I compared the prints with the screen images and there were saturation differences on the following three images with a definite 'warmer' cast. I have addressed these issues in Lightroom and will have the image re-printed in time for assessment and make sure I look out for this in future.
Before & After:
The negative space at the top of the frame has also been removed, unfortunately I had actually chopped off one of the characters feet on the original so couldn't rectify this. Cropping out the negative space seems to increase the focus on the action within the scene, the eye being drawn to Eve being grabbed and the expression on the faces of the audience members.
Following the assignment I have looked at the work of Kirsten McTernan, a professional freelance photographer who works within the Arts industry. The style seems to be quite relaxed with many images having parts of limbs chopped off and areas of space in the image that isn't cropped out but still works as it can often give the image direction and the feeling of space that is often needed, the negative space above my image here wasn't needed and it was the right decision to crop it out. Many of Kirsten McTernan's images also had things in them that I would have tried to photoshop out, such as the green fire exit light, she has left them in, by doing this I feel she has produced a natural image, capturing what happened as a true record with the essence, the scenes portrayed in the theatre production being of most importance...telling the story.
It's difficult to see on the image above but when printed there is a definite 'warmth' to the image that isn't complimentary and, as there are a lot of faces in this image, they all look less natural than with the saturation reduced as I have carried out in Lightroom in the image below.
Again, the saturation was reduced and although is yet to be printed I am confident the colour balance will be improved.
Within my set of images for the assignment, I converted a few to black and white because they convey the emotion of the moment, my tutor suggested that as I had converted one of the end scenes to black and white that I convert the final three images to fit in with the one that I had already converted. I have therefore converted the additional two images (below) and feel this now creates a close to the set:
Converting this image to black and white defines the diagonal shape the subjects create with Bob wearing the brightest element of the image in the centre of the frame.
As soon as I converted this image to black and white it was obvious that it was the best option, the expression on the face of Bob seems more emotive, the texture of Eve's hair is more visible, she seems more vulnerable and small. By taking out the colour, what remains is the emotion of the image.
The following image had already been converted to black and white. My tutor queried why this image was cropped differently to the others in the set, I felt the image cropped in so tightly forced the viewer to examine the expressions as this was the moment Bob told Eve that her Mother wasn't coming back for her. When I looked at the original, Bob's hand is waving around in a very expressive manner and is far too blurred. I decided to explore the possibility of replacing the image.
I replaced the image with the one below, taken from the same scene and also with Bob's expressive hand movements but without the unacceptable blur of the one I'd cropped. I feel this image matches the remanding images in the set.
Notes:
These were difficult conditions to shoot in with a wide variety of lighting which changed throughout the performance, also the subjects were moving which presented additional challenges.
It is important to aim to produce a set of images that are consistent in not only degrees of cropping but also that the flow is consistent.
Remember to check printing for colour casting against the screen as saturation levels can look quite different even with a calibrated screen.
Move around the subject wherever possible both in close and further out to get the range of images needed to make a final selection from.
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