Beauty Portraits: SiSi @ Reflection Rooms (Sexiness From Within!)

ZecksonZeckson Registered Users Posts: 307 Major grins
edited October 7, 2009 in People
I got to know this extremely beautiful and sexy girl from a close friend of mine some time ago. Her name is SiSi. Yes, it sounds like a Chinese name. In fact, it is a Chinese name. Sisi is a mix between Thai and Chinese. As we talked, I came to realize that SiSi is modelling too and she was looking for a good photographer to give her some nice and cool images. When I told her I do portraits and showed my port folio to her, she looked at me and gave me that big sexy smile... Well... You know what comes next!

For some days we were together and we were talking about concepts and ideas, I sort of understood SiSi's character a bit. I was observing her body languages, her expressions, her little actions and her way of speech all the while as I communicated with her about what I had in mind. She accepted it with grace.

We talked about what is sexy and how sexiness is perceived by people. While sexiness often links with revealing of individual's sexuality, which most people do agree, I think that is only 50% correct. What many people don't know is that sexiness often comes from within an individual's personality and character and the way each individual present themselves. My idea for SiSi's shoot was to bring out the charm and sexiness within her joyful character WITHOUT being in pieces of cloths that only cover a small part of the body (you know what).

I did this set of images with my Nikon D80, my AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens and a few flash units. I must say that while I am very satisfied with the outcome of the images and how each image was excuted and processed to obtain this result, I am very pissed with the quality of these images technically. Can you guess what I am pissed with?

Total: 25 images


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Thank you for viewing my images. Sexiness from within, I hope that these images do SiSi justice. I have many people asking me how I do my portraits. Some even revealed their line of equipments they use but still could not achieve what I did with my mediocre gears.

I replied them, "What I do portraits, I often look into the inner character of my subject, understand them and observing them before I attempt any shoot with them. I go out with them, I talk with them on the phone, I have meals with them, I share their life stories, I listen to their views and opinions. From these, I piece every small bits of information I gather about them and review these information and figure out what kind of person they are. This will set my direction of how to bring their characters out in my portraits."

Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.

You may have the best and fastest car in the world but it is your driving skills that propels you to win the race in the circuit. :)
Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.
I am not a photographer.
Zeckson's Image Boulevard

Comments

  • B RockB Rock Registered Users Posts: 181 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2009
    Wow I love these. What kind of lightsetup did you use?
  • ZecksonZeckson Registered Users Posts: 307 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2009
    B Rock wrote:
    Wow I love these. What kind of lightsetup did you use?

    It depends on the need of each individual images. I have used bare flash units, flash through umbrella, light bulbs, table lamps, and whatever I can find within the surrounding. I look for light source. :)

    As for gears, I had stated them on my first post. :)

    Thank you for your comments.
    Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.
    I am not a photographer.
    Zeckson's Image Boulevard
  • ZecksonZeckson Registered Users Posts: 307 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2009
    Apologize for putting my images into individual posts. I understand you have to scroll down the pages just to see all my images. I apologize for the incoveniences caused.

    I will post all my images into 1 single post in the future.

    Meanwhile, you can click on my Flickr to see all 36 images of this set. :)

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeckson/sets/72157622390725331/
    Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.
    I am not a photographer.
    Zeckson's Image Boulevard
  • dmeiselmandmeiselman Registered Users Posts: 74 Big grins
    edited October 4, 2009
    Gorgeous set, I bet she's very happy with them.

    As for critique, I see no detail in blacks and blown highlights all over the place. I know that high contrast style is an artistic choice, but i'd rather see some detail in her dress/surroundings/hair highlights.

    Really creative work, keep it up!
    D300|Tokina 12-24 f/4|Sigma 24mm f/1.8|Nikon 35 f/2|Tokina 50-135 f/2.8|AlienBees
  • ZecksonZeckson Registered Users Posts: 307 Major grins
    edited October 4, 2009
    dmeiselman wrote:
    Gorgeous set, I bet she's very happy with them.

    As for critique, I see no detail in blacks and blown highlights all over the place. I know that high contrast style is an artistic choice, but i'd rather see some detail in her dress/surroundings/hair highlights.

    Really creative work, keep it up!

    Thank you for your comments. :)
    Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.
    I am not a photographer.
    Zeckson's Image Boulevard
  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    Zeckson wrote:
    Thank you for your comments. :)

    lovely shots and great processing. You mentioned that you were not pleased with somthing. Perhaps you are upset becasue you did not get a kiss as payment? clap.gif
    D700, D600
    14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
    85 and 50 1.4
    45 PC and sb910 x2
    http://www.danielkimphotography.com
  • ZecksonZeckson Registered Users Posts: 307 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    Qarik wrote:
    lovely shots and great processing. You mentioned that you were not pleased with somthing. Perhaps you are upset becasue you did not get a kiss as payment? clap.gif

    Ha ha ha ha. No... Not that, my friend. Something else. Look closely at the images. You will notice it if you have a sharp eye. Thanks for your comments. :)
    Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.
    I am not a photographer.
    Zeckson's Image Boulevard
  • QarikQarik Registered Users Posts: 4,959 Major grins
    edited October 5, 2009
    Zeckson wrote:
    Ha ha ha ha. No... Not that, my friend. Something else. Look closely at the images. You will notice it if you have a sharp eye. Thanks for your comments. :)

    you shot in jpg instead of RAW? You ISO was set to high?

    By the way..D80 + plus kit lens? seesh...that's making the most out of your equipment.
    D700, D600
    14-24 24-70 70-200mm (vr2)
    85 and 50 1.4
    45 PC and sb910 x2
    http://www.danielkimphotography.com
  • ZecksonZeckson Registered Users Posts: 307 Major grins
    edited October 6, 2009
    Qarik wrote:
    you shot in jpg instead of RAW? You ISO was set to high?

    By the way..D80 + plus kit lens? seesh...that's making the most out of your equipment.

    EXACTLY! Its posterization my friend! I should have shot these in RAW! But I didn't know what made me shot these in JPEG under sRGB color space. Worse, the way I process the pictures to get this feel, I worked around the lower edge of the gamut. Intense manipulation of the pixels brought up noise and posterization! Argh!
    Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.
    I am not a photographer.
    Zeckson's Image Boulevard
  • Joe DukovacJoe Dukovac Registered Users Posts: 213 Major grins
    edited October 6, 2009
    Hey Zeck,
    EXACTLY! Its posterization my friend! I should have shot these in RAW! But I didn't know what made me shot these in JPEG under sRGB color space. Worse, the way I process the pictures to get this feel, I worked around the lower edge of the gamut. Intense manipulation of the pixels brought up noise and posterization! Argh!

    First off, OUTSTANDING work! I can only hope to be able to achieve this level or work one day. It goes to show that no matter what kind of equipment you have, you can achieve wonderful results. Actually, if anyone reads any of Ken Rockwell's posts (www.kenrockwell.com), he has a post that talks about why expensive equipment doesn't matter in order to capture a great photo.

    Anyhow, I just wanted to comment about the posterization and noise. We, and by "we" I mean you as an individual, are always our worst critiques. I pick apart my work senselessly and almost obsesively all the time. In the meantime, others are marveled by the work which was done. I would love to know what SiSi's reaction was when you showed her the photos? I suppose in the end though, a joyful reaction to our work is what makes us feel good about our work and propels us to carry on and improve, at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it! mwink.gif

    Again, wonderful work Zeck, it's always a treat to see your work on here. It's truly inspirational to me.
    Joe
    North View Studio
    http://www.zoradphotography.com
    Montreal, Canada
  • ZecksonZeckson Registered Users Posts: 307 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2009
    Hey Zeck,



    First off, OUTSTANDING work! I can only hope to be able to achieve this level or work one day. It goes to show that no matter what kind of equipment you have, you can achieve wonderful results. Actually, if anyone reads any of Ken Rockwell's posts (www.kenrockwell.com), he has a post that talks about why expensive equipment doesn't matter in order to capture a great photo.

    Anyhow, I just wanted to comment about the posterization and noise. We, and by "we" I mean you as an individual, are always our worst critiques. I pick apart my work senselessly and almost obsesively all the time. In the meantime, others are marveled by the work which was done. I would love to know what SiSi's reaction was when you showed her the photos? I suppose in the end though, a joyful reaction to our work is what makes us feel good about our work and propels us to carry on and improve, at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it! mwink.gif

    Again, wonderful work Zeck, it's always a treat to see your work on here. It's truly inspirational to me.

    Thanks for your kind words. SiSi loved the photos! She didn't care about the posterization and noise. I guess it is still acceptable... :p
    Speaking of ART is USELESS if one cannot FEEL anything.
    I am not a photographer.
    Zeckson's Image Boulevard
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