# a macabre model mayhem shoot



## SrBiscuit (Dec 14, 2009)

hey pals.

here are a couple shots from a shoot i did yesterday with a model mayhemer (same girl from last time).

i know the darker one has some exposure issues...the left is blown out, and her face is underexposed. i tried bumping up the exposure when processing the raw but it got noisy.

the blood was fun to work with but quite a mess.

im open to C&C and suggestions.

thanks for looking 


1. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			







2.


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## TJ K (Dec 14, 2009)

I like 2. The lighting is pretty neat and the wall color goes well imo with the subject. What was the blood?
TJ


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## shortpballer (Dec 14, 2009)

Really like the lighting in the second one.  Also like her expression.  Not a fan of the post in the first one.  She looks way to green for my liking.  Also for the first one, maybe you should crop out a little of the negative space on the left side of her face.


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## shortpballer (Dec 14, 2009)

Here is my go at editing them.  Figured I would try since you said its OK to edit your photos.  If you like them and would like to know what I did, let me know.  Did one in full color and the other in a monochrome with a red tint.


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## SrBiscuit (Dec 14, 2009)

ooo thanks man...it;s funny you mention that crop...i sat in front of my screen lastnight for like 20 minutes just playing with different crops, 99% of them cropping out the left. the only reason i kep it centered is because i felt putting her so far on the left would draw attention to the counter...which in hindsight, would have been fine if we put something on it that would add to the scene, like blood or body parts or meat or something.

tj, the blood was corn syrup, red blue and green food coloring, some flour, and a little vanilla extract to make it darker. i forgot to get instant coffee for darkening.

shortpballer, i like what you did to her...the eye pops nicely, and the skin is much smoother...im always afraid to go too far with smoothing. looks good though man. thanks again. :thumbup:

*edit*
forgot to mention that the green from the first one comes from the crossprocessing filter i did in pshop. i wasnt 100% on it, so im glad i got an opinion here...i think ill revisit it. thanks.


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## jubb (Dec 14, 2009)

Interesting shot.  Kinda gory though.  I like it.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Dec 14, 2009)

The story is kinda lost on me because there is no blood on the knife. Blood is also more opaque. What you have looks like Grape Jelly, the way it's beeding up in particular.


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## kundalini (Dec 14, 2009)

#1) green  :meh:

#2)  Shouldn't there be some blood on the knife?  The dresser and the half framed picture on the wall doesn't do much for me, but I really like the lighting you used.  Was that a snoot or a grid to acheive that?


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## SrBiscuit (Dec 14, 2009)

i agree bitter...i really need to work on seeing the image before i take the pic. we were using a cleaver that we had blood on, and the knife was a spur of the moment prop change.

the blood was my fault...like i said above, i forgot to bring the instant coffee to darken it, so it was def too transparent. it was a little too thick as well.

thanks for the comments.


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## SrBiscuit (Dec 14, 2009)

kundalini said:


> #1) green :meh:
> 
> #2) Shouldn't there be some blood on the knife? The dresser and the half framed picture on the wall doesn't do much for me, but I really like the lighting you used. Was that a snoot or a grid to acheive that?


 

lighting on the second one was a remotely fired speedlite thru an umbrella angled up a bit. i enhanced the effect in pshop by adding more vignetting to pop her out.
it was an optical trigger so thats why there are 2 catchlites


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## inTempus (Dec 14, 2009)

SrBiscuit said:


> tj, the blood was corn syrup, red blue and green food coloring, some flour, and a little vanilla extract to make it darker. i forgot to get instant coffee for darkening.


Try using corn syrup, red food coloring and Hershey's chocolate syrup.  That's what I use and it looks pretty good.


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## kamalzharif (Dec 14, 2009)

i think the first photo need to be adjusted so the main lighting and the frontal light will reach the face of the subject


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## SrBiscuit (Dec 15, 2009)

thanks for the tip intempus...your blood does look better than mine indeed.

thanks kamal...good advice there.


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## Village Idiot (Dec 15, 2009)

inTempus said:


> SrBiscuit said:
> 
> 
> > tj, the blood was corn syrup, red blue and green food coloring, some flour, and a little vanilla extract to make it darker. i forgot to get instant coffee for darkening.
> ...


 
Mmmmmmm. Chocolare melk!


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## kamalzharif (Dec 16, 2009)

SrBiscuit said:


> thanks for the tip intempus...your blood does look better than mine indeed.
> 
> thanks kamal...good advice there.



your welcome, anyway, i like your style in photographing these kind of portraits... 
thanks for the sharing also!!


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