So This Is A Shoe Advert Then?
Posted on 21/07/2011
Another photo I shot in Malta together with Christopher and Maria Pia. And yes you may see a woman longing for her shoes or something else. Could this be an ad then? … Nah 
Canon EOS 60D, Sigma 30mm F1.4 EX DC, ISO200, F4, 1/2500s
We shot in the ruins of the ‘Australian House’, a building that was used as a theater for a while but now lies in ruins after being burned down. A job supposedly done by some political activists/fuckwits.
I wanted Pia to pose in that window that you can see here but I wasn’t very happy with the outcome as the usual model pouting and posing didn’t make an interesting picture for me. I therefore asked her to remove her shoes (and yes, only her shoes) and tried a different setup to make a more interesting shot. Of course you will always literally see a ? popping up above a person’s head if you ask for such a thing but in the end you may end up with a more interesting photo.
In regards to shooting womens shoes: Well, they sure make an interesting object. It’s interesting how you can display a sense for femininity just my showing a decent pair of heels. Plus while a dress for example needs a body to look interesting shoes tend to keep their form and tend to stand (haha) for themselves. And with a very fine design (which a lot of them have) it’s easy to figure out a nice pair of legs growing out of them
I think this picture works and that it is an attention getter. I’m very happy with the overall framing, the angles and Pia’s pose in the background is just great. And the focus/out-of-focus part is balanced nicely. The eye can wander across that picture in a very interesting way. Wish it was a bit better though: There are tiny details in that location that I don’t like for that shot and I would argue that contrasts could be balanced better (maybe through more digital editing?), some other shoes would have made more of an impact, they shouldn’t be white for example but red or purple, which would helped to make them stand out more. As I said the contrast of things could be better, red would be darker therefore the pic might work better. I may try another version at one point that is done in color. This version was edited in DxO (black and white film filters, lens correction), Gimp (removed a few spots here and there as well as signs on the shoe sole) and finalised in Lightroom.
But yes I’m still happy with how it came out. It is a nice photo with a very decent composition that I made near the very end of a really fun day.
If you’re interested in that ruin formerly known as the Australian House you can find a gallery of some pictures I took while Chris was shooting. After the break that is 
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Das Bild ist so gut, da zieht’s einem ja die Schuhe aus. Muahaha!
Sehr gutes Bild – aber ja, kontrastigere Schuhe wären schöner, und eine andere Stellung des rechten (nicht frontal abphotographiert) wäre auch gut – so verliert der Schuh viel Räumlichkeit. Und was mir wohl auch noch gefallen würde, wäre, wenn die Linie der Ebene, auf der die Schuhe stehen, nicht exakt parallel wäre zu der Linie der Ebene, auf der sie oben hockt. Wenn also beide unterschiedlich schräg wären.
Heyhey, danke fürs Lob und die echt guten Anmerkungen (i.e. Kritik)
Du das recht, wenn der Schuh noch etwas gedreht wäre und die Linien z.B. so > stürzen würden wäre noch etwas mehr Dynamik da (und das Auge könnte gut den Linien entlangwandern). Evtl. mach ich da mal ein ähnliches Foto mit etwas Kunstlicht, farbigen (roten?)Schuhen und da versuch ich mich dann mal darin.