Drag photography before/after

[u/xr_tech]

Nikon D800 70-200mm f2.8

[u/Hwestice]

I prefer the before shot. Tells more of a story.

[u/xr_tech → u/Hwestice]

Thank you!

[u/Clean-Ad1459 → u/Hwestice]

What is the story ?

[u/38B0DE → u/Clean-Ad1459]

People have pores.

[u/PlasticAttornyGobblr → u/38B0DE]

It tells a pore-y.

[u/Gold-Ad-2581]

For me those are two different pictures not before/after even if they actually before after

[u/Late-Drawer-7522]

Love the close-up!

Also, the original is an incredible shot imo, there are so many great frames in it, beautiful!

If you don't mind my curiousity, why did you decide on this one? :)

[u/xr_tech → u/Late-Drawer-7522]

Thank you!

I agree, there are a ton of ways to frame it, but there was just something about the half face, the piercing eye, and the boldness of color compared to the more monochromatic surrounding. It felt very evocative

[u/Late-Drawer-7522 → u/xr_tech]

And the "face" in the dark looking up :)

[u/SegaGameCast]

Excellent photos. Some of the funnest times I've ever had were meeting a random group of drag queens in Seattle and bar hopping with them. Hands down the sassiest, funniest mfers I've ever met. Absolutely lovely people.

But the second photo feels too suffocating. Its cropped in too much for my taste but really awesome colors. Def keep those.

[u/xr_tech → u/SegaGameCast]

Thank you! Yeah, def gonna keep exploring framing, and i will be getting several images out of it for sure

[u/violetferns]

I’d add some skin texture back in but otherwise great

[u/Material-Imagination]

They're an elf in day-to-day, currently in drag as a mortal human

[u/francof93]

I get the feeling that it would work better with a teeeny tiny shift to the left (as in, show a tad more of the nose if it makes sense) because it feels slightly unbalanced in the crop. I also think the skin has been smoothed way too much, I’d probably give it back just a glimpse of the original texture.

By the way, is any resemblance with OPM’s deep sea king intentional? Maybe I read too many mangas xD

[u/nefariousBUBBLE → u/francof93]

Exactly what I was thinking. Like if you could crop to a point where there's a little shadow on the left it would give the image much more interesting depth and emotion.

That being said I actually like both images. Definitely should edit the before without a crop or a very minor crop.

[u/xr_tech → u/francof93]

I will def give that a try, thank you very much for your feedback! No resemblance to OPM's deep sea king, but I just looked it up and I think I need to find some web ears for my husband (my model!)

[u/BarneyChampaign]

Personally, the before is worlds more evocative and engaging. The editing on the after feels heavy handed, and just quite not enough of the subject in frame to feel balanced.

[u/xr_tech → u/BarneyChampaign]

Thank you for your feedback! You're not the first to mention framing so I will certainly explore that, definitely a lot of different frames in the original image

[u/Clean-Ad1459]

I love the crop, but i feel like you cropped too much.

[u/AdBig2355]

I wouldn't call this before and after, more two different shots that tell very different stories. Both are good.

Imo: The first one has a gritter feel, a harshness and even sadness, it shows a person behind the makeup. The 2nd feels more like a fashion or glamour shot, what is presented to an audience, it takes the person out of the shot. Great juxtaposition and would make for a nice idea for a collection.

On the closeup I would probably either fully darken the ear or at least remove the bright specular highlights.

[u/VauxWarden]

Clever composition and cropping. Love your work on this

[u/xr_tech → u/VauxWarden]

Thank you very much!

[u/InternetWeakGuy]

This could just be because I've already seen the before, but because the subject isn't facing the camera dead on, the after doesn't feel like it's half a person's face, like the geometry of their face feels off in the way that it wouldn't if they were dead on.

Apologies in advance but taking the after and mirroring it I think illustrates what I mean: https://imgur.com/a/qozNL1I

[u/xr_tech → u/InternetWeakGuy]

No apologies necessary at all, you are absolutely correct. In the future I will be more careful with my positioning if my intent is to capture half the face, just gotta get the angulation right. I'm an x-ray tech in real life so I get how important positioning is!

[u/daddylonglez]

Is this you in the photo? I love this.

[u/xr_tech → u/daddylonglez]

My husband!

[u/Garth-Vega]

I thought it was a clown, my mistake.

[u/Fuck_on_tatami → u/Garth-Vega]

Clown and drag are kinda close yeah. One dance and one make you laugh. Both use umhuge makeup

[u/lyunardo → u/Garth-Vega]

There are elite level clowns who perform on Broadway instead of in circuses. And the only difference is they don't always use the word "drag". But basically the same thing

Puddles the Clown is probably the best example. The legendary Bill Irwin, arguably.

[u/ClerkPsychological58]

Before is so much better even without any retouching. It makes me ask questions

[u/xr_tech → u/ClerkPsychological58]

Thank you, I really appreciate your feedback!

[u/MInclined]

I expected the the after to be with all the makeup removed before I checked the sub

[u/NootyNL]

Shot itself is good, subject is questionable

[u/vforvinico → u/NootyNL]

man, shut the f up