# Ashley down by the river



## STM (Oct 30, 2011)

Shot with a Hasselblad 500CM with a 250mm f/5.6 Sonnar-C and Kodak Ektar 100 with fill flash. Film still reigns supreme!


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## cgipson1 (Oct 30, 2011)

Looks like you may have post processed once it was converted to digital? Eyes are way overdone... or she was stoned? Cutting her off at the knees looks odd... and the right hand on her head doesn't work for me, looks unnatural. The highlight on her left hand is distracting also. The hair at the "Y" of her armpit looks like armpit hair.. which is kind of funny. Nice shot except for that...  Love the textures and skin tones... I miss film, really enjoyed it.


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## STM (Oct 30, 2011)

cgipson1 said:


> Looks like you may have post processed once it was converted to digital? Eyes are way overdone... or she was stoned? Cutting her off at the knees looks odd... and the right hand on her head doesn't work for me, looks unnatural. The highlight on her left hand is distracting also. The hair at the "Y" of her armpit looks like armpit hair.. which is kind of funny. Nice shot except for that...  Love the textures and skin tones... I miss film, really enjoyed it.



I can see what you mean about her eyes but actually I didn't do anything with her eyes and no she wasn't stoned . She has the most extraordinary, penetrating hazel eyes, they really stand out.


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## cgipson1 (Oct 30, 2011)

STM said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > Looks like you may have post processed once it was converted to digital? Eyes are way overdone... or she was stoned? Cutting her off at the knees looks odd... and the right hand on her head doesn't work for me, looks unnatural. The highlight on her left hand is distracting also. The hair at the "Y" of her armpit looks like armpit hair.. which is kind of funny. Nice shot except for that...  Love the textures and skin tones... I miss film, really enjoyed it.
> ...




Really? Wow! Did you do a closeup showing off these eyes? Would love to see it! Also any of her smiling....


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## Trever1t (Oct 30, 2011)

If I were to nit-pic I would complain about knees being cutoff and the awkward pose but it's far easier to point out someone else's flaws. She's a beauty and the photo exhibits depth an richness.


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## Derrel (Oct 30, 2011)

I wish we could see that leg actually going into the water!!! Looks line a teensy-tiny bit of it shows at the very bottom of the frame, but not enough to really mentally register. It appears that the limb or downed tree trunk she is seated on is just a few inches above the water...if we could easily and clearly see the leg going INTO the water, there would be a huge upward elevation of realism to the scene!


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## STM (Oct 30, 2011)

cgipson1 said:


> STM said:
> 
> 
> > cgipson1 said:
> ...



Here is the best I can find on her eyes, the lighting is not the best, rather harsh. There was an actress in the 1970's, I think her first name was Amy, who had the most incredibly blue piercing eyes. Ashley's are right up there with hers, only they are hazel! Hers are almost metallic in the way they stand out. And OMG the freckles just take her over the top! She is just a breathtakingly beautiful woman, and as sweet as any woman as God has _ever _put on this earth!

Of course I had to "safe" this image up for this site!!!


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## STM (Oct 30, 2011)

Derrel said:


> I wish we could see that leg actually going into the water!!! Looks line a teensy-tiny bit of it shows at the very bottom of the frame, but not enough to really mentally register. It appears that the limb or downed tree trunk she is seated on is just a few inches above the water...if we could easily and clearly see the leg going INTO the water, there would be a huge upward elevation of realism to the scene!



Your point is well taken Derrel. Below is the uncropped version of the image. I do not use an A-12 back on the Blad, opting for the A16 (6 x 4.5) instead. I pretty much always crop all images to an 8x10 format, as I provide the models with 8x10's of the session for their "paper portfolio". I needed to keep her nose on the the "thirds" for the best composition, which kind of precluded me from really getting her knee to the waterline in the image in the cropped image. I guess I should have gone with the best "fit" for the web!


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## Derrel (Oct 30, 2011)

I really think that the second version of this, with the water and her leg going into the water, "reads" much better!!! Having the surface of the water, the log parallel with the water's surface, and then the leg going into the water--all those three things strengthen the image and improve it at what might be called the "gestalt" level...

I think both the white bikini with its bandeau-style top and side-tie accents, and the young woman, are first-rate knockouts in an All-American type way.


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## kamelean (Oct 30, 2011)

Nice, but the way here hair is hanging down behind her makes it look like she has unshaven armpits. Sorry, but that's what jumped out at me. Excellent other than that.


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## mommy-medic (Oct 30, 2011)

The pose looks awkward. Can she lie on the log? Either on her back looking at the sky or towards camera, or on her stomach with a dreamy expression, maybe fingers dangling in water? Don't know if that will work for this scene, but just tossing thoughts out there.


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