The Magical Violin


This is no ordinary instrument! It glows like this when Orcs are near!

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23 Comments

  1. Technically this is a great image. The editing on the instrument isn’t my style, but whoever created this knows what they are doing.

  2. AbsyntheGreene

    Looks like it would be a good picture if it didn’t have the blue aura around the violin and his elbows.

  3. I LOVE THAT CAPTION!!!!
    It;s sad because aside from that blue glow on the Violin of Destiny (and the blue glow lower down behind the subject), the rest of the photo is actually quite decent … at least compared to the monstrosities we normally get here.

  4. To be fair, the client may have asked for that

    • Just because the client asked for it doesnt mean you have to post it for the world to see. I do select coloring because the client asks for it, but i dont post it in my galleries…

    • And a half-decent photographer would have said nup, not doing it, will look like s**t.

    • That doesn’t mean you have to put it on your website, the tog has technical skills just no taste

  5. I’m glad to be with you, Maestro, here at the end of the concerto.

  6. A photographer

    It makes me wonder if he had really been holding a banjo.

  7. I’m sure you have heard it before but you people are mean. Making a bad picture doesn’t warrant such outrage. Much worse things in the world to focus your strange aggression. Shameful.

    • Sometimes people are mean. But sometimes the Togs deserve it. Unfortunately photography is one of those professions where you don’t need any real certified qualifications, so you get stay at home Mums with a digital camera, taking pics because their bored stay at home friends say “You have real talent! You should be a photographer” 5 minutes later they start a fan page on Facebook and viola, they’re a photographer! It gives a bad name to those of us who actually put in the work to learn our trade and actually be professional.

  8. This time I don’t think this photo belongs here. Even though the blue glow shows questionable taste, that’s what it actually is. Taste. Technically there’s nothing wrong with this picture. (Well maybe a spotlight from behind or a slightly lighter background would have been nice as his left hand looks a bit disembodied)

    • I Agree… other than the distasteful glow, the portrait is kind of well be made…

  9. Apparently the woman in the previous picture is surrounded by orcs.

  10. I’m in to minds. On one hand, the image is decent (although lit in a rather unsurprising way). I would have liked a bit more separation of the subject and the background, but it’s a commendable image.
    On the other hand, the glow around the violin is very tacky. And I’m not sure the background light isn’t added after the fact. It’s like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
    Actually one of the few images that I can believe was shot by a pro, instead of taken from a random facebook page where the owners pasted a “Name Photography” watermark for extra credibility / cool points.

  11. If not for the navigation stuff above the photo, I would have guessed the image was originally done by a pro and then messed with by an amateur and reposted.

    The glowy effect can be fun for shits and grins, but even “if” it was appropriate in this image, it is badly executed. The glow should appear all around the object, not just at the edges..and I’m not sure why there’s more blue glow at the bottom of the image. Maybe there’s a +3 Cello of Ogre Slaying behind him?

  12. I actually have no problem with this. Yes, pro’s can debate the technical shortcomings of the effect until the cows come home, but the fact remains that the average Joe is going to glance at that image and think it’s OK. It serves its purpose. Cheesy, yes. Don’t know what it’s doing on this site though.

  13. lighting wise – could have brought up the light on the client’s left arm a little – the floating hand does nothing for me.

    The effect is actually a common one that I’ve seen done a lot (don’t do it myself) on this type of senior photo – sports, musician, etc… where the subject is hold bat, ball, violin, etc… and there is a glow corresponding to a color theme around the object.

    Actually saw this first on a very successful twin cities commercial photographer’s site – he does the occasional $500.00 senior session on the side.

    Again – the glow is not something I’d do, but hey – whatever…

  14. Cheesy pose but apart from the hard reflection of the violin and dumb pp, acceptable.

    Whoever shot this needs to get a copy of Light: Science and Magic, An Introduction to Photographic Lighting and thoroughly review pages 102-109, which covers shooting items like this without getting glare.

  15. Wsroadrunner

    A violinist from Chernobyl?

  16. High Horsie

    The best part of this comment section is that 90% of the people here shitting on this photo probably couldn’t light one anywhere nearly as well as this.

    There is absolutely no reason whatsoever why this photo should be on this website.

  17. First of all – as with most people, I’m back and forth on this image. I do agree that the cheesy glow really brings down the quality of this image. Take out that glow and you do have a really, really good photo. As to those whining that the lighting isn’t good (*cough* Pelham *cough*) they need to realize a few things:

    1. This portrait shows Rembrandt lighting. You can see it on his cheek bones. It’s light, but it’s there. That’s not something you can pull off by accident or as an idiot. The lighting and composition of this image is very well done.

    2. If you view this image on a variety of monitors, a lighter monitor shows the hands are far from floating. Meaning that this image, when printed, is probably dead on.

    You’ll also notice that the blue not only comes from the violin and lower corner, but also around the pinstripe edge that frames the entire thing. That glow is the accent theme (still corny) but it’s there. And handled quite decently considering the rest of the images on this website.

  18. novophotography

    I think that this site implies people who are truly “not photographers”. Aside from the taste of selecting the glow, the person who created the image is clearly a photographer and understands lighting. So this image does not belong here. Must have been a slow week for the youarenotaphotography crew. If there was a site called “you are not the best at selecting which images should appear on your blog” then perhaps this site would have landed on there that week :p

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