Thank you for your comments. I do not want to try to defend any particular position (it's meaningless), but I am offering more information regarding my intentions with the creation of this image to help put it in a better context. AND...I do want more critiques, so keep 'em coming!
First, let me share a few items:
1) COLOR - my monitor is calibrated with ColorVision's Photo Suite once every two weeks, so I am pretty confident that my color is good. That would also explain the different comments about the skin tones (e.g. Barry v. Petros)
2) TUNGSTEN LIGHT - Barry, the tungsten light was only casting light on the seamless paper backdrop. The model was significantly forward of the backdrop, so the tungsten light was not affecting her skin tones.
3) WARM TONES - The "warmness" of the photo was produced by the B&W 81b warming filter. Most professional glamour photos that have been published over the years all have warm skin tones. Personally, I like the look of a healthy tan or warmness to a woman's skin, so that is my "artistic license", if you will.
4) STYLE - This particular model wanted images to submit to Playboy, so I reviewed lots and lots of past, contemporary issues (poor me...my eyes got so tired! :-)) The Playboy style almost always displays very very very smooth skin and somewhat flat lighting on head shots. Therefore, I was trying to get as close as I could to that style.
5) LIGHTING - I do think it is a contemporary look for a lot of glamour and fashion shots being produced and published today.
6) With these types of images, I almost never go for natural. Just about everything in advertising or marketing is not natural or realistic. The idea is to show a product in the most flattering way possible, without looking overly fake.
I hope this information is helpful in some small way. This stuff is SOOOO subjective, and what looks good to one, might look like absolute crap to another. C'est la vie with photography and art in general.
Thanks again for all of your thoughts and taking the time to share them with me and others. It is MUCH appreciated.
Good example of 50's style flat lighting. I'm assuming she's a bit fair skin'd. Facial tones look a bit off, but it might be my monitor. I'm sure it looks good in print.
(Yet) another great shot Arthur. Did the tungsten produce the yellowish cast on her skin or is the contrast pushed up in PS? I selected her hair, inverted the selection and reduced the saturation by 7 points. But what do I know, I do black & white! ;)
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{K:1792} 7/9/2002
