. I find that it softens the image and can add a sense of dimension, if that makes sense.

I can't really justify printing at the moment. I would print the images from 33 Meters Squared before these, for instance. I do plan on doing just that but I'd like to let this series "form" before considering the expense of printing proofs.

 

[Asher Kelman]

As for the composition, there are a few anatomical landmarks that I find very sexy, the clavicles being one.

Well George,

I looked at that region of the picture, just the upper half isolated by itself and it appears much more powerful than the full image. I didn't take the liberty of cutting and reposting as this is something you alone should consider. I must say the idea of the clavicles can be very sensual. Thanks for pointing this out.

BTW, in the movie, English Patient (1996), directed by Anthony Minghella. produced by Saul Zaentz, a man of great talent, Ralph Fiennes caresses the supra sternal fossa, that space just above and central to the sternum which links the two clavicles. The character felt that femininity was concentrated just there, especially.

The film is set during World War II and depicts a critically burned man (Ralph Fiennes), at first known only as "the English patient," who is being looked after by Hana (Juliette Binoche), a French-Canadian nurse in an abandoned Italian monastery. The patient is reluctant to disclose any personal information but through a series of flashbacks, viewers are allowed into his past. It is slowly revealed that he is in fact a Hungarian cartographer, Count László de Almásy, who was making a map of the Sahara Desert, and whose affair with a married woman, Katharine Clifton (Kristin Scott Thomas), ultimately brought about his present situation. Source​

I'd offer that seeing this movie might even be considered a delightful prerequisite for making pictures of the clavicles!

Asher