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Wm. Bates | all galleries >> Picture a Day for a Year of Wanda Gallery >> Click Here for Wanda In January Gallery > Wanda01_03_05a.jpg
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03-JAN-2005

Wanda01_03_05a.jpg

Here is something with a bit of a Forties/Fifties Hollywood look. This is the next frame, which again, reminds me of Fifties/Sixties Hollywood look which is just a little more relaxed and spontaneous http://www.pbase.com/image/38257442

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM
1/100s f/8.0 at 145.0mm iso200 with Flash full exif

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Wm. Bates15-Jul-2005 14:17
what I remember about this session is that I never could get the post quite right. It was one of My "off days". I had had enough of this Picture a day nonsense and I could see the end in sight but it felt like it would be an eternity before it would be over! I was never thrilled with this image and I don't even think it looks like Me. Bill however, loves it and has a print hanging on the wall next to his computer for all our visiting guests to see. (cringe)

Wanda
Howard Sandler05-Jan-2005 05:45
Thanks for the detailed response. I have a great book "Movie Star Portraits of the Forties" with many Hurrell photos in it that I study to get ideas.
Wm. Bates04-Jan-2005 20:27
I have always enjoyed the glamour photography of George Hurrell in the 30's and 40's. It was so dramatic with the deep shadows with sharp cut offs. His photos are very tight and stylized. He used small spot lights for his photos.

I don't have that for mine. To light this I used the 45 inch silver umbrella just above and behind Wanda as a hair light. I had the key light (flash into the 60 inch umbrella) just a few feet to Wanda's right and slightly above eye level. I didn't use any fill.

In post I used then lasso tool to pick her face and then pick inverse to then darkened her chest and arms a little. I do all my post processing just like I would for a color photo. I don't convert to black and white until the color photo is just right. To convert I use the Channel Mixer check monochrome and dial in a levels of about 40/30/30. I do this in a separate layer. If you want to do a a selective color paint...say I wanted her eyes blue... then I just erase through the layer. I like a slightly warm black and white so I change the opacity a little to about 96% to 98%. Then it is flatten, resize, sharpen as needed and maybe add a little Gaussian noise at about 1-3 pixels.
Howard Sandler04-Jan-2005 18:14
Lovely. I really like the glamour look of the forties. How did you light this?
Howard Sandler04-Jan-2005 18:06
Love that look. Could you share the lighting setup?
Gary Blanchette04-Jan-2005 13:37
Nice work!
Dennis Steinauer04-Jan-2005 11:50
Bill, Both of these shots are just great. I'm especially fond of the b&w; the lighting and tones are just incredible. In short ... wow!
tomsview04-Jan-2005 07:58
Perfect shot
John S. Nasche04-Jan-2005 07:18
Very very nice shot and the rim light on her hair is perfect! Though I prefer Wanda’s expression on this shot, I like the crop on the color one more. The little tufts of glowing hair along the right edge by Wanda’s back make the image just “more”. There’s few thing in life more sensual and feminine (IMHO) than long fluffed hair on a beautiful woman.
Guest 04-Jan-2005 06:50
What a gorgeous shot! Very Nice!