I did it.
I created 2 images that I was ready to submit to the monthly camera club competition to be reviewed and critiqued by Gregory Heisler, but when then time came for me to receive the link to submit my images … well, the email never arrived.
I had sent in the check for paid member ship at the end of February but it never cleared. I sent an email to the president of the club to ask for the contact information of the treasurer (to whom I had sent my membership dues and wanted to see if they received my check) but I did not receive a reply. So … both of my images went unseen.
So, I am left to critique myself.
This image of Austin is nice and I think it is lit well-enough. I was initially inspired by some of the split lighting that I have seen with athletes, and I tried a purple and blue gel camera left and camera right (respectively) but it didn’t work at all with his skin tones. So I used the purple as a kicker and then went warm with the key light and cool with the fill and it seems to work okay. Still, it not a spectacular image. The shirt is bunched at the bottom and I don’t know what else I could have done to make him look more like a gamer, but it falls short. That said, I like the expression, the eyes are sharp, and the skin re-touch doesn’t feel overdone or unnatural. Even so, I was wasn’t sure if I would submit it or not.
The second image that I created for the competition would have been more of a like it/hate it image, so it was the one I was most interested in submitting.
I like the split lighting. I know it is contrasty but I wanted it that way. I really like the outlined arm on camera left and how that line travels almost to my chin. I like the blank expression. But I also wish my knuckes lined up with the midline of my face. And I don’t know if I like the assymetry between the size of the illuminated arm to camera right compared to camera left … if might be too “heavy”. Still, this was the best that I was going to pull off.
It was hard to capture this image as I did. As it is, it took my over 50 frames to land here. I used my phone to activate the camera’s timer, would set it down and then try to position myself perfectly in 10 seconds before the shutter would click and the lights would fire. Then I would review the image on my phone and try to do it again. And again. And again and again. Too often light from the left bled over to the right if I wasn’t positioned just so. Or the line of the arm on the left side of the frame wouldn’t be illuminated all the way up to the wrist. When I got this image, I was finally able to say, “Good enough.”
But that is kinda the point, I think. If I was doing this “for real”, “good enough” wouldn’t ever be.
Maybe next time I’ll nail it.