[Toad]

I recently had an opportunity to photograph a team of aerialists. It was an amazing experience to be able to shoot something so interesting - and so photogenic. I thought it turned out very well - but here goes - What do you think?

#1




#2




#3




#4

[Wedding Shooter]

Stunning work Rob and I love the point of view you have used. Very dynamic angles and moments that you have captured.

[Toad]

Thanks WS. I was fortunate to be granted free range to get close to the action. It really opens up possibilities.

[Zig]

Wuz you dangling from a rope to take these?
Excellent takes and well-metered my man, stonking. As they're in the crit forum, I could at a pinch opine as to a wider aperture to fluffify the backgrounds even more...but heck, who'd strap an f2.8 tele on a GF-1? (Well, I guess you and Ade would!)
Actually, pretty remarkable, that 20mm...well-employed, sir.

[matthew]

Stunning stuff. #1 and #3 are my favourites, for what it's worth; #2 and #4 both suffer a bit from the backgrounds. I'd be tempted to clone out the two orange highlights on the bottom of the frame in #4, but as compelling as the stark white is, #4 suffers from the lack of background separation in her hair, and the unfortunate transection of her neck by the orange highlight in the background. Plus there's the chap in the background - and I'm very concerned that I'm starting to talk like Zig.

But exceptional stuff - thanks for showing it. It must have been a great time.

[Toad]

Wuz you dangling from a rope to take these?
Excellent takes and well-metered my man, stonking. As they're in the crit forum, I could at a pinch opine as to a wider aperture to fluffify the backgrounds even more...but heck, who'd strap an f2.8 tele on a GF-1? (Well, I guess you and Ade would!)
Actually, pretty remarkable, that 20mm...well-employed, sir.

#2 was taken with my D200 - the others were the Panny/20mm. There were a variety of positions including a nearby stairwell (#1). Thanks Zig.

[Toad]

Stunning stuff. #1 and #3 are my favourites, for what it's worth; #2 and #4 both suffer a bit from the backgrounds. I'd be tempted to clone out the two orange highlights on the bottom of the frame in #4, but as compelling as the stark white is, #4 suffers from the lack of background separation in her hair, and the unfortunate transection of her neck by the orange highlight in the background. Plus there's the chap in the background - and I'm very concerned that I'm starting to talk like Zig.

But exceptional stuff - thanks for showing it. It must have been a great time.

Great suggestions re #4. A bit of selective cloning always is in order. I can also work on providing more visual separation for her hair - another good suggestion. Backgrounds were a big problem on this shoot as it was a very small (but very high) space in a warehouse with hugely cluttered backgrounds. The chap in the background in #4 is another aerialist climbing a silk - which I kind of like...

[Irma]

Hi Toad,

I think timing is great in all of them. Excellent poses of all.

#1
I admire the strength you can see in her body. The light is perfect to show textures in her back (muscles) and the red fabric? and the lines it makes in the composition.

The lines of the background look very dominant in the frame, I was thinking that maybe if you rotate the image to get them straight? they will work as part of a composition and separate the background with a cooler WB? Of course, this will take away a lot of the freshness and spontaneity of the shot... The thing is that I just imagine the picture like this and I wanted to share my thought here...

#2
I love the pose, and the moment you capture in this one. I think a 2X3 crop with her toes barely touching left and right edges would make a great poster.

#3
I like it a lot as it is, and I see this one as the most dynamic picture of all. I love to see the rhombus the shadow makes with her body. Have you considered this one as a candidate for a bw conversion. I was just thinking... cropping the highlight and follow the composition with her shadow?

#4
Beautiful picture... I love the curves, light and colors... I think you got the comment about her hair already....

I want to add that I like your pictures as they are. That I know my comments and suggestions take away a lot of the environment and focus on the girls, and it might be considered as a different approach of what you are showing. Still, I wanted to give my thoughts about your pictures.

Thanks for giving the chance to review your work.... It is always a pleasure to see you photography...

[Zig]

Nice points, Irma.
Hey Matthew...don't be concerned, lie back and enjoy the ambulance....
Actually, yes: Irma has reminded me of timing here. I'd forgotten how important this is in making a successful shot. Splendid, Rob.

[Toad]

Thank you Irma for your detailed comments. Some good ideas there. There is a strong possibility that I will be doing photos of this group on multiple occasions - so the critiques that everyone has provided here help me to refine my technique for the next shoots at the same time as they give me feedback on how to improve the current shots.

Zig: I took about 300 shots and these 4 were my favorites - particularly #1 and #3. My timing sucked abysmally on most of them...