This is the last of my images from the recent Bodygraphia symposium and is Libby's favourite of all the ones I've posted. It was taken during the same session as this one (the one that Libby said was the worst shot I'd ever posted), and was post-processed using just two curves: one for contrast, the other for tone (as described in my Toning Colour Images tutorial). As an aside, toning an image with a Curve is a great way to hide blown highlights. In this case, because I lowered the white point for the blue curve (i.e. moved it down the right-edge), the previously blown highlights are now yellow. It's a great way of making an accident look intentional ;-)

Anyway, to get back to Bodygraphia ...

As I'm sure you know, if you've been keeping up with the comments over the last couple of weeks, quite a few of the shots that I've posted haven't been especially well received, while others have received a decidedly mixed response. And while it would have been great if everybody had liked all of them, I'm not surprised by the mixed response: a lot of the shots I posted have been quite different from the stuff I normally post. On which note, it's back to normal on Monday when I'll post something a bit more ordinary :-)

This isn't a "wow" shot, the post-production wasn't especially complex, and Libby doesn't like it, but I think that this is one of my favourite portraits in quite some time :)

I have three shots left from the Bodygraphia symposium, this one, my favourite (which is quite similar to this shot), and Libby's favourite that I'll post last.

And I guess there isn't too much that I can tell you about this one other than to say that it's another portrait of Iva and that it was processed in Lab Color mode rather than RGB. It's a colour space that I've neglected recently, but when you really want to control the colour balance of an image it's definitely worth switching from RGB. If you're unfamiliar with Lab Color mode, take a look at the further info pages for my two Lab Color mode tutorials, both of which are linked below.

http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/lcm1_info.php
http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/lcm2_info.php

Oh, and as you'll see if you take a look at the original, I also skewed the image slightly as I wasn't entirely happy with the original composition.

Of all the shots I took at the recent Bodygraphia symposium that are directly related to the theme, this is one of my favourites.

When I was working through my shots just after the Bodygraphia symposium I sent a set of low res' previews over to my good friend Jason Kotecha. He liked most of them, some more than others, but his exact comment on this one was:

"This to me is more cheesy 80's Playboy. It's nice but not particularly interesting. Also that arched back is distracting as she looks disfigured."

So, there you have it, no need for any critique on this one ;-)

I'll be posting his favourite (from the small set I sent him) next.

Of the three 'caged' shots of Iva that I've posted (here and here), this is my favourite by far: mostly because I think it's simply a better shot, but also because the cage seems to serve a different purpose here. In the second shot I posted (and to a lesser degree in the first) the cage was something that contained Iva, and as I previously mentioned, caging women, even for the purposes of conceptual photography, isn't something I'm especially comfortable with.

In this shot though, it looks like the tables have been turned, i.e. the cage is there to protect us from her: she looks powerful, possibly dangerous ... while in the previous two she seemed more of a victim.

Anyway, given that all three share the same theme, let me know which you prefer and, if possible, why.

In other news ...

The winners of our weekend competition to win a subscription to our Photoshop tutorials are as follows:

Ronan Palliser won the 12 month subscription.
Martin Bornack won the lifetime membership upgrade.
John Cavacas won a signed copy of one of my latest books.

And the answer to the question - "what was unusual about the post-production (beyond the normal contrast adjustments, black and white conversion, and so on)" - is that this the final image was a composite of three originals: one for the majority of the image, another for her right eye (and eyebrow), and a third for her left eye (and eyebrow). The problem I had with this one is that I really liked the overall feel of the main image but, because I inadvertently back-focussed, both her eyes were soft (in this case, too soft to sharpen). I didn't much like any of the shots where her eyes were sharp - well, I didn't like them as much as this one - so I decided to blend three images. I should add that this isn't a technique I'd recommend - it took ages to align her new eyes (mostly using the Warp tool) - but it was the only practical method I could think of that would rescue this image. Well done to everyone who managed to work this out (or get reasonably close).

GET 25% OFF OUR TUTORIALS THIS BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND
Anyway, if you weren't one of the lucky winners you'll be pleased to hear that we're offering a 25% discount on our Photoshop tutorials to celebrate the August Bank Holiday weekend. Click the following link for more details:

http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/

PLEASE NOTE that this offer ends at midnight, Pacific Standard time (i.e. UTC-8) today.

Of all the shots I took of Iva during the recent Bodygraphia symposium this is definitely one of my favourites, but while it looks like a relatively straightforward high-key portrait it was slightly more complicated to produce than I expected.

Rather than explain why though, at least at this stage, I thought I'd use this shot as the basis for a competition to win a 12 month subscription to our Photoshop tutorials.

All you need to do is take a look at this image and tell me what was unusual about the post-production (beyond the normal contrast adjustments, black and white conversion, and so on). You'll need to compare the processed version to the original, which you can do by hovering your mouse over the 'show the original' link (bottom-right of the image), and then email your answer before midnight GMT on Sunday 29th to ...

djn1 [at] chromasia [dot] com

If you've already taken out a subscription, we have a couple of prizes for you too: one for annual subscribers, the other for one of our lifetime members. If you're an existing annual subscriber and can correctly identify what was unusual about the post-production, email us using the link above for a chance to win a lifetime membership upgrade.

If you already have a lifetime membership, you can win a signed copy of one of my latest books - Practical HDR or Extreme Exposure. Just let us know which you would prefer when you email your entry.

Please don't post your answer as a comment, but do let me know what you think of this shot :)

First: thanks for all your comments on my last image - they were much appreciated. It's always interesting when I post something that generates some debate :)

I'm also expecting that this one might generate a fairly polarised response too. Unlike yesterday's shot, which I did like, I'm not especially happy with this one. At this stage I'd rather not say why, but will post an update after I've heard what you think.

What I will say is that Iva (the model) really liked it. As I mentioned when I posted this shot, Iva is heading to Scotland later this year to study Philosophy, Film and Visual Culture at Aberdeen University (I think). When she saw this image, and some of the other 'cage' shots, she said that they reminded her of Bentham's Panopticon. If you haven't come across the idea, the panopticon was a design for a prison: where the prisoners would could be watched at all times, but would never know when or if they were being actively observed. Bentham designed the prison in 1785 (it was never built) but the idea was later taken up by Michel Foucault as a metaphor for modern societie's ever-increasing tendency to observe and normalise behaviour.

Anyway, let me know what you think, and I'll post my thoughts either later today or tomorrow.

On a totally different matter ...

Stop by tomorrow for a chance to win a twelve month subscription to our Photoshop tutorials. I'll post the full details tomorrow, but will also update my Facebook and Twitter accounts when the competition goes live.

Libby (my wife) is normally a very good judge of how my images will be received by you, which, in this instance, is a bit worrying. Here's how the conversation went on this occasion:

Me:"What do you think of this one? I like it, partly because it's different, but also ...".
Libby: "This really is the most horrible shot you've ever produced!"
Me:: "The most horrible?"
Libby: "Yes."
Me: "Oh ... OK ..."

I think she was probably exaggerating, or didn't trawl far enough back through the archives to find something genuinely horrible, but her opinion is clearly somewhat different from mine ;-)

So ... love it, hate it, couldn't care less? Let me know.

One of the locations that was available to us during the Bodygraphia event was an old factory. Part of the factory was in use – producing bedding, mattresses, and so on – but a lot of the rooms were empty. There was lots of peeling paint, broken windows, dark corners, rickety staircases, and so on: in short, lots of great places to take photographs. One thing that we found, as we wandered around during our first session, was a white cage on wheels which was used to transport various materials around the factory. We decided that this would make a great prop so set up the light – a single large softbox – and took a variety of shots.

Of the three shots of Iva that I'll be posting, this is probably the least dynamic, but I'm pleased with it. As for the other two: one is my favourite of the set, but I'm really not at all sure about the other – for reasons that I'll explain when I post it.

In the meanwhile, let me know what you think of this one.