Canadian Photographer Melissa Trotter is getting a lot of attention with her latest foray into alternative themes. "Blood Dress" was viewed more than 1.3 million times in just 8 hours after being posted online. Inspired by a "milk dress" shoot, Trotter says she instantly fell in love with the idea of creating the same concept with blood. There are plenty of comments to go along with the provocative image. The owner of Stolen Innocence Photography, Trotter says she's been overwhelmed with the response she's gotten, pointing out most of it has been extremely positive.
The setting was a field behind a friend's house in Edmonton, Alberta. The camera was a Nikon D5200, with a 50mm f/1.8 lens using only natural light. The "blood" consisted of icing sugar, cocoa powder, food coloring, and water. It's been suggested she should have done the shoot in a studio, but Trotter, who has only been shooting for two years, said she didn't want to contend with the mess and the possible financial repercussions of damaging a rental studio. Still, she tells FStoppers, it turned out to be fairly easy to put all the pieces together, despite it being the first time she has attempted such an intricate shoot.
First impressions? Bizarre, ghoulish, even macabre, but stunning, nonetheless. It's a huge turnaround from the landscapes and flowers she started out shooting. I get the feeling she's got more thought-provoking shoots bubbling up in her mind already. Trotter says she's taking in all the constructive criticism and will work harder to make the next shoots better. It's all in the attitude.
Model Anja Love gets credit for her involvement in this photo shoot.
Everyone's a critic eh?
I kind of agree actually. It's a great idea but this picture is really uninteresting. I love the blood dress its cool but the light, composition are not great and the model just looks bored to tears.
y'all really can't let cool concepts live
Her feet were sunken into the ground fyi, if you go to her Facebook page and look she zooms in on it so you can see.
Bravo ! Love it !
The idea is played out and yes... it's technically flawed; i.e. exposure, posing, framing, etc. But I think everyone here is missing the big picture. She shot this with Nikon's D5200, an entry level camera. It proves the saying, "it's not the camera that makes you a great photographer." I personally know of at least two people who own a D4 and they can't take a good photo, much less a creative one to save their lives. I absolutely applaud this photographer. Given time, better gear and the right mentoring... who knows what amazing images she will be able to create.
I agree it's definitely the vision that defines you as a great photographer not the gear. I'm not putting down the photographer at all I applaud her as well. I'm mostly concerned with how much praise its getting when it's not a strong image besides the idea.There are plenty of amazing photographers who have both the technical skill and creative ideas. Not every photo has to be technically perfect but I don't find that lack of technicality is benefiting the photo like it can in others.
maybe I'm just an old fart haha.
Hey Robert, I am just curious as an internet bystander with very little photography experience - can you explain in more detail what is wrong with the exposure, framing and posing? When I look at it with non-photographer eyes, it looks like a nice photo (albeit the model looks bored) so I'm just wondering :)
Thanks!
so & so... internet is pushing people to try "new things" so much that the only thing that is not done anymore is something that indeed "makes sense". Incomplete as a concept idea and the execution is also hobbyist. Sorry, creator, but you need a lot more practice in portraiture. Fstoppers before you put out a post, make sure it's really worth it, if you wish to remain a credible source. Bb all.
1.3 million people looked at the thing in 8 hours. I think that makes it newsworthy for a photography site.
100 million watch a football match for 90 minutes, does that mean you should be a football fan? Maybe they get this attendance in any post, anyway...
this is so rude and bitter lmao
yea maybe, I wasn't on my best of days, but still...