PSE7 Collage #03--Suggestions Please!

[George Tyndall]

Young-Woman-Poses-at-the-River.jpg

[Bob]

Suggestion:

There is a small area where part of the arm would likely reflect in the water. Adding that small reflection will add to the realism. Also, the background is slightly darker and more subdued. You might want to try reducing the saturation of the model slightly to see if she would blend in better with the background. Your call.

[George Tyndall]

:TU:

Suggestion:

There is a small area where part of the arm would likely reflect in the water. Adding that small reflection will add to the realism. Also, the background is slightly darker and more subdued. You might want to try reducing the saturation of the model slightly to see if she would blend in better with the background. Your call.

I can't see where to add the reflection, but changing the saturation was easily accomplished.

Dilemma: I'm an admirer of Peter Gowland's use of flash-fill photography. I like the way his method focuses attention on the model even when, as is almost always the case with his style, the background is bright and sunny (many if not most of his images are made at southern California beaches). Problem is, the books I am reading seem to suggest that flash-fill photography is amateurish or second-best, something that, for example, news photographers must rely on because they don't have time to set up proper lighting.

Do you agree that flash-fill photography appears amateurish?

Young Woman Poses at a River_edited-3 (Medium).jpg

[Gerlinde]

George, for me the problem with this picture are two things. For once, the pose of the girl is kind of unrealistic. I don't think she would look that comfortable if she were really laying down on those rocks. The other point is the weather in the background picture. It looks like a more cold and windy day, not a hot day at the beach, like the model implies. I am not saying it would be impossible to have a model pose like that, but it seems a lot harder to "fake it". You may have more success by using a different background picture or the girl dressed accordingly.

[George Tyndall]

George, for me the problem with this picture are two things. For once, the pose of the girl is kind of unrealistic. I don't think she would look that comfortable if she were really laying down on those rocks.The other point is the weather in the background picture. It looks like a more cold and windy day, not a hot day at the beach, like the model implies. I am not saying it would be impossible to have a model pose like that, but it seems a lot harder to "fake it". You may have more success by using a different background picture or the girl dressed accordingly.

Yes, my thought, too, is that, the pose would be very uncomfortable for her in real life, even if the weather was hot and humid rather than cold and windy. The reasons I chose this particular image of the model for this particular background are twofold:

1) I wanted to see if I could both select and place her so as to make the two images fit well and

2) I hoped to provoke in the viewer the reaction, "Wow, she must be a stoic model, indeed, if she can seemingy pose so comfortably in such a location."

Thanks to your suggestion, my next project will be to use either the pose of the background to create an image in which the parts are more congruous. Thanks for taking the time to post your suggestions.

[Bob]

Most of the reflection on the water in this scene would be hidden by the foreground. There is a small area where a tiny bit of arm would be visible. In this particular scene, adding the reflection would be a subtle touch. But, it could be significant in other scenes.

RiverReflection.jpg

In my opinion, fill flash is not amateurish. But, how you use it may be. Unless you're working with a single light, most studio lighting uses a main light and a fill light. You need both to control the modeling and shadows. It's even more critical to have fill outdoors where the main light (the sun) is stronger and the shadows are stronger and harsher.

Do you have any of Peter Gowland's books, George? As far as I know, they are out of print now.

[George Tyndall]

Bob, I have just one of his books (1972). Here are the rear and front covers, the former with Gowland included.

I don't know why he chose that image for the front cover, as it is hardly one of his best, or even typical. A girlfriend who insisted, perhaps?

Image3.jpg

Image1-3.jpg

[Bob]

Back in the 60's and 70's, I was a big fan of Peter Gowland too. He still stands out in my mind as the quintessential Hollywood glamour photographer of that era. I bought a number of his books -- that book was one of them. I'm not sure that I still have them.