Wow! What an improvement between the shots.
I love that you’ve spent the time to stage your ‘beauty” photograph. You’ve changed so much about the shot, yet all of the changes are easy and subtle. The results are fantastic. Congratulations.
Let’s start by talking about your lighting. You’ve changed your lighting dramatically between your two shots. Your “beast” image uses front lighting, which gives the composition a flat and lifeless feel.
In your “beauty” photograph however, you’ve used side lighting to help mould shadows around your objects. These shadows help not only draw out much appreciated texture, but also help give your photograph a more moody and dramatic feel. Essentially, through lighting alone,, you’ve brought this image to life.
You’ve also further simplified your color palette which is composed primarily of gradients of red and black. Beautiful choice of a palette. Seductive, sexy and elegant.
The tonal range in the shot is much more interesting as well. This is more of a concern for black and white photographs (as you’ll soon learn), but it’s also relevant to color photography as well. The white tones in your fire strongly contrast against the deep blacks in your shadows. The result is a dramatic image with a wide tonal spectrum. This is opposite to your “beast” image which has a flatter tonal palette. If we de-saturated the image, we would notice much of the image would fall into the mid-tones (gray) spectrum. This is not very dramatic or interesting.
Great work with this assignment! I can’t wait to see what you accomplish next.