Outtakes - Nude Challenge - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon MF 180mm f/2.8 ED AIS

07/19/2003 10:15:12 PM · #1

Sorry.. not to jump on the band wagon, but I am also curious about my outtakes. :)
If you can bear more discussion on this topic, I'd appreciate some input. I have asked some people already... but

Here are the details in "Rapture". There is also a link there to the gallery containing the other images I had to choose from. (The gallery is unlocked now).

Thanks, in advance, again.

Message edited by author 2003-07-19 22:16:08.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

Canon RF 24-70 f2.8 L IS

07/19/2003 11:55:42 PM · #2

Karen,
I think that "untitled" is a diamond in the rough. It's a little oversaturated; just a bit of desaturation, gentle tweaking with curves or levels, and application of 10px gaussian blur (faded to 33%) take this from "sorta contender" to "WOW".

mcmurma

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

07/20/2003 12:02:04 AM · #3

KB, my favorites are the first image, 'untitled,' and the last, 'Body Image.'

If I had to pick a favorite as they are presented it would be Body Image. I like the composition a lot.

But, I really like the 'untitled' shot as well... just not in color. It makes a strong B&W when converted via the channel mixer. (yes, I grabbed it and converted it--hope you don't mind!) The models pose is nice, shows a lot of attitude, and I feel the shot depicts the theme of 'nude' the best. Overall I think you did some great stuff with this challenge. I just don't care for the cloth too much.

07/20/2003 12:12:38 AM · #4

Great feedback! Thanks! :)

magnetic9999

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

07/20/2003 10:24:55 AM · #5

It would be nice if some women weighed in on this one as well .. Would nice to see if there's a contrast in choices here.

BTW, Karen, are you using hot lights or strobes? I ask because your shutter speed, according to your EXIF in many of these, is a very slow 1/8 sec.

smellyfish1002

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

07/20/2003 10:37:27 AM · #6

My favorites are Reflection and Body Image. I like the compositions better. Reflection would have been better if your hand were not cropped, and if it were a little sharper. Thos two elements fixed, I would have given it a 9 or 10.

JD Anderson

Nusbaum

Fujifilm X-T1

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM

07/20/2003 01:53:14 PM · #7

Rapture was one of my favoriate images (9) from the challenge, but I have to admit that I almost didn't vote on it. I was running through thumbnails and kept skipping the image because it didn't catch my attention (I know, poor voting technique). I was, however, very impressed when I saw the full image. I compared to your outtakes, and while they are all quite good, I believe you selected the best. I also went back and compared to the other images from the challenge and still think this is one of the best. Some shots have a strong impact on the first viewing, but I your image continues to get stronger each time I see it.

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

07/20/2003 04:07:31 PM · #8

Hi Karen,

I think you got nice outtakes there. I agree with kirbik in the fact that you had a gem in your untitled shot. I hope you wont take this the wrong way, but I took the liberty to color adjust and do minor touchups to the photo so you could have a peek at what I think it could look like. I understand it's a touchy matter to retouch another artist's work, but since you asked for feedback, but I thought it would be faster to show you a visual reference of what I thought could have been done to it to improve it.

original (resized for the demo):

edits:

The major part of retouching this photo was in the levels adjustment. Using the White Eyedropper tool on your background helped bringing out the model. Then a few color adjustments to bring back the skin color. I used the Healing Brush in a few spots (under the eyes and some minor spots on the skin). I whitened the white in the eye. I added some negative space on the right and left. And finally, I used a bit of Neat Image to remove some of the noise in the image (probably due to the jpg). The black and white version is the same retouched image, but transformed in black and white using the Channel Mixer.

Although I did like your Rapture entry, I personally prefer Untitled because it is very glamour. I love the model expression and the composition is excellent. Lovely.

PS. If it bugs you that I retouched your original, please let me know. I will understand and will gladly remove them from the post asap.

Message edited by author 2003-07-20 18:24:56.

frisca

Nikon D70

07/20/2003 04:47:14 PM · #9

I have to agree about untitled, and I think Martin has done a great job bringing out the potential in that shot! :)

kiwiness

Canon Canon 1d x Mark II

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

07/20/2003 04:58:33 PM · #10

@ Karen. I loved your photos they are wonderful. The one you submitted was in my opinion the best choice, just beautiful!

@ DrJones, you did a fantastic job on the B&W version of Karen's pic. The only thing that bothers me there is the inside of the left arm, seems a tad blown out. Otherwise choice!

Paige

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

07/20/2003 09:31:00 PM · #11

Nice shots, Karen. I really like "reflection", it shows a lot of emotion, but is fuzzy.
Dr. Jones' B and W touch up is superb and my favorite after the touch-up. But, for the ones in your gallery, Rapture was your best choice, love it in color, gives it a feeling that's not there in the B and W version.
Excellent job on all!

07/20/2003 11:04:11 PM · #12

By the way Karen, your photo Body Image is a superb image. My girlfriend just looked at it and also fell in love with it. The composition is superb and the hat and mirror add a lot to the quality of the photo.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the fact that you tackled the challenge like few did, that is, by submitting a photo with actual nudity in it (your outtakes also show that you wanted to explore this theme). I find that too many photos in the challenge tried to avoid the actual nudity... even though it was a NUDE challenge.

07/20/2003 11:12:37 PM · #13

Thank you everyone for your help and comments! Wonderful!

mag: These are the Smith Victor Lights I have. very basic. I used a fill flash on some of the poses. I also have added a reflector umbrella to this set up.

Dr. Jones: phenomenal the way you enhanced that photo! Thanks so much for showing me the "gem" as you say.

I like Body Image too.. It needs a bit of work still, but - as stated before - I really like the message it gives about how women feel about themselves.

My friend was a great sport for modeling for me!
(Thanks Alexa!) ;)

07/21/2003 11:27:51 AM · #14

BTW, it doesn't bug me that you edited the photo... cuz it shows me what is possible.. Now, if I can only repeat that! LOL

tarique

Nikon Coolpix 5700

07/21/2003 11:43:33 AM · #15

Originally posted by KarenB:

BTW, it doesn't bug me that you edited the photo... cuz it shows me what is possible.. Now, if I can only repeat that! LOL

Is what DrJOnes did DPC legal? I mean the image manipulation part :)

07/21/2003 11:51:17 AM · #16

That challenge had no editing restrictions.

07/21/2003 12:33:53 PM · #17

Originally posted by tarique:

Originally posted by KarenB:
BTW, it doesn't bug me that you edited the photo... cuz it shows me what is possible.. Now, if I can only repeat that! LOL

Is what DrJOnes did DPC legal? I mean the image manipulation part :)

If the challenge had been witht he normal rules, it could have been possible to achieve pretty much the same result. The main difference would have been in the white of the eyes, not being able to whiten them because it is spot editing. As for the rest, it's basic color manipulation and would be ok with the rules.

KarebB: glad you like the new results. Play around in Photoshop. Photoshop is your friend. Treat him nice and he will do the same for you. LOL. Seriously though, knowing Photoshop is a plus for any digital photographer. Photoshop is your private lab and it allows you to create the most out of your photography. You should see some of the photos I shot in the past that were considered unusable at first sight. With some (major) tweaking, they could nto only be saved, but they made superb images.

jenarom

Sony DSC-F717

07/21/2003 10:13:08 PM · #18

Originally posted by DrJOnes:

The black and white version is the same retouched image, but transformed in black and white using the Channel Mixer.

Martin: I like the b&w tonalities, what settings did you use in the channel mixer?

07/21/2003 11:21:14 PM · #19

Originally posted by jenarom:

Originally posted by DrJOnes:
The black and white version is the same retouched image, but transformed in black and white using the Channel Mixer.

Martin: I like the b&w tonalities, what settings did you use in the channel mixer?

I don't quite remember... You'd have to play with it.
There is no magic setting to Channel Mixer. Every photo will react differently. I usually start with 80/20/0 as a basic then I play around.

magnetic9999

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

07/22/2003 08:28:43 AM · #20

i find most people looked washed out with a high dose of red channel, so i start with R30/G50/B20, myself.

sometimes that's good right off the bat, like it was for this image:

Click to enlarge

magnetic9999

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Canon

07/22/2003 11:30:28 AM · #21

also some more BW conversion info some might find useful:

if you use Channel Mixer to convert to monochrome, start with a default of 43/33/31 that is supposed to emulate Tri-X film - and then work it from there to varying degrees.

After that you can create a duplicate layer and add a Soft Light effect to the top layer at about a 10-20% opacity. Then to finish if off I usually colorize with hue/sat levels at about 3 each to get rid of that sometimes annoying bluish tone of digital b/w's....

Hope this is helpful to some/