I have always loved the studio lighting of the Golden Era 40s, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to experiment with it. Lori has modeled for me before and I always thought she had a really 40s look, so she was the natural choice when this challenge was announced. I wanted to enter this image, but I couldn't get the smoke naturally, and it's not legal to add it in editing.
It was also a lot harder to do than I imagined. I am not terribly pleased with the result - the shadows are a LOT harsher than I wanted, and I probably should have used a reflector to the right.
convert from RAW
denoise
SEP2
levels
brightness/contrast
cloned out skin imperfections
dodge and burn
save for web
[post-challenge]
Thank you SO much everyone, for your votes and comments. Lori will be pleased - she actually borrowed the outfit from the other image for an audition for a Noel Coward play :-)
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Place: 7 out of 106 Avg (all users): 6.5389 Avg (commenters): 7.7692 Avg (participants): 6.4576 Avg (non-participants): 6.5746 Views since voting: 2369 Views during voting: 458 Votes: 193 Comments: 34 Favorites: 0
very striking, dramatic portrait! as a portrait in general, I would definitely go for a softer light and (did you use a soft box?), but for this challenge it was probably just right. Good job on Top 10!
This is fabulous -- that stare and those lips. I just checked out your outtake, and I love the lighting and lines on that one also. A couple of great captures. Congratulations on the top ten finish.
I didn't even get to see any of the entries until just now--but when I saw the Noir challenge on the front page, I said to myself "self, I betcha tanguera is in the top 10"
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