help needed, well critiques at least

System

hey, so i've taken these pictures and i personally like them but most people dont seem to other than the model, my close friends, and myself. now please ignore the fact that she isn't the most experienced of models and tends to have the same look on her face in every picture because i know that one, but can you guys help me to figure out why these are bad pictures (if you think so)












i personally like number 2 the best, but it's typically the worst recieved. number 1 and 3 are typically the ones people like a little better. and number 4 i'm not even a big fan of but i cant quite figure out why..

Angelo

OK, my opinion for what it's worth:
#1: could be nice but her face is totally in shadow.
#2: she seems to be getting swallowed up by her surroundings
#3: see #1
#4: the background and the ruffle skirt take precedence in the shot, plus the ratio of the skirt seems to make her seem misproportioned. Also a little flat - could use a little contrast adjustment.

nice tries though. keep trying.

david_h

I'm with Angelo on these. Call me old fashioned, but to me portraits are all about faces and her pretty face is either in shadow or over-shadowed on most of these. I like the pose of the first one, just not thrilled with the lighting. A bit of fill flash might have helped out, same with number 3.

I prefer your second photograph of the four - gotta love those baby blues :

System

"for what it's worth" dont be silly everybody's opinion is worth a bunch you dont have to dis it!! lol. thanks so much for the help! i've been trying to figure out what's so bad about these and i definitely see your points on all of them so thank you much!

Angelo wrote:

OK, my opinion for what it's worth:
#1: could be nice but her face is totally in shadow.
#2: she seems to be getting swallowed up by her surroundings
#3: see #1
#4: the background and the ruffle skirt take precedence in the shot, plus the ratio of the skirt seems to make her seem misproportioned. Also a little flat - could use a little contrast adjustment.

nice tries though. keep trying.

System

thanks so much for your help. yea i agree about the overshadowing.

heh i like two the best also. she does have beautiful eyes.

david_h wrote:

I'm with Angelo on these. Call me old fashioned, but to me portraits are all about faces and her pretty face is either in shadow or over-shadowed on most of these. I like the pose of the first one, just not thrilled with the lighting. A bit of fill flash might have helped out, same with number 3.

I prefer your second photograph of the four - gotta love those baby blues :

ian408

Of the four, I like #2 and #4. I like #2 because it's a tad soft and sells the
face a bit. I'd try that again without some of the foreground stuff. Specically
whatever is in front of the brown thingy (sorry for gettin' all technical on ya!).
#4 works because of the side light. Maybe a slightly different crop to get rid
of some of the skirt or perhaps more of the model. In both of these shots,
the facial expression works well.

In general, these images suffer from poor lighting. Although #4 is the best
lit of them. I'm also not a big fan of makeup. In my mind, less is better.

For your outside shots, try a little fill flash. Especially where the face is in
shadow. Just barely enough to light the subject.

The black and white conversion could use more contrast to give the image
punch.

Keep up the work!

Ian

Shay Stephens

My take
#1: Composition and depth of field (DOF) are the main eye killers here. Compositionally, the main action is her pulling on something to the left of the frame. Of course it is the fence/gate, but that actual grab area is missing which is somewhat of a let down. The scene is very busy and competes with the face, and in this case wins. A shallow DOF would have thrown more of that detail out of focus so that the face could have more prominence. Another aspect I just thought of is bright areas pull attention away from dark areas. And while faces don't always have to be perfectly lit, in this case, too many things distract from the face.

#2: They say you can't get too close, but they are wrong hehehe. There is no context for all the fabric, especially with the orientation of the head. For me, this photo is just too confusing, I don't get it. There is more to a portrait than just showing a face. Put that face in context that gives a reason for the photo, gives a reason for why the elements are there. Pretend a photo is telling a story. Just like a real story, if some element does not contribute to moving the story along, then take it out. The whole "brevity is the soul of wit" thing.

#3: This one is better than #1, but composition suffers. You have a symmetrical centered photo with asymmetrical sides. It would look stronger if you shifted the frame left to get more of the fencing she is interacting with and less of the fencing that her back is turned away from.

#4: A little underexposed, background cloth is too close to the model and only part of her arm is showing. It would probably look better if the arm were resting on top of the skirt. There is too much hidden in the photo (is she standing or sitting, it's hard to tell). It looks messy visually. Try having the background at least 6 feet away if you can manage it.

A tip for a model who only has one look, have them do some shots not looking at the camera. It will help mix it up a little.

gpgold

nOrmalSukx wrote:

hey, so i've taken these pictures and i personally like them but most people dont seem to other than the model, my close friends, and myself. now please ignore the fact that she isn't the most experienced of models and tends to have the same look on her face in every picture because i know that one, but can you guys help me to figure out why these are bad pictures (if you think so)

i personally like number 2 the best, but it's typically the worst recieved. number 1 and 3 are typically the ones people like a little better. and number 4 i'm not even a big fan of but i cant quite figure out why..

I read all the comments and I did something I try to do from time to time. I copied the image (in this case #3) and tried to see the effect of applying some of the comments to the picture. Cropping it, applying a slight blur to the chain link and slightly adjusting levels on the face brought out a lot of what you tried to capture, IMO. When I started posting here I would post the image as adjusted but I am not sure if that is good forum manners so I have stopped doing that unless you wish to see the result. I did the adjustments in PS6.

Anyway the excersize helps me learn for my own stuff. For years I never thought of cropping, I never really did it until I joined a forum and learned how this basic tool is so powerful.

regards,

Gary

System

i agree on the lighting issue, i definitely need to work on it.

thank you!

ian408 wrote:

Of the four, I like #2 and #4. I like #2 because it's a tad soft and sells the
face a bit. I'd try that again without some of the foreground stuff. Specically
whatever is in front of the brown thingy (sorry for gettin' all technical on ya!).
#4 works because of the side light. Maybe a slightly different crop to get rid
of some of the skirt or perhaps more of the model. In both of these shots,
the facial expression works well.

In general, these images suffer from poor lighting. Although #4 is the best
lit of them. I'm also not a big fan of makeup. In my mind, less is better.

For your outside shots, try a little fill flash. Especially where the face is in
shadow. Just barely enough to light the subject.

The black and white conversion could use more contrast to give the image
punch.

Keep up the work!

Ian

System

sure i'd love to see it.

gpgold wrote:

I read all the comments and I did something I try to do from time to time. I copied the image (in this case #3) and tried to see the effect of applying some of the comments to the picture. Cropping it, applying a slight blur to the chain link and slightly adjusting levels on the face brought out a lot of what you tried to capture, IMO. When I started posting here I would post the image as adjusted but I am not sure if that is good forum manners so I have stopped doing that unless you wish to see the result. I did the adjustments in PS6.

Anyway the excersize helps me learn for my own stuff. For years I never thought of cropping, I never really did it until I joined a forum and learned how this basic tool is so powerful.

regards,

Gary

System

0.0 wow. you always give me so much to think about and really help me, thanks so much.

Shay Stephens wrote:

#1: Composition and depth of field (DOF) are the main eye killers here. Compositionally, the main action is her pulling on something to the left of the frame. Of course it is the fence/gate, but that actual grab area is missing which is somewhat of a let down. The scene is very busy and competes with the face, and in this case wins. A shallow DOF would have thrown more of that detail out of focus so that the face could have more prominence. Another aspect I just thought of is bright areas pull attention away from dark areas. And while faces don't always have to be perfectly lit, in this case, too many things distract from the face.

#2: They say you can't get too close, but they are wrong hehehe. There is no context for all the fabric, especially with the orientation of the head. For me, this photo is just too confusing, I don't get it. There is more to a portrait than just showing a face. Put that face in context that gives a reason for the photo, gives a reason for why the elements are there. Pretend a photo is telling a story. Just like a real story, if some element does not contribute to moving the story along, then take it out. The whole "brevity is the soul of wit" thing.

#3: This one is better than #1, but composition suffers. You have a symmetrical centered photo with asymmetrical sides. It would look stronger if you shifted the frame left to get more of the fencing she is interacting with and less of the fencing that her back is turned away from.

#4: A little underexposed, background cloth is too close to the model and only part of her arm is showing. It would probably look better if the arm were resting on top of the skirt. There is too much hidden in the photo (is she standing or sitting, it's hard to tell). It looks messy visually. Try having the background at least 6 feet away if you can manage it.

A tip for a model who only has one look, have them do some shots not looking at the camera. It will help mix it up a little.

gpgold

nOrmalSukx wrote:

sure i'd love to see it.

OK - here you go.



This was done quickly so it is not all cleaned up, but you get the idea. I put a highlight in her eyes, but again I'm no expert, just having fun.

regards,

Gary

System

wow! it looks great. thanks so much!

gpgold wrote:

OK - here you go.



This was done quickly so it is not all cleaned up, but you get the idea. I put a highlight in her eyes, but again I'm no expert, just having fun.

regards,

Gary