Ian Chantler  


Julian Slink by Ian Chantler

August 2018 - Julian Slink

About the Image(s)

I am being a bit self indulgent this month with this image apologies its to advertise the fact this image is one of 6 of my images on display in an exhibition at the prestigious Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead which is part of the Liverpool Museums Group the exhibition is called Cynosure and myself and 4 other local photographers were invited to exhibit our work alongside renowned specialist long exposure photographer Neil Hulme the exhibition opened on June 30th and runs until September 16th this is a link to the press release from the Williamson https://williamsonartgallery.org/portfolio/cynosure/


As for the image I was asked to be guest photographer at Birmingham Horror Con earlier this year and a guy I have photographed before at many evens and in many guises was there as his latest creation Julian Slink Andy is always so generous with his time I shot him against a large black curtain as I thought it suited the mood of his character and was one of my favourite images from the event.


How I did it camera Canon 5D Mk III lens Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM flashgun Canon 430 EX II fitted with a Rogue Flashbender 2 ISO 800 f13 1/200s Raw file opened in Photoshop and basic adjustments made image converted to mono on an adjustment layer using a gradient map contrast adjusted dodging and burning applied sharpened using a high pass filter a vignette added and a 2 pixel stroke all on seperate layers


This round’s discussion is now closed!
9 comments posted




Dr Isaac Vaisman   Dr Isaac Vaisman
Ian, first of all, Kudos 2 U !!! Congratulations. Indeed this is a very striking image of Julian. Your PP really intensified his face and also allowed you to show some subtle detail of his outfit, giving us the curiosity to see more. My only observation is the bright element in the bottom, perhaps the plug of a crystal bottle for licor, and perhaps some extra and not needed empty space around him. I took the liberty of cropping the image as this, still keeping the main elements in the center as they were. Great portrait.   Posted: 08/06/2018 08:51:27
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Ian Chantler   Ian Chantler
Hi Isaac
Many thanks for your kind words, the object at the bottom is the top of his very elaborate walking cane I agree it is a distraction thank you for the crop advice and as always taken onboard.   Posted: 08/06/2018 13:58:50



Guy Davies   Guy Davies
Congratulations Ian on your exhibition. If this image is typical it must be an outstanding show. Like Isaac, my eyes were drawn to the bright object at the bottom, which I guessed (correctly it seems) to be the top of a walking cane. Although it is part of his wonderful costume, I feel that it does distract a little. I do think that cropping it out disturbs the composition though, so I made a freehand selection, featherd it and darkened it with a Curves adjustment. Although this still leaves the highlights, I feel it removes the distraction without changing the composition. I have to say that this image has the makings of a gold medal in the international scene.   Posted: 08/08/2018 09:22:44
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Ian Chantler   Ian Chantler
As always Guy many thanks for the tips and advice I must admit I did think it a distraction but wanted the image that size for the exhibition panel I love your edit and will most certainly do the same I have entered in one International so far it got a 13 so delighted with that by the way I am not sure if I have encroached on your territory but my Group 31 image this month is a staircase forgive me.   Posted: 08/08/2018 14:29:22
Guy Davies   Guy Davies
Nice picture Ian. All is forgiven!   Posted: 08/10/2018 06:58:25
Ian Chantler   Ian Chantler
Thanks Guy I will cancel my escape to the depths of the Amazon jungle.   Posted: 08/10/2018 11:28:03



 
I like this image Ian. I am personally drawn to the eyes and the small catch lights in the eyes. I also feel you did a great job pulling out the detail in the face! Really quite an interesting and very dramatic portrait! Great job on the exhibition!   Posted: 08/12/2018 14:08:21



Erik Rosengren   Erik Rosengren
Congrats at your success in the show Ian. I like the intimacy of your portrait. Shooting down creates another prospective. The face definition and subtilties of the clothing, in my opinion, add to the strength of your rendering. My only suggestion would to be to try using the Clone tool to block out the hot spots on the cane head.   Posted: 08/16/2018 11:46:54



Bill Buchanan   Bill Buchanan
Kudos on your exhibition. Your portrait has been well done. The Butterfly Lighting works well. You have sufficient detail in the costume and hat. A difficult task when photographing black. My only negative comment would be to make a vertical crop and eliminate the negative space on the left and right. Well done.   Posted: 08/23/2018 09:55:37