This image is the consequence of an ‘arty’ shot gone wrong. What I set out to take was a fairly low-key, possibly diffuse shot of my wife using her laptop (a not uncommon occurrence ;-) but none of those shots really worked out – they were either too dark, or lacked detail, or just weren’t worth putting up. I also took this one, and several similar ones, and, other than the image being a bit ‘cold’, I really like it – more for the clarity and detail than any artistic merit, but I do like the way it turned out.
It was taken by bouncing the flash directly off our lounge ceiling and there hasn’t been too much done by way of post-processing. The sofa was lightened and desaturated (more because it needs a wash than anything else), and I spent quite some time getting the sharpening right, but other than that it’s a relatively straight shot.
Incidentally, if, like me, you have a digital compact with a hotshoe for a flash, I heartily recommend getting hold of a separate flash-gun. The built in flash on most cameras is rather poor and you don’t have much control over how it behaves. I recently got hold of a 420EX and have found it excellent, particularly the ability to bounce the light around an otherwise poorly lit room; which is really useful at this rather dull and dark time of year.
camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length image quality white balance optical filter
Canon G5
9.23pm on 4/3/04
f4.0
1/60
aperture priority
+1
evaluative
50
11.2mm
RAW
auto
B+W UV 010
This is one of your best shot. Technically, there is nothing wrong. Great pastel color all over. It's really amazing. Composition is perfect ... This almost feels like an erotic picture. Really. I'm not too much into erotic picture but I like this style a lot !!!!
oh, how I miss european fashion...I love thigh/knee socks and short A-skirts (My favs ;-)
comment byDaniel at 08:40 AM (GMT) on 8 March, 2004
Oh boy, my girl wouldn't like to be shown this way - with a computer I mean.
comment byKeith at 09:21 AM (GMT) on 8 March, 2004
Wow, beautiful shot. I'm nitpicking, but I find the skin tone inconsistency is a little distracting. My eye is drawing to her left hand due to the paleness, while the skin tone on her thigh has a much warmer tone. I can't decided if I find it a little distracting because the skin tone on her hand is too pale and needs to be a little warmer or that the skin tone on her thigh needs to be lighten up, but like I said I'm nitpicking.
I think the colors and composition of this picture creates an amazingly seductive feel, great work.
comment by djn1 at 10:45 AM (GMT) on 8 March, 2004
Thanks everyone, and my wife is quite pleased too (particularly about being compared to luscious ice cream) :-)
craig and Keith: yes, I agree, the lighting isn't as consistent as it might be. This was lit by one bounced flash and a room light, so the balance isn't as great as it could have been. In addition, I used an overlay layer to bump up the contrast and saturation, which exaggerated the discrepancy between the light and dark areas of skin. I did try to redo the image just using just a Curves adjustment, but while the skin tones came out on more of a level, the overall image wasn't nearly so striking. I also tried selectively lightening her thigh, but this ended up looking really unnatural - so in the end I gave up and left it as it is.
The moral here: sort out the lighting before taking the shot!
comment byemarquetti at 01:51 PM (GMT) on 8 March, 2004
Yeah! Very nice shot!
The balance of colors and light is perfect. The 'model' and the objects are perfectly in harmony, donīt remember me an ice cream, come s in my mind a soft breeze of the spring 'licking' the face, you close the eyes and always sees something more. Sexy confuses with a comfortable inoncent momment, or, who knows she was at an 'attack moment'... says me what happened soon after the photos and will know that I am right! ;-)
ps. I hope You understand my poor english.
comment byHates_ at 01:59 PM (GMT) on 8 March, 2004
How do you get such a nice soft tone on the focus and colours? Its amazing as it looks completely crisp but soft at the same time.
comment byMikee at 04:17 PM (GMT) on 8 March, 2004
whoa! Is this an ad! Fantastic.
comment by djn1 at 08:11 PM (GMT) on 8 March, 2004
emarquetti and Mikee: thanks.
Hates_: it's a consequence of creating a second layer, blurring it, and then setting its blend mode to overlay. On the original (i.e. the full size image) I used a Gaussian blur of 12px. After reducing the image I sharpened the original layer (i.e. the one below the new overlay layer) using the Unsharp Mask (settings: 300%, 0.3px, 0). Drop me an email at djn1 [at] chromasia [dot] com if any of that isn't clear.
comment byjames m at 02:01 AM (GMT) on 9 March, 2004
There is not much more I can add to what has already been said ....
djn, absolutely stunning pic.
comment byEthan at 02:46 AM (GMT) on 9 March, 2004
Thanks for the comments on my site; they make it more fun to keep it up. I was wondering at first if your wife knew about the shot, but it seems like so based on your comments. It makes me want to go buy an HP laptop :)
comment byRichard at 08:04 AM (GMT) on 9 March, 2004
I REALLY like this one! Excellent!!
comment byEliacin at 02:02 PM (GMT) on 9 March, 2004
I absolutely LOVE this picture. Do you know Strawberry Shortcake? She looks like her, but imagine in real life. It is beautiful and cute, and crisp, and sweet, and even erotic. I would like to have it as a poster (I am a laptop addict myself).
Keep up the excellent work!
comment by Judith Polakoff at 06:32 PM (GMT) on 9 March, 2004
Wow, great shot! I think the shadow on her thigh makes the shot even better than if it was evenly lit all around. The colors are beautiful, and the composition is excellent, as always.
This is so very clean and crisp, great photo! And the hint of skin doesn't hurt either. ;)
comment by Haruko at 11:40 PM (GMT) on 7 June, 2005
I like this photograph. It looks detailed, colorful, crisp, organized, and clean at the same time. Not many people can accomplish this all at once. Her color and style of clothing is perfect compared to the whole image. Great job on this photo.
comment byYvette at 11:33 AM (GMT) on 17 July, 2005
Such as a pretty in pink! I love that photo and it's classic! Your one of my favs and I featured you on my photoblog. What kind of domain or site are you using? *Thanks*
comment by Mami at 11:23 AM (GMT) on 21 July, 2005
I just found out about your site yesterday (on a BBC Online feature). Such wonderful photos. This is one is definitely my favorite. It reminds me so much of me:) I love pink! Where can I get those socks? I'm definitely going to take my camera with me everywhere I go now. Never know what I'll come across. I live in Thailand, it's a very colorful country. You have inspired me.
comment bySpotThePot at 05:20 PM (GMT) on 9 August, 2007
sweetly seductive - this is a great shot - colors & lighting are outstanding... so are those cool thigh high socks - they Totally ROCK!
This image is the consequence of an ‘arty’ shot gone wrong. What I set out to take was a fairly low-key, possibly diffuse shot of my wife using her laptop (a not uncommon occurrence ;-) but none of those shots really worked out – they were either too dark, or lacked detail, or just weren’t worth putting up. I also took this one, and several similar ones, and, other than the image being a bit ‘cold’, I really like it – more for the clarity and detail than any artistic merit, but I do like the way it turned out.
It was taken by bouncing the flash directly off our lounge ceiling and there hasn’t been too much done by way of post-processing. The sofa was lightened and desaturated (more because it needs a wash than anything else), and I spent quite some time getting the sharpening right, but other than that it’s a relatively straight shot.
Incidentally, if, like me, you have a digital compact with a hotshoe for a flash, I heartily recommend getting hold of a separate flash-gun. The built in flash on most cameras is rather poor and you don’t have much control over how it behaves. I recently got hold of a 420EX and have found it excellent, particularly the ability to bounce the light around an otherwise poorly lit room; which is really useful at this rather dull and dark time of year.
capture date
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
focal length
image quality
white balance
optical filter
9.23pm on 4/3/04
f4.0
1/60
aperture priority
+1
evaluative
50
11.2mm
RAW
auto
B+W UV 010
Stunning. :)
seductive, like lucious ice cream. good stuff
Absolutley stunning.
The image is not that bad, either. ;)
Something very sexy about this shot.
I agree, there is something sexy about this photo.. Would make a good ad for the computer.
...there's a computer? Seriously...great image!
Pretty in Pink! Certainly nothing "cold" about this shot.
the light on her flesh is uneven but still seriously nice. very appealing image.
Kim's right -- this would make a good ad for a computer. i like it!
This is one of your best shot. Technically, there is nothing wrong. Great pastel color all over. It's really amazing. Composition is perfect ... This almost feels like an erotic picture. Really. I'm not too much into erotic picture but I like this style a lot !!!!
GREAT JOB !!!
Fred
wow, very seductive photograph indeed.
oh, how I miss european fashion...I love thigh/knee socks and short A-skirts (My favs ;-)
Oh boy, my girl wouldn't like to be shown this way - with a computer I mean.
Wow, beautiful shot. I'm nitpicking, but I find the skin tone inconsistency is a little distracting. My eye is drawing to her left hand due to the paleness, while the skin tone on her thigh has a much warmer tone. I can't decided if I find it a little distracting because the skin tone on her hand is too pale and needs to be a little warmer or that the skin tone on her thigh needs to be lighten up, but like I said I'm nitpicking.
I think the colors and composition of this picture creates an amazingly seductive feel, great work.
Thanks everyone, and my wife is quite pleased too (particularly about being compared to luscious ice cream) :-)
craig and Keith: yes, I agree, the lighting isn't as consistent as it might be. This was lit by one bounced flash and a room light, so the balance isn't as great as it could have been. In addition, I used an overlay layer to bump up the contrast and saturation, which exaggerated the discrepancy between the light and dark areas of skin. I did try to redo the image just using just a Curves adjustment, but while the skin tones came out on more of a level, the overall image wasn't nearly so striking. I also tried selectively lightening her thigh, but this ended up looking really unnatural - so in the end I gave up and left it as it is.
The moral here: sort out the lighting before taking the shot!
Yeah! Very nice shot!
The balance of colors and light is perfect. The 'model' and the objects are perfectly in harmony, donīt remember me an ice cream, come s in my mind a soft breeze of the spring 'licking' the face, you close the eyes and always sees something more. Sexy confuses with a comfortable inoncent momment, or, who knows she was at an 'attack moment'... says me what happened soon after the photos and will know that I am right! ;-)
ps. I hope You understand my poor english.
How do you get such a nice soft tone on the focus and colours? Its amazing as it looks completely crisp but soft at the same time.
whoa! Is this an ad! Fantastic.
emarquetti and Mikee: thanks.
Hates_: it's a consequence of creating a second layer, blurring it, and then setting its blend mode to overlay. On the original (i.e. the full size image) I used a Gaussian blur of 12px. After reducing the image I sharpened the original layer (i.e. the one below the new overlay layer) using the Unsharp Mask (settings: 300%, 0.3px, 0). Drop me an email at djn1 [at] chromasia [dot] com if any of that isn't clear.
There is not much more I can add to what has already been said ....
djn, absolutely stunning pic.
Thanks for the comments on my site; they make it more fun to keep it up. I was wondering at first if your wife knew about the shot, but it seems like so based on your comments. It makes me want to go buy an HP laptop :)
I REALLY like this one! Excellent!!
Excellent. You've been linked.
I absolutely LOVE this picture. Do you know Strawberry Shortcake? She looks like her, but imagine in real life. It is beautiful and cute, and crisp, and sweet, and even erotic. I would like to have it as a poster (I am a laptop addict myself).
Keep up the excellent work!
Wow, great shot! I think the shadow on her thigh makes the shot even better than if it was evenly lit all around. The colors are beautiful, and the composition is excellent, as always.
I love your pictures!!!! very fashion rich with concept. wow.....impresed
yummy, must be nice to be you hahahahah.
excellent shot, more more
This is so very clean and crisp, great photo! And the hint of skin doesn't hurt either. ;)
I like this photograph. It looks detailed, colorful, crisp, organized, and clean at the same time. Not many people can accomplish this all at once. Her color and style of clothing is perfect compared to the whole image. Great job on this photo.
Such as a pretty in pink! I love that photo and it's classic! Your one of my favs and I featured you on my photoblog. What kind of domain or site are you using? *Thanks*
I just found out about your site yesterday (on a BBC Online feature). Such wonderful photos. This is one is definitely my favorite. It reminds me so much of me:) I love pink! Where can I get those socks? I'm definitely going to take my camera with me everywhere I go now. Never know what I'll come across. I live in Thailand, it's a very colorful country. You have inspired me.
sweetly seductive - this is a great shot - colors & lighting are outstanding... so are those cool thigh high socks - they Totally ROCK!