Eerie Result

[AntZ]

I'll admit this shot was a bit of an accident or at least not exactly what I had in mind. It was my daughter's Confirmation/Holy Communion on the weekend. The available light just disappeared on me and with a maximum aperture of 4.0 focusing was almost impossible, so I could not experiment too much. I was fortunate to have a speedlight 580EXII, but balancing the amount of light on white foreground and dark background was not really possible and I had to back the flash off to stop blowing out the dress.

I quite like the result as an "artistic" image, but think it is a little eerie for the occasion. I am interested in any thoughts on the image "as is" and how to improve it as an image for the occasion. I am also interested in how to improve it as an artistic image and maybe make it even more spooky.

Thanks in advance.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3581374640_48f8ea8bdd_o.jpg

[Marko]

Hmmm this is a tough one. This is a spooky image for sure. Interesting but spooky and not the normal type of shot for an event like this.
To me the shot sort of suggests " you better be good or you know where you're going".

To make it spookier I'd bring out even more detail in the cross (perhaps up to 50% more detail) especially the screws. For me this shot only works as a spooky image. :twocents:
Hope that helps - Marko

[tirediron]

Nice image; in addiiton to marko's idea, I'd suggest perhaps reducing the exposure on the girl slightly.

[Mad Aussie]

I think if you wanted to reduce the spooky effect (which I think is awesome here) then I'd look at adding a colourful or even religious looking border. With all that black you may be able to reshoot the cross and blend it back in if you are really keen.
In the end a bracketed sequence would have probably given you the shots you needed to get this the way you wanted.

[AntZ]

Thanks All. I like it as a spooky image, and have enough others from the night for remembering the importance of the occasion.