barn girls

I was tired and lazy with my reply last night.

Why would I want to pre-flash and burn? There's nothing in those highlights that would add to the image, and in the case the detail would have been distracting. I've never bought into the philosophy that there must always be detail in the highlights and shadows.

Thanks for the comments!

Right on, Cheryl. Rules are for loosers! Seriously, I agree the additional detail would not only be distracting but completely change the relationship between the bottom and top sections of the image.

Nice work, BTW. Best. Shawn

Shawn it's not a matter of rules, the problem that I have with the burned out highlights is that it looks like the 3 girls are floating in space. Besides the highlights I like the image otherwise.

Brian,
"it looks like the 3 girls are floating in space." Exactly! That's what I like about the image. Simply a matter of taste, I guess. Best. Shawn

Shawn, this is a PR shot for 3 equestriennes, not a poster for a Sci-Fi movie. If the goal was to create an other worldy scene, then floating the girls works great. Also very high contrast with burned out highlights can be jarring to the eyes and I can't quite see where that look might be appropriate for these girls and the actual usage of the image for PR. Just my thoughts.

So you're saying I don't like it? I hear you, Brian, I just disagree. Best. Shawn

Cheryl, sorry I didn't mean to hijack your post.

No problem.

Actually, the main shot selected by the art director to use on the first of the four-page ad was very similar to this one, with the same light. He had plenty of variety to choose from, but the light and comp were eye-catching and memorable, so it served the purpose well.

Every ad has an angle and a purpose; without knowing that, it's impossible to know whether the image used would be appropriate or not.

I should add that the art director chose my work (this sort of image) precisely because I WOULDN'T do the typical PR shots.

Cheryl, I also have to apologise for hijacking, but given my background I had to comment about the burnt highlights. Given that this is being reproduced I can only hope that the magazine or newsprint doesn't take the already hot highlights and spread them into the very light greys and blow them out as well, as images usually pick up contrast in press printing.

I'm curious as to what the angle of this ad is and I'm amazed that equestriannes have an advertising budget.

Brian, please keep in mind that a web-ready file is not the same as a print-ready file. The file used for the ad is prepared and calibrated with consideration for the printing method. Clearly I'm aware that the highlights are burnt. It wasn't an accident.

The competitive equestrian (quarter horse) world is a strange one that I don't pretend to know anything about. What I do know is that to do well, you have to get the judges' attention and they have to remember you. That's where the ads and images come in. Right now, the industry standard is quite frankly atrocious. Photoshop painting effects, clumsy attempts to clone out red-eye, all very cheesy to say the least. And done in garish color. Really bad. The family and trainers of these girls decided they wanted to do something wildly different, and that's where the art director and I came in. I photographed the girls with horses and without, in competition dress and in street clothes, and did everything from the very serious to the very silly. It was great fun. The entire goal is to be very high-impact, and to create a very unique, instantly recognizeable look.

Cheryl when you say web- ready I'm assuming that you're talking about web press printing and not web sites. I've had many thousands of images reproduced on web presses, regardless of their "calibration" for printing it is still a problematic process. Also if this is going into a magazine then the other pages that print on the same sheet as your images, there are 4-8 pages to a sheet usually, will influence the printing. That's why sometimes when you see a two page spread in a magazine the left and right pages may have different coloration due to them being printed on different sheets and then bound together.

You may have a good market in the equestrian area, it sounds like there's clientele and little in the way of quality work, might be the start of some consistent business. Good luck with it.