Magic has been a hobby of mine for the last 30+ years. Here a few of my props on an old trunk. The room was totally dark and I just painted with a flashlight selectively on the props and trunk hardware. Also painted 3 red streaks on the velvet like blanket to create spotlights shining from the stage coming through the curtain.
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I've was lucky enough to recieve this image to critique. First off, it's nice to see what goes on "behind the scenes" for magic. And this was a good attempt at painting with light. However, it really doesn't work here.
The lighting for this is too dark. If you would have put a softened spotlight over the certain props and had the rest of the scene diffused, I think it would have worked much better. Also, this seems staged. Perhaps if you would have had things placed "randomly" on the trunk, that would have helped.
When painting with light, you have to be especially careful with glass and metal objects, because the reflections tend to get really bright. As you can see in this entry, the glass and metal pan have quite a bit of glare. Also, as mentioned, the light on the trunk really doesn't add anything, it actually takes away, because it seems too random and not focused on anything.
I hope this helps.
If you have any questions, comments, concerns about the critique, please feel free to PM me. Also, if it is helpful, please be sure to check the "This was helpful" box.
I assume you wanted it that dim, but in my opinion, that detracts from the photo. It's an interesting arrangement, though, with some depth, which is better than just laying it all out flat. 4.
I like the mood, the setup, the composition. I don't like that there are a couple of highlights on the front edge of the furniture. Those highlights are ON nothing in particular, they would have been much better if they were hitting some mystery object to draw attention to IT, instead. 6
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