Album cover C&C please

sineadw

This is for a friend of mine - hip hop artist. I'm happy enough with it, but not sure on the shadows? Bear in mind it'll be printed at only about 4 inches across, although there may be some posters etc.. Original size available on click-through.

Any thoughts? On the shadow, or the image in general?

Paulw

I didn't notice the shadow, as such, until I read about it.

I think the shadown works.

As for the image itself, as long as you and the client are happy, go for it. For music, I guess it depends on what message you're trying to convey.

sineadw

I tried lifting the shadow out altogether and it looked ridiculous - I think she needs to be grounded. Is it too strong though?

maddogcollins

I think the shadow works well. Certainly does not take from the image. Id leave it in as is.

pullandbang

I'm looking at this on a crappy work screen, but the shadow looks odd. Should there be shadow on one side of her hips only?
The shadow on the left shoulder and left hand look ok, but there should probably be one under her left foot also.

My 2c worth!

ike

I do few of these (album covers) on a regular enough basis and as its for an album cover it dosen't always have to look like a conventional pose. I think it will work well as an album cover. The model is dressed nice and 'funky' good bright colours, lips and eyes with lots of strong makeup.

Just play around with some crops and different angles.

12cmX12cm is more or less the size for a jewel case, remembering you'll have to maybe leave room somewhere for some text

SinisterDexter

Shadows look good.

Hair looks good.

Pose is good.

What is the story with her right breast. Looks terrible paired with the left one, like a disc. I know gravity is a b1tch but it distracts.

My 2c

Ballyman

It looks fine to me as well although I didn't notice either the shadow or the breast issue until they were pointed out above!!

I have another question though. You used an aperture of f16 when taking this. That seems a little excessive, no? I haven't done too much of this so maybe this is normal but I would have though that an aperture of about f8 would have sufficed perfectly and would have been a lot sharper? Were the lights that bright or was there some other reason for it?

sineadw

Thanks guys. I'll try toning the line on the right breast down a bit - see if that helps. I hadn't even noticed that.

As for aperture - I've no idea I'm usually on about f11 in the studio. It was ages ago though, an 11 hour shoot and my readings were over-exposing compared to Phil's Nikon (still haven't worked that out ) and we hadn't actually set the lights up properly for a floor shoot so it was a bit of winging at this stage. I prefer it not too sharp though TBH..

Fenster

Her hair looks a little odd to me, as if it had been rudely chopped out of another background. Were you shooting on a green screen, or are my eyes simply deceiving me?

sineadw

No its not you - I had to brighten the white and that's just the first quick draft - need to go back and do it properly.

Fajitas!

For me, it's not a CD cover yet. Let me see the square crop before I decide.

smelltheglove

I really like the picture, I think the shadow is fine, fix the boobie and it will be perfect. The only thing I will say is, now it could just be me, I'm not getting hip hop from this image, to me I would be looking at it thinking more grungy or something. Again could be just me.

sineadw

Fajitas! wrote: »

For me, it's not a CD cover yet. Let me see the square crop before I decide.

I cropped it from square for here The graphics haven't been started yet so it's just white space above..

Fajitas!

Then show me the square without the graphics

sineadw

I'm not doing the graphics so I don't know what the placement will be like just yet. That's what I sent her as a draft though.

ThOnda

I love that boob! There is nothing with them in the picture. It is just a corset, so what?

And really, seeing the final square crop with orientation of the picture would be beneficial for my consideration.

Edit: Typed too long. I would try rotating her 30 degrees clockwise, just to see, how it looks.

Fajitas!

Perfect

Not to be a dick, but don't show someone something that is isn't

Right, here's what you're not going to like, because it would mostly mean a reshoot...

I really don't like how her left foot appears from her right leg, something about it doesn't feel right to mine eyes. It either needs less foot or more ankle, but most likely a better position.

The angle of her neck/jaw flows into her hair, and forms a straight line back, which not only gives her too much skin beneath her neck, but takes from her bone structure. I don't know if it's your processing, but her hair also seems to blend into her skin tones beneath her ear.

You'll need to sort out that skin under her neck. A slightly more stretched angle could have made that easier, but it's easy sort out in post processing. It also might have sorted out the creases behind her breasts. If you were to reshoot this, give her a bit of a gravity aid, and sit her up a wee bit. It'll fill out in the corset that bit better too, which will show her figure off even better.

There's something funky going on with the shadow beneath the mike. Personally, I wouldn't have opted for the mike cable to be wrapped around her, but different strokes for different folks

Have you another shot like this with eye contact? Does it work? In the context of both the square crop and being an album cover.

I'm also not entirely sure on the clothes, but hey, you weren't the stylist. Watch your sharpening when it goes to print with the tartan textures.

Fajitas!

Actually, now that Thonda said it, a slight reconsideration of positioning could really fill out that space quite nicely, rather than leaving that foot where it is, I'd aim it towards the corner ever so slightly.

sineadw

Cheers Al I'll try it all out in the 2nd draft. Not re-shooting. I'd rather chew off my own limb to be honest so it (or a better shot if I can find it) is going to have to do. I have this:



(very bad copy - can't locate the proper one just now and too tired to look properly) but I don't think it works at all...

Fajitas!

If you had that eye contact, with the other facial expression, you'd have it down imo

sineadw

I'll see what I've got. Cheers

DotOrg

my thoughts, i don't really like the pose, the leg position looks awkward and due to the pattern on the shorts and the lack of being able to see the left leg it looks unnatural

the hair needs to be styled a little more if it's for an album cover and as others have mentioned the chest and clevage looks out of place when it's put on a shelf next to other similar album covers where every other person has been retouched

I like the idea but a different pose and ideally different shorts would make it not stand out as that little bit too amateurish

sorry if that comes across as harsh but as an album cover, it just doesn't look professional enough

melekalikimaka

hope it works out well, i'm in process of formulating plan for an album cover for a band at the moment... its not easy

sineadw

You guys think a tighter crop might work better with some cosmetic work? Take the legs out altogether? I honestly don't have the time or inclination to reshoot, and she really likes this one.

Edit: something like this?



Obviously with that horrible area under her chin fixed. Don't know how I missed that - thanks.

TBH I think this one works much better anyway:


Sigh...

pullandbang

You know what. I actually prefer the first cropped pic in your pix.ie stream.

sineadw

pullandbang wrote: »

You know what. I actually prefer the first cropped pic in your pix.ie stream.

Just put that up there for the post above

smelltheglove

Sinead I absolutely love the last shot there on the piano, amazing! I'm only looking on mobile here but looks brill!

32finn

defo the last image with the piano, looks far better than the others. the eyes catch you right away. very nice shot

sineadw

I know. Needs fixing but I think it works way better. Try convincing the artist though

tororosso

I prefer the picture on the piano but I dont know if that would work with the genre of music you are trying to convey. If I saw that in the shops I would think it was a classical or pop genre of music and not really a hip hop album. I suppose the first female pop artist with a piano that comes to mind is Alisha Keys but another one would be Tori Amos..Is it anywhere near that style of thing?

I found the first photo quite frustrating to look at: I dont know exactly why but it seemed quite distant and my eyes kept wanting to see her top down instead of sideways!! I much prefer the crop you did on it

Hugh_C

f3ckit I think it looks great Sinead!

Square format can be a bitch to compose, and the only suggestion I'd have is same as Faj above, just clock her or anti-clock her so her trunk isn't horizontal. But this largely depends on the text that gets slapped onto it, so discussions about composition are largely academic.

For me the important thing is she's a hip hopper and as such I think the costume, hair, makeup and boobs are all great I think my perception of female vocalists is a bit skewed in that I absolutely reject the likes of (insert any XFactor winner or runner up for the last or next twenty years) or Beyonce or any of those other airbrushed bints, totally false, totally without soul, class or talent. They are 100% a marketing and grooming exercise.

Your picture, for its flaws, gives me hope that yer wan above might have a bit of soul and, and, and I think I have to resort to Yiddish here, chutzpah. I would tend not to over-process her given her genre. I'd also soften out the shadows a bit, though in truth I didn't notice them until mentioned.

H

SinisterDexter

The shot on the piano is beautiful, nicely composed, the nails look well.
Pity it is not Hip-Hop but could be used going forward.

The crop works ok, leaves less space for the graphics though.

Trev M

Hi Sinead,

My 2 cents with limited experience ... I think the original pic looks good but I agree the pose looks kinda strange, its maybe a little too bright for my taste too. All the whiteness is kinda distracting to me and possibly others....probably why people didnt notice the neck, the boob etc.. to be honest I didnt really notice them either, very unlike me not to be "boob aware":rolleyes:.

Personally, I dont think it looks amateurish, Ive seen worse on albums but neither here nor there. I think as an album cover its perhaps a little cliched ... its like the band against the wall kinda shot, its another cute girl with a mic in nuetral background, but if thats what your client wants well...The second shot with the keys has a lot more personality for me but its not very hip hop as Sinister Dexter said so I guess its a bit of a dilemma, as a photographer you might want a better, technically sound shot but that doesnt necessarily mean the artist wants that or that it will necessarily make for a great album cover. Much like music on albums some of the best covers arent exactly technically correct either so whilst you might be striving for perfection you should remember to be a little practical and sensitive with your album artist;) too.

I reckon you should possibly opt for a re shoot if possible, maybe discuss with teh artist the vision you have for an improved version of the shot if you think thats the way to go - Taking on board the useful comments made by the more experienced people on here you will no doubt end up with a better version of this type of shot? best of luck... I like a lot of your stuff by the way.

Trev

Hugh_C

Love the piano shot apart from the nails but hip hop it ain't.

sineadw

Thanks again all. I'm going to have to sit down with her and discuss this. After exams :eek:

One thing - I know it doesn't look terribly hip-hop. It was a decision she made before the shoot that she didn't want it to be stereotypical as she's not a stereotypical artist. Her stuff has a lot of grungy raw influences. She's about as far from Beyonce as me Hugh I know about conventions in design and genre and we discussed that too, but she was more interested in it portraying her than what people suppose hip hop to be about. Actually, a fair few of the songs on the album are about that exactly.

Anyway, I really appreciate all the feedback. Especially the negative ones. I honestly didn't spot all the flaws, and it's the only way I'll learn.

Trev M

Kudos to Hugh C... Im still laughing at "airbrushed bints" I know exactly what ya mean...yeah should be avoided!:D

democrates

For the original shot I actually prefer it rot 180 where it's easier to look at her face and it's also a bit living on the ceiling, she could seem to be looking at the text above.
The piano one is v appealing for sure but it's been done, and done...

DotOrg

just thought i'd show you three other album covers which have similar vibes to your idea. might help in refining your idea one way or another

Fajitas!

Trev M wrote: »

Kudos to Hugh C... Im still laughing at "airbrushed bints" I know exactly what ya mean...yeah should be avoided!:D

I know, yeah, they're horrible bints, aren't they!?! Imagine - Wanting to look the best on your album cover. Madness. They really are rather lower class and unrefined.

:rolleyes:

Trev M

I see your rolley eyes Fajitas and double them :rolleyes::rolleyes: :eek:

Fair play dot org posting comparitive samples - have to say out of the three you posted I like the third one best as its a bit quirkey...the Cardigans one is missing a bit but not in a cool way like Jarvis....like the top of her head for instance ....interesting that it has that shadow thing going on similar to Sineads original shot. Alongside these I really dont think Sineads shot looks amatuerish in my humble opinion.

Fajitas!

Trev M wrote: »

I see your rolley eyes Fajitas and double them :rolleyes::rolleyes: :eek:

Nice argument.

Trev M

Who's arguing ? - You dont mind a bit of an aul air brush that's fine. Im not into it, I think is over used and I associate it with plastic fake manufactured pop "bints" , not my preferred terminology but I found it amusing. I think this is clearly what the artist in the photo is keen to avoid if I understand Sinead's earlier post correctly

Ive no interest in arguing with you.

Er .. Sorry for the thread distraction Sinead

Fajitas!

Trev M wrote: »

I think this is clearly what the artist in the photo is keen to avoid if I understand Sinead's earlier post correctly

Lol, which is why Sinead will have already gone through the artists skin to make sure it's looking its best, and healing the skin where it should look smoother, example at hand;

Obviously with that horrible area under her chin fixed. Don't know how I missed that

Im not into it, I think is over used and I associate it with plastic fake manufactured pop "bints"

If you think it's just pop artists that get the old rehaul, then you're rather wrong, it's just become an easy thing to say - Which is rather unfortunate.

Trev M

You took a throw away remark I made in reference to another persons post and jumped all over it , your own post/reply to me was hardly constructive or well "argued".

Ive clarified a personal preference and didnt elaborate as it was going off topic. Ive tried to contribute an opinion all be it in my limited capacity. This conversation butween you and I fajitas is adding little if nothing to the thread. Good luck.

sprinkles

sineadw wrote: »

I really like this one, provided there's enough space to work with the graphics. For me her legs were a little distracting.

The piano shot is a lovely photo but I doubt it would work for an album cover.

AnCatDubh

had a really long winded reply done which when I got to the bottom of, was really only saying -

square crop, head to waist, to include elbow and hand

so i thought i'd save you reading the long winded way of getting there