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Blue Steel
1st PlaceBlue Steel
LalliSig


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Stock Photos: Fitness (Basic Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III
Lens: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Location: Studio Laugavegur, Iceland
Date: Apr 4, 2009
Aperture: 9
ISO: 200
Shutter: 1/200
Galleries: Sports, Studio
Date Uploaded: Apr 7, 2009

This is María Ólafsdóttir. We took this shot a week before she is competing in Model Fitness, or on the 11th of April so obviously she is in great shape, she has been training for months for the competition.

First time in aaaaaaaages I shoot specifically for a DPC challenge, I must be getting rusty cause I didn´t notice the "Stock photography" part of the challenge title so I am not really sure how it will do in the challenge, I honestly doubt I would really categorize this as a stock shot if I myself were voting. I rather shot an fitness image that could possibly be on the cover of a magazine, or something like that. Also, first time in ages I submit a people shot for a basic editing challenge, I usually want to retouch a whole lot but María is in such great shape that wasn´t neccesary at all.

Lit with 4 lights. Two bowens lights with striplight softboxes slightly behind her on both sides of her. One semi large softbox behind me for fill lighting and since I just bought a Profoto light the day before, I hung it up in a boom, behind her as you can see. Gotta love Profoto, great for outdoor use :)

Oh an the title is a reference to one of my all time favorite movies, Zoolander :)

Yay, first ribbon in almost exactly one year, only one day apart actually. Apparently the beginning of April works well for me! María unfortunately did not win but she wound up in 6th place, wich is very good considering it was her first time competing.

Statistics
Place: 1 out of 80
Avg (all users): 7.8653
Avg (commenters): 9.0333
Avg (participants): 7.4333
Avg (non-participants): 7.9256
Views since voting: 14747
Views during voting: 700
Votes: 245
Comments: 76
Favorites: 28 (view)


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AuthorThread
04/22/2009 10:40:01 PM
Excellent! Congrats on the blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/21/2009 08:59:56 AM
Larus, what an absolutely fantastic shot! congrats on another blue!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/20/2009 03:09:43 AM
Larus, I didn't know you changed your name...awesome image, and very YOU, congrats
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/19/2009 12:10:26 AM
Congrats on your finish! Amazing picture!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/18/2009 03:25:55 PM
Originally posted by snaffles:

Yeah, let's see Magnum! And I nearly fell off my chair laughing at the Zoolander ref! :-)


Its nowhere near ready yet.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/17/2009 04:04:48 PM
Congrats on the blue Lalli! Excellent work as usual.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/17/2009 08:32:01 AM
Yeah, let's see Magnum! And I nearly fell off my chair laughing at the Zoolander ref! :-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/16/2009 10:54:31 PM
So when you gonna drop Magnum on us???
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/16/2009 02:55:41 AM
You need to tell us what challenges you're entering so we know not to bother (-:

Seriously though - the new lights are working well... and you just can't go past that 85mm - I think that one is super-glued to the front of your camera!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/16/2009 01:34:06 AM
Originally posted by LalliSig:

What is film? Some kind of lens?


You're probably joking around but... "film" meaning, you couldn't enter any challenges on this site. (but then we couldn't see your amazing shots)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 06:38:18 PM
Glæsileg mynd. Til hamingju :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 03:01:28 PM
I knew this was yours. You didn't waste any time catching up in the points race :P Great shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 11:28:46 AM
lárus.. þú ert snillingur..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 11:22:49 AM
Grats Lalli.

Þessi mynd er geðveik og loksins ertu búinn að taka Geðveika mynd innandyra location einsog þú sagðir mér einu sinni að þér hefði ekki ennþá tekist.

Fave all the way
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 11:06:32 AM
Magnificent, I couldn't have done any better myself, I can at least try something similar. Thanks for the details on lighting techniques, that's the spirit of this website.
Yes, I also still think of you as Larus alias lallisig.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 10:42:17 AM
Wow! Thanks for always telling us how you lit your scene. Lighting is the hardest thing to get just right, but tips from you are greatly appreciated!

  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 10:19:16 AM
Looks great! No retouching needed. Perfect. Congratulations on the blue, with Blue Steel 8)
p.s.
Had a big hunch this was yours. A nice after challenge surprise to finally find out.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 09:41:18 AM
Congratulations on your Blue ribbon, beautiful lighting and model very nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 09:32:58 AM
Originally posted by ti_evom:

Dude, you need to go back to film. A digital cam in your hands is like a loaded gun when you come on this site. No one has a chance! ;-)


What is film? Some kind of lens?
04/15/2009 09:22:35 AM
Congrats on your Blue this was this one and the 2nd place were my favorites. Love the lighting.

Message edited by author 2009-04-15 12:34:41.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 09:16:20 AM
Congrats on the blue! It's great to see you back, as always, with the most beautiful of models.....you definately have a unique talent with portraits, and getting the beautiful models is only a small part of it. Hope she did well in her competition, she's obviously worked very hard. ...did I say, body to die for!...oh! and there was a photographer involved too. Well done Larus!! ...(I'm trying really hard to go LalliSig, but you're probably always going to be Larus to me)! Great image!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 08:18:43 AM
Excellent shot perfect for this challenge. Your great score is well deserved for this. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 08:16:43 AM
tehe, now i need to go watch zoolander:)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 07:44:09 AM
nice... til hamingju!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 07:08:40 AM
Congrats on your ribbon!
I wish i have such a body LOL
Love the lighting!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 04:35:41 AM
Great score, great shot, great technique, great model. Just great, Congrats !!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 04:05:39 AM
She looks great, Larus - hope she did as well in her competition as you did here! Best of luck to her, and nice shot from you.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 04:03:12 AM
Couldn´t be anybody else when saw it first. It was my highest vote for this challenge and a clear winner. Congrats with an excellent image and an impressive score (and your highest non-Aurora score)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 02:27:06 AM
There has got to be more in life than being really really really ridiculously good looking <=]

Message edited by author 2009-04-15 02:27:45.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 02:05:14 AM
Figured it was yours Larus, Big Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 01:39:13 AM
This shot stood out in this challenge. Superb!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 01:10:20 AM
Awesome shot, Larus. Congrats on the blue.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 01:09:05 AM
Wow, my first ever blue prediction that came true! Congrats on a great image
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 01:08:25 AM
I knew this would be the BLUE the minute I saw it. Deservedly so! Totally perfet. Congrats.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 12:27:42 AM
Where you been Bro? Good to see you on the main page with a sweet shot. Cheers!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 12:26:13 AM
Congrats on the top scoring photo. This was my pick for the blue and I guess I should have known it was yours.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 12:16:35 AM
Dude, you need to go back to film. A digital cam in your hands is like a loaded gun when you come on this site. No one has a chance! ;-)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 12:15:09 AM
The rest of us weren't even close. Congratz on the blue and a new image on your front page.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 12:06:06 AM
Congrats!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 12:05:18 AM
I had a feeling this was yours....congrats on the blue...yayyy!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/15/2009 12:03:47 AM
nice job
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/14/2009 12:02:18 PM
Well done with the lighting. Too bad the eyes don't pop out a tad more.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/14/2009 01:07:56 AM
Looks like a winner
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2009 07:04:21 PM
Best of the bunch. Not necessarily stock but I love it!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2009 03:59:00 PM
Love this one!! Poster perfect. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/13/2009 12:09:55 PM
Very cool. The smoke and the moon make this shot unique.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/11/2009 12:39:59 PM
By far the most fitting and also the most beautiful picture of the challenge. I was very pleasantly surprised when I came across this picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/11/2009 08:02:55 AM
Awesome shot! I voted 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/11/2009 04:53:54 AM
congrats on your ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/10/2009 07:44:44 PM
Best shot of the challenge for me. Love the lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/10/2009 05:04:14 PM
My pick for the blue. Great shot! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/10/2009 04:50:45 PM
Blue steel = Blue ribbon in my eyes. Definitely the best of the bunch. Moody, smouldering and gorgeous model. I'd kill to have a body like that lol... except I like cheese and dislike weights. Ho hum.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/10/2009 04:22:26 AM
Fantastic shot, nothing more to say except I would love to know the lighting used and the processing that went into this image. To be honest I almost feel I'm not giving this image all it deserves by giving it a 9
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/10/2009 01:00:11 AM
Larus or someone who closely resembles his style... Best lighting in the bunch.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 10:20:41 PM
oooh! Really like the lighting for this shot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 09:47:31 PM
yup, that's a stock shot. nice raking light, easy to look at model with a hint of sexy. Might be a tough dark on the brow and shadow side of the nose, oh and i love the title. Blue steel, blue ribbon.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 08:49:28 PM
Powerful photo. Very fit model definitely exemplifies fitness. Love how you incorporated the smoke and lighting into this. Looks better than the normal white background.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 01:17:12 PM
Amazing! Love the lightning and the pose... and the model of course ;)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 12:25:28 PM
I like the dramatic lighting in this. I wouldn't have a clue how to set up lighting for a shot like this. Nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 07:24:19 AM
hello mate! like it alot 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 03:47:41 AM
Whilst this is a great image - it wouldnt be suitable for stock - graphic designers would want this on a plain black background or a white background. So I know I am going to be shot down in flames but this misses the challenge a little bit - although one cannot deny it is an outstanding image.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/09/2009 02:05:57 AM
very nice lights and composition.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 09:50:58 PM
This is hot. I think this one will ribbon!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 09:31:31 PM
nice work.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 06:02:34 PM
A perfect ad photo for the barbells
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 05:50:59 PM
A terrific staged image - strong, purposeful and conveys a sense of the fitness life style. Well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 04:02:00 PM
Great looking model. Great pose. Great lighting.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 03:11:13 PM
This could be the one!
(I don't know what drew my attention to it but does that top look a bit grungy under the logo?)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 11:36:33 AM
I can sense larus absence here;) Whoever took this picture though i am just gonna say this. Congrats for the Blue ribbon...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 11:14:18 AM
Very nice! I really like the light in the back.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 10:05:23 AM
Clearly a ribbon-worthy entry!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 09:14:45 AM
Very interesting shot. I think this model has too much personality for it to feel like a stock photo. Lighting is moody and great, though I do think I'd like it better without the bright light in the upper right. Smoke is a cool effect.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 08:06:08 AM
Although this is a very good image, and the lighting works perfectly I think if you would have used a white background without the smoke it would look more like a stock photo. As a photo in general I would give this a 7 or an 8 but as a stock photo for fitness I would give this a 6. BTW I am not voting but I think other DPC members will vote this into the top 3.

Good luck.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 12:59:05 AM
awesome photo 10/10 only flaw for me is the nike symbol
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 12:31:21 AM
Congrats on the ribbon (I'm guessing blue)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
04/08/2009 12:20:39 AM
And I don't give 10s lightly.
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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