I had trouble choosing which photo to enter as I had some great images.
This was taken early in the morning at a lake near where I work. I packed mountain bikes and my photo gear into a large backpack to get there. Arrived and it was foggy & cold.
Many many thanks to my photo model Annett, who kindly put up with 1 1/2 hours naked shooting in freezing cold conditions.
I had real problems with the lighting in this shoot, as I wanted to include the beautifull background of the lake, but the bright background didn't mix at all well with the shade where we were shooting & I only had my on camera flash. Needed a good portable soft box!
Very little post processing here.
1. Levels
2. Crop
3. cloned out a very small wrinkel.
4. B&W conversion with the Yellow-green channels
5. Light sharpen,
Statistics
Place: 4 out of 118 Avg (all users): 7.2495 Avg (commenters): 8.2162 Avg (participants): 7.2796 Avg (non-participants): 7.2426 Views since voting: 35548 Views during voting: 1959 Votes: 497 Comments: 94 Favorites: 35 (view)
Really nice pic, the lighting and the skin colour is amazing.
The lighting has enchanced the beautiful curves of the model.
I would be happy to see other images of yours
I commented on this during the challenge and I agree that it us truly wonderful. Bless her for standing for that, cold and wet. It combines the human element with the natural one and makes it one, which is as it should be anyway, in the scheme of things. Her faraway look just helped add to an otherwise glorious shot. Congrats on your high placement!
This is an exceptional shot with great technique and one which I admired very much. The pose, the water and above all the facial expression is by far the best in the entire challenge. I expected a ribbon here and my, how close it got. Excellent and admirable work.
Congratulations on your top 5 finish...a heck of a good job!
Congrats on #4! Based on the images I see in your profile, Looks like you had a lot of fun and a lot of opportunities with this challenge, but I think you chose the right one. They are all good, but this one seems to be the most feminine. It's a beautiful shot, and was in my top 2! Very nicely done. Keep up the good work.
i was touched by your photo :)
thank you very much for a great art and good work.
Also, a special praise to your photo model, Annette ..
She just got me there!
Technically this is the best of the challenge. Very well excuted. The pose is just terrific. The reflection in the water just adds to the effect. I would liked to see the color version. (10)
A lovely image that makes excellent use of natural surroundings (in contrast to the many studio shots in this challenge). The contrast is a bit high for my taste, and although I'm definitely a fan of B&W, I can imagine this being even better in muted color (contrasting the skin color with a reflected blue sky?) 8
Wow, stellar shot. Technically perfect, as far as I can tell from this size. Very nice lighting, great looking lady, good composition. Would like to see this in color, just for comparison and, if you have that, a different composition, her more off center of more foreground so one can see the whole reflection.
Beautiful use of natural lighting. Great pose to accentuate the curves of her body! Wish there was a bit more reflection. Nice b/w with a high key flavor because of the bright background. Great work. Hope this does well but afraid it will only be top 15 or 20 the way DPC scores tend to run.
TC
I like they way the water contrasts against her face and how the highlights in the water start at the post. Excellent use of reflection, elements and light! My only comment is her pose. Maybe it's just me, but it seems a slightly akward pose having her elbows bent that much and her hands behind her back like that. Beautiful photo
Just crazy that this would have to be validated. The mood of the picture is it's stong point. The way the water goes from darker to lighter really isolates the model from the background. fine job, bumping up.
Seemed at first glance a bit like a calendar shot, but it's really rather better than that. Very fine composition and lighting. The water serves a couple of important purposes, one of which is to provide the lovely rippled reflections. 8
Excellent. I like how you can see her leg continuing down into the water. Good pose, and the light reflected off the water behind her really adds to the feeling.
Hello, I came back to comment on your photo, It says that it had to be validated, I am not sure why, it is very nice. I hope it does well. I really like the composition and the black and white that you have chose. If this is a self portrait then I also want to add that I admire you for submitting this photo.
P.S. I love the thinking look on her face.
Love the use of the water. It's tantilizing and makes the effect sexier. Black and white and natural light are all good choices. Her elbow closer into the tree would have kept it from being distracting. Great photo overall.
One of the four 8s I gave in this challenge. I hope it wins a ribbon, at least a yellow one. The b/w works well for this composition. The only technical recommendation I would have is to have a less centered composition. SInce your beautiful model is looking away to our left, it might have been more effective use of negative space if there was more of an empty space to the left... good luck.
I'm not sure how often one would get into this possition naked just to think... However ignoring the title, the photo is pretty good. I love the reflection and the smooth effect from it. The water provides a great foreground and backround. Very good sense of depth. 7
a very good pose, though her facial expression makes it feel like she doesnt want to be there doing the shoot. The lighting of the water is blown out, making it very distracting. I do like the reflections very much.
Lovely shot, very nicely done, I love the reflection, and the pose. Feel kinda bad for the model in the obviously cold water, but she seemed to really enjoy it. Good luck.
This is an outstanding portrait. Has a 1950's "Best in Photos" feel to it. You have exhibited a true understanding of what it takes to create a truly significant piece of art.
I think a little more tonal range in the blacks would take this very good photograph to the next level. Overall: nice pose, nice expression, nice crop, nice water, nice focus, nice dof. Very well done!
I love this shot - it looks so natural. I too wonder what she is thinking? Nice job on the exposure - its a bit blown out in the water, but it looks like difficult lighting to cater for.
Excellent. OK, I'm totally nitpicking here, but in the 9 or 10 range I get picky. I wish the fold of skin just exposed on her leg wasn't there. I'm distracted by it. The gradient on the water is beautiful. 9.
Great shot, this is one of my favorites in this challenge. I like the use of the reflection which makes the top of her nearest leg visible through the water, only thing I would change is maybe have her hand hanging with her finger tips in the water, her hand looks as if she is clutching and is the only part that doesnt look relaxed (hope that makes sense). Good luck.
I really think that each of these nude challenges get better and better, and photographers and models get more and more daring. The outdoor shots in this challenge are esspecially good, it seems. She is an extremely beautiful model. I love the B&W. I love the detail that allows me to see the water droplets on her body. I love the reflections in the water. I love the tonal range in this image. I love the tonal range in the water itself. To me, this is a winner and one of my favorites. I wish I could give it a score higher than '10'. Good Luck! <10>
I really like this shot in black and white. The full range of tones is excellent. Her pose and expression are great for the title. The reflections off the water add some extra interest, and the beads of water on her body work well too.
this is one of my facourites of the challenge. The water is lovely, as is the model. Lighting is perfect - and being outside this isnt all that easy to achieve. Beautiful.
i like the reflection in the water, i dont like the blown out highlights behind the model. i think the bw works well here and the lighting on the body is very good... really gives it a nice 3-dimensional, solid feel.
This is just lovely!!!! I wish there were a tad more light on her face, but this is more about the body, so no demerits for that. The black and white filter just shows off all of the detail. GREAT JOB.
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