Dancing with smoke

[GrahamH]

My most recent project. Still trying to find my vision. (Or do I still need spectacles? )
CnC welcome.
Graham

[Donald]

Still trying to find my vision. (Or do I still need spectacles?

Nope, looks like your vision is pretty good to me!

Good work.

[Goldcoastgolfer]

I like it. My one comment would be about where her legs end - I think you need to see her feet or crop a bit higher up.

[GrahamH]

Thanks Donald and Mal.
I agree about the crop. We played around for a while with the skirt height (originally floor length). After the shoot, on closer inspection, I think I needed the skirt to be a couple of inches higher.
Including the feet I always felt that the image needed to flow out of the frame. Inclusion of the feet would tend to limit that feeling. Or so I think.
Original inspiration here - http://www.ethan-t-allen.com/smoke-anime.html.
Obviously far better than my attempt.

I struggle with the artistic vision everytime. Does it get better with time?
As Ansel Adams said (paraphrased)- a fuzzy concept leads to a fuzzy image. A zone that I still feel that I am well within.

Graham

[Goldcoastgolfer]

Thanks Donald and Mal.
Original inspiration here - http://www.ethan-t-allen.com/smoke-anime.html.
Obviously far better than my attempt.

I disagree - you're not that far off. I think the difference (aside from the technical bits) is purely the expression of your subject's face. If you can encourage a more natural expression (doesn't matter what type), I think that would probably complete what you did.

I struggle with the artistic vision everytime. Does it get better with time?
As Ansel Adams said (paraphrased)- a fuzzy concept leads to a fuzzy image. A zone that I still feel that I am well within.

Graham

The trick, at least from my perspective, is to shoot what you love. Think of it as a subject that you talk about - could you talk about a subject you didn't really enjoy and hold the interest of others while doing it? If you talked about a subject that you love however, I'm sure you could capture people's attention quite easily and hold their attention for hours.

That doesn't necessarily mean you don't go exploring other areas of photography - but when I'm feeling uninspired I go back to shooting what I really enjoy. For me that's bugs, surfing, and people that are just doing their thing.

[speedneeder]

For me the image of the woman is decent, but the unnatural look of the added smoke I don't like, especially where it cover the woman.
That's just my opinion. I'm sure many others like it.