Inch of Reason - Local Sydney Band - promo photos... C&C welcome!

Hi All,

A mate of mine plays in a band called Inch of Reason and they asked me to assist with some promo photos for their myspace page, demo artwork etc....

They're a hard rock band and wanted the photos to be shot around the mangroves (read: swamp) at Homebush Bay (where the 2000 Olympics were held), so I figured high-contrast B&W was the way to go to give it that gritty look... plus a few in colour for a different option also. My initial thought was that the actual clarity of the band members was secondary to getting the right type of 'scene', hence the wide crops in the B&W shots.

These are my first proper promo shots (other than ones I did for my own band!) so I'd really appreciate any comments or critique as to whether you think the shots work!

Here are the results of my efforts:

1.

I used to work at silverwater, so i know Homebush well

1. A little dark on the faces for me, a little more fill flash would have helped here i think. I love the high contrast B&W effect though.
2. Sorry, not a fan of this one. Unless the isolation of the third from left guy is intentiona (lead singer etc), then i think it improperly isolates him from the group.
3. I love the third mate. Awesome shot.

Well done. I am sure they love em.

Rob

Shooter-boy wrote in post #3278528
I used to work at silverwater, so i know Homebush well

1. A little dark on the faces for me, a little more fill flash would have helped here i think. I love the high contrast B&W effect though.

I didn't use any flash for this shot - the onboard flash was darkening the background too much and losing a lot of the effect of the rear-lighting... I agree with what you're saying, I might try and increase the light on the faces in PP...

Shooter-boy wrote in post #3278528
2. Sorry, not a fan of this one. Unless the isolation of the third from left guy is intentiona (lead singer etc), then i think it improperly isolates him from the group.

I wasn't going for anything in particular in this one! I was thinking along the lines of the shot being taken from the perspective of someone lying on the ground and them looking around to see if anyone has witnessed them doing whatever it is they did to the person on the ground!

Shooter-boy wrote in post #3278528
3. I love the third mate. Awesome shot.

Thanks, much appreciated!

My favourite of the set is actually the first one...

Further to your responses...

On the first, I really do like it if you could bring the faces up a little. Onboard flash is useless for anything really. A speedlight might have helped here, but i don't see one in your sig.

I love the concept of the second, just not the execution. If they were all lit evenly, then I think it would work better for me. Just my thoughts.

As long as the band is happy, then you have done it!

"The most successful photographers aren't always the best..." (not to say your not a good photographer, more to say as long as the client is happy, that's all that matters).

Rob

First one is nice, but needs lightening of the faces and a bit of straightening (to get the stairs straight).
Lighting in the second doesn't work, mainly because of the shade over the third guys face. Otherwise, with a bit lower contrast, it might have worked. (If, as noted, that guy was the lead singer)
Last is nice, but looks a bit soft. Also, two guys have very shaded eyes.

BTW, I think that with some PP (lighten, contrast & B&W like the others), this one would be awesome! (Maybe clone out the stick in the right of frame too )

Hope hotlink from your site is ok. If not, let me know and i will remove.

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Shooter-boy wrote in post #3279343
Further to your responses...

On the first, I really do like it if you could bring the faces up a little. Onboard flash is useless for anything really. A speedlight might have helped here, but i don't see one in your sig.

Crap. In this case, either speedlight or onboard flash would have accomplished exactely the same: nice fill on the performers, but too much on the front of the stairs. You have to know how to use them though

Of camera flash would have been an option. On camera not IMO.

Valid point Rene.

Although control of the on-board from a 350D is limited i think? (Can't remember, always use my 20D for stuff like that). Using something like a 580EX would have helped IMO.

He said he was getting too much from the onboard, and with no manual control, the ETTL would get confused i reckon. I always use manual fill for stuff like that.

Rob

This is a tough one guys... I can't make my mind up regarding a favorite one... It's in their faces and smiles or lack of smiles that I'm searching for a happy medium... Will have to return again at another time and try to voice my opinion...

Shooter-boy wrote in post #3279360
Some cool pics on your site, but alot of pages won't work in FF for me (haven't check IE to see if there really is something there).

I had moved all my archive pics to an external HD so when I updated the site all the links were missing... it should be fixed now though.