Nicola Michelle at the Carnival Ball

[HFMarshburnJR]

This is from a studio shoot this weekend with the Lovely Nicola Michelle, from London. we were working with some amazing Venetian Masques and she just happened to have some amazing complimentary outfits.

High Key is something I had done very little of, and the processing you see here is an extension beyond my normal finishing steps. I am interested in how the combination works for all of you. It is all an experiment to get a little better...Thanks.

HFM

[oldfotopro]

Nit Picking.

Awkward cropping of the arms ( probably no way else with this image).
I'd fix the protruding cloth on her "costume" near her right armpit.

I like the color and skin.

[kevinspeedsk8r]

love it awesome great colors and pose,i dont mind the crop its different lol

[e.bphoto]

Pretty, but the hair tie she is wearing has a metal piece connecting it together. Maybe that can be PS'd?
I do love the colors :)

[texxter]

Those blues are to die for. Not sure about the arm crop, but the colors, light, expression and overall elegance are very nice.

[HFMarshburnJR]

David - Thanks for the critique. Not sure what fabric you are talking about. the corset has pleats of fabric at the top of the bodice...is that what you are seeing?

Kevin - Thanks.

Erica - You caught us...we were actually in the process of finding some ribbon or something to cover those hair bands up...and then we got sidetracked...I will watch that detail in the future.

The arm crop - You are all right. This was actually a throw away shot because I screwed up the framing and chopped off one of the hands in the original frame.I liked the pose and the lighting, and I wanted to try some different post processing effects, including the vignette, so I decided to work with this image. As I tried to apply the vignette, I got some really goofy crop points - I got to this one and thought "Venus de Milo" with a little more upper arm...and I stayed with it.

Paco - Thanks again. The blues were vivid right out of the camera. They really popped when I took the original high key image, moved the black point in a little, applied the Low Key filter preset (with a little tweaking) from Nik Color Efex Pro, and then reset the white point to remove any color fringing from the background. Just a few minimal enhancements, and voila.

I am just makin' this stuff up as I go about my journey ...thanks for taking the time to comment!

HFM

[e.bphoto]

Originally Posted by HFMarshburnJR

Erica - You caught us...we were actually in the process of finding some ribbon or something to cover those hair bands up...and then we got sidetracked...I will watch that detail in the future.

I know, it's so easy to get caught up in the shoot! I just had my biggest one that lasted 4 hours and forgot some things and was even so tired that I didn't adjust my aperture...I'm still learning!!!
I'm sure you can just PS it easily...again very nice :)