Firey Blonde... (My first attempt at model shooting)

Bayer-Z28

I had something last night, I had the camera with me and I saw a look on my buddy's G/F's face and I said "Woah! DON'T MOVE!" started snapping and before you know it, I had 300 some odd pics I had to prune through today!

I'm really stunned at how these came out and she almost started crying when I was showing her the pics on the computer... :wink

Here we go.. This was spur of the moment, and these are unedited... So far.. back home in CT visiting the family.

roentarre

Hot and sassy in deed! :ivar

Nite_Hawk

Nice Rich. Like the last the most.

Bayer-Z28

^ Yeah, the Veedub pics!

Nikolai

Looks like young Kim Basinger:-)

rkw624

The first and last I like a lot.

Mandi Maggot

Wahhooo
Oh my good gosh!!! I still can't believe that is me..they came out totally amazing..thank you so much!!!

zoomer

Nice shots.
I love the sexy girl shots where they have that bit of shyness/insecurity about them that comes through in the photos..and then she pops into the thread to tell you how much she likes the shots..
Classic!! Great stuff!!

dogwood

What am I missing?

These look like you had a lot to drink before picking up the camera. The background is cluttered and distracting, her eyes look dead in almost every shot, the composition is poor, the photos seem soft and out of focus on the subject (in the last image, the car is in focus, but not the subject), and the lighting is pretty awful too.

Look at number 5 -- it doesn't even look like her eyes are open. So what am I missing here? How are these "great"?

I think you could have done a lot better, especially if this is the best of 300 images. Next time, slow down. Open your aperture up all the way to help blur the background, choose a better, less distracting background, wait until you have some good natural light to work with (daytime in a garage can be awesome-- shoot with the door open and use the soft natural light for your subject).

jeffreaux2

dogwood wrote:

What am I missing?

These look like you had a lot to drink before picking up the camera. The background is cluttered and distracting, her eyes look dead in almost every shot, the composition is poor, the photos seem soft and out of focus on the subject (in the last image, the car is in focus, but not the subject), and the lighting is pretty awful too.

Look at number 5 -- it doesn't even look like her eyes are open. So what am I missing here? How are these "great"?

I think you could have done a lot better, especially if this is the best of 300 images. Next time, slow down. Open your aperture up all the way to help blur the background, choose a better, less distracting background, wait until you have some good natural light to work with (daytime in a garage can be awesome-- shoot with the door open and use the soft natural light for your subject).

Yup...

speedsk8r

For a second i was wondering if we were looking at the same photo's,dogwood hit the ball out of the park,i was wondering why she was wearing a gown in the garage anyway,the outfit had nothing to do with the scenery if you wanted her in the garage you could of put her in some ripped up clothing some oil on the face and hands,no the worst i've ever seen but my gosh.

Dave Clee

+4....I was wondering the same thing..

Cheers

Dave

dogwood wrote:

What am I missing?

These look like you had a lot to drink before picking up the camera. The background is cluttered and distracting, her eyes look dead in almost every shot, the composition is poor, the photos seem soft and out of focus on the subject (in the last image, the car is in focus, but not the subject), and the lighting is pretty awful too.

Look at number 5 -- it doesn't even look like her eyes are open. So what am I missing here? How are these "great"?

I think you could have done a lot better, especially if this is the best of 300 images. Next time, slow down. Open your aperture up all the way to help blur the background, choose a better, less distracting background, wait until you have some good natural light to work with (daytime in a garage can be awesome-- shoot with the door open and use the soft natural light for your subject).

angevin1

dogwood wrote:

What am I missing?

What You're missing is He thought he was onto something and She saw them and fell in love with the way she looked within those photos. Which means: He achieved what most of us want to achieve at the basic level.

$.02: tom

Nikolai

You guys sure know how to tear a po' OP a new one...
Come on, it's so natural: you see a beautiful girl in a nice dress who is friendly, has time and is willing to pose, you have your camera... Yes, this is not a studio shoot, not on par with Pete's or Yuri's material, but he mentioned it very cliearly: "first attempt". I have definitely seen worse "first attempts", even here on dgrin. Shooting pretty girls is not as easy as it may seem, but you have to start somewhere...
Cut the guy a slack, it's Xmas time:-)

Dave Clee

I thought DW's post was a good one as it packaged a critique with good advice.

Cheers

Dave

Bayer-Z28

angevin1 wrote:

What You're missing is He thought he was onto something and She saw them and fell in love with the way she looked within those photos. Which means: He achieved what most of us want to achieve at the basic level.

$.02: tom

I appreciate some of the critique...

But on the opposite note; I'm sorry if I don't have $12,000 worth of gear and a studio at my disposal. I just have my D80 and two lenses.. That's it... I'm a hobby photographer, not a PRO... (Which some have YET AGAIN made so BRUTALLY obvious.)

This is why I was thinking of leaving this board a while ago, because I am so not up to par w/ even a fraction of you but you know how I see it?? Room for improvement. And I normally shoot field and stream, landscapes and nature (birds).. I have never been good at picking out good people shots, so this was a first for me...................... Regardless of how much I had to drink..

trunx

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

I appreciate some of the critique...

But on the opposite note; I'm sorry if I don't have $12,000 worth of gear and a studio at my disposal. I just have my D80 and two lenses.. That's it... I'm a hobby photographer, not a PRO... (Which some have YET AGAIN made so BRUTALLY obvious.)

This is why I was thinking of leaving this board a while ago, because I am so not up to par w/ even a fraction of you but you know how I see it?? Room for improvement. And I normally shoot field and streams, landscapes and nature (birds).. I have never been good at picking out good people shots, so this was a first for me...................... Regardless of how much I had to drink..

Don't take the criticism personal. I've lurked and read enough to know that some can't resist a parting shot regardless of image quality and composition. Obviously, the sentiment (mine) would be different if you had posted this image in the Whipping Post. They are fantastic pictures.

KED

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

I appreciate some of the critique...

But on the opposite note; I'm sorry if I don't have $12,000 worth of gear and a studio at my disposal. I just have my D80 and two lenses.. That's it... I'm a hobby photographer, not a PRO... (Which some have YET AGAIN made so BRUTALLY obvious.)

This is why I was thinking of leaving this board a while ago, because I am so not up to par w/ even a fraction of you but you know how I see it?? Room for improvement. And I normally shoot field and stream, landscapes and nature (birds).. I have never been good at picking out good people shots, so this was a first for me...................... Regardless of how much I had to drink..

Don't leave -- there is so much to learn here! There's a huge difference between brutally honest, yet constructive, criticism, and gratuitous flaming. Flaming does NOT occur on this forum (I'm here almost every day, so I state that as fact rather than opinion), and frankly I agree with the less-than-glowing reviews of these particular shots. If you want nothing other than pats on the back, this is not the right place; if you want legitimate commentary with no punches pulled, you are in the exact right place.

Nikolai

Bayer-Z28 wrote:

I appreciate some of the critique...

But on the opposite note; I'm sorry if I don't have $12,000 worth of gear and a studio at my disposal. I just have my D80 and two lenses.. That's it... I'm a hobby photographer, not a PRO... (Which some have YET AGAIN made so BRUTALLY obvious.)

This is why I was thinking of leaving this board a while ago, because I am so not up to par w/ even a fraction of you but you know how I see it?? Room for improvement. And I normally shoot field and stream, landscapes and nature (birds).. I have never been good at picking out good people shots, so this was a first for me...................... Regardless of how much I had to drink..

Dude,
the guys only gave you that treatment because
a) we all saw your work and know you can do - much - better
2) we see you like a man who can take it.

The real question is: do you want to take it up to the next level and become better, or you just gonna stay sorry that you don't own $12K worth of gear? 'Cause I bet my sorry (and currently still sick) arse that it was possible to take better pictures right there and right then, using existing setup and equipment - but you simply didn't know how to use it all to your advantage, or how to talk your model in doing what's best for her.

We all start somewhere. Dgrin is a great place to grow at whatever you're trying to pursue - at least photographically:-)

zoomer

If you can take the constructive criticism...that is where growth comes from.
If people tell your pictures are good when they are not, they are not doing you any favors.
Keep at it!!

divamum

I've hesitated whether to comment on this thread, but ... well, here goes.

Relevant fact #1: I'm not a pro. I'm barely even a competent amateur (although working hard on achieving that)

Relevant fact #2: I do not have $12,000 of gear. In fact, I don't think I even have $1,000 gear.

All that said, here are my thoughts. In essence - ESPECIALLY having looked at some of the excellent shots in your portfolio - something in this shoot has prevented you from seeing these with an objective eye. You have a pretty girl in a pretty dress, but the shots themselves don't work. Since you've mostly had general comments, I have taken the time to try and figure out what *specifically* I do/don't like and what *specifically* my (novice) eye sees that might have worked to improve them even in the ad hoc situation where they were taken - take it all with a grain of salt (refer back to #1), but perhaps it may be useful (and it's useful to ME to try and put into practice some of the things I'm learning to see myself).

#1
To me, even just cropping this would improve it by reducing the background. Perhaps play with tilting it, and different processing (bw or some other treatment?). From the "styling" point of view, it is not flattering to her hair (emphasized by the hot spot highlight). Cropping it will also improve the composition and you can draw better attention to her eye; at the moment, that hair hotspot is dead on the "rule of thirds" maker and thus becomes even more the focus of attention.

#2
The light is on her back, not her face. Not much you can do about that in post, but next time you can perhaps be more aware of where the hotspots are and either add light in the other places it's needed (a reflector off camera right might have helped here?), or simply move your model INTO the light. Also, imo her dress either needed to be fully zipped, or suggestively half unzipped - as it is, it looks like the zipper got stuck

#3
Not sure what could be done to this one because it's just not in sharp focus.

#4
Even though your model looks pretty good in this one (although to my eye on this monitor it's not 100% sharp) Mr Hoodie in the background totally distracts. Clone him out, or consider it a tosser despite her nice expression (which is I assume why you like it)

#5
She appears to have no eyeballs in this one - not a good look for most women Mr Hoodie is still a problem in the background, too.

#6
This is the best one for me. I think it would have been even better if you'd moved her over about 6-10" to her right so she was in the pool of light, but you could make a case for "mysterious" lighting if you work it in post and go for something hyperdramatic.

Again, I make no claims for expertise. But being able to SEE these things is what I've learned in the last 4 months or so reading dgrin and learning, learning, learning both from the comments on my own shots and those of others. Sometimes it's hard to hear that a photo you really like doesn't work - it can be easy to get atttached to it and stop seeing the details (or, more likely, remembering everything that was AROUND the shoot that enhanced the experience at the time, but that doesn't actually come across in the photo itself) ; even if you don't like to hear how other people may see it, it's vital feedback in starting to analyze one's own work better.

And I, for one, can't even begin to express my gratitude for the input and education I'm getting from this community - they've offered me equal parts supportive encouragement AND "tough love" as appropriate, and both are *vital* in developing my technical awareness and overall eye. Give these people a chance - far from trying to trash you, they're trying to help. Take what these true experts have to say with humility and an open mind and your photography will improve by leaps and bounds. That's what learning is all about!

Bayer-Z28

I really do respect most of the critique, Don't get me wrong... I know now about the outfit for the appropriate place, but again this was a spur of the moment thing.. Honestly, If I WOULD have thought about it I would have had her dress in ripped up coveralls or something, that would have made a nice shot with the hood open or something...

As far as the dress, I SWEAR I cropped all the ones out where her dress was partially unzipped.. BUT I actually had a shot of that one where there was some Blue light on the right side of her face and I honestly don't know where in the heck it came from, but it was of a slightly lower exposure with some blue in it.... BUT I frickin accidentally deleted it!!! I was pissed when I figured that one out!

But I'm starting to develope a little more of on eye for people... So I will try a couple shots soon..

The first people shot I thought I had a couple months ago I was in an old Western town called Cloudcroft New Mexico, and I saw these two older ladies sipping coffee on a board walk.. So out of respect I asked if I could take their picture.. They of course gave me the snotty "I'd rather you not, thank you." OK.. so I walked on.. That I think, had to have been the LAST time I thought I had a shot or even tried to take one; people wise..

I know they're not great, and I should have added the 'C&C welcomed' in the thread, but I didn't really think too kindly of the blatant bashing such as "Worst I've ever seen" = See my first defensive reponse..

As far as Nikoli, I whole heartedly respect the h3ll out of him.. He's seen some of my WORST shots in the assignments and empowers and trains me to go out and try to achieve the better of what I believe I am capable of. Thanx a bunch, boss!

Just trying to clear the air here, I'm not butt hurt.. I don't get like that on the internet.. And there is a LOT of room for improvement for me here! Which I why I like it; a wealth of information.