Cindy 3 - Last ones for now

Bilsen

Here's the last of my third shoot with Cindy in motion. No matter what we try, she's still as sexy a model as I've ever seen.


I'm gonna take a break from posting for a while while I try to decide what to incorporate from all the C&C on here. Thanks to Zoomer, Diva, Qarik, Hackbone, Bryce and everyone else who have been so exacting, frustrating and incredibly valuable in the past two months or so. :clap I probably won't accept/agree with it all, but I listened to everything you've said, as I will with this set.

Click the first image for the gallery of this shoot.



2.


3.


4.


5.


and, of course, I'm always in love with headshots

6.

zoomer

Good for you. This is a really good set....kind of lost it on the last two shots .
In 1 if you had taken a big step to your right and shot it as 1.4-2.8 it would have been money, but very nice as is. Very nice setting.
Love 2, a lot.
3 and 4...a big step to the right would have put that nice long increasingly out of focus wall as her background with the street just on the right edge of the frame, which would have also taken the car out of the back of the shot. If you had kneeled down and shot up just a bit would have give the shots a really nice angle for the legs. Still nice shots .

5 looks like one of the old style shots, background setting does not work.

Over all this is a very nice set.

She is gorgeous...she must be so much fun to shoot.

Good job!!



She is really gorgeous and

anonymouscuban

First, love this model. She reminds me of someone but I can't put my finger on it.

Second, I think it's awesome that you accept feedback. It's never easy to receive criticism but it's not constructive until you listen and learn. It's one of the things that has kept me coming back to Dgrin. The honest feedback. I find absolutely no value in the "Great shot" comments I get in other places. I'd rather here how I can improve the shot, because I know there is always room to make it better. You've listened and incorporated the feedback you've agreed with and your photos show marked improvement. They were good before but now you're producing real gems.

And that brings me to my third point. The second photo is fabulous. The pose, the comp, DOF, processing... all hit the mark and really make it a stand out in this set. I like the others but as Zoomer pointed out, they could have been better with some tweaks to the comp and DOF.

I hope you don't take too much of a break from posting because you add value to the People forum. Don't be a stranger.

divamum

What zoomer said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really like #1 & 2 - both work a treat exactly as they are

5 is the only one that doesn't work for me at all - not only the car in the bg, but I don't think it's the most flattering expression I've seen from her. There's a similar pose in the gallery in a different location that I think works better from that point of view.

John, glad if I've been of any help- I know that I've learned a lot from the comments people have been making on your shots, too. It's all good!

Bilsen

Thanks guys. I doubt I'll be gone long but I need the time to adjust my shoots. The best example I can give you is the movement in this last series with Cindy. That came straight from here.

Cuban, I apologize for omitting you from my list of credits. You're one of my most objective and valuable commenters.

I would point out that in #s 3 & 4, if I had taken that big step to the right as suggested, I would have lost that long wall depth that I wanted. I actually was out in the street and that comp lost a lot of the "street" feel. Nevertheless, even though I don't agree with this comment, it will keep me looking at alternative comp so there's no way I'm ignoring it.

Here's the one I think DivaMum is referring to:



See you in a couple of weeks and I'll still be lurking for other comments on other photographers. I learn from those also.

Bryce Wilson

Best stuff yet John!

One and two are my favorites. they're HOT!

I'll look forward to seeing more in a few weeks.

TenThirteen

Love love LOVE #2!

wolf911

I agree with #2 as a fav, lovely model she is.

Hackbone

Best set yet I believe. I really like the first one the best. Maybe a little burning in to drawn more attention to her. In 3-4 & 5 I think she gets lost in the surrounding area and that draws attention away from her. Possibly the lighting isn't dramatic enough to separate her from the bkgs. Maybe a gobo over her to change the exposure between her and the bkg.
#2 the hip angle bothers me.
Hey, like I always say, these are opinions and everybodys got em so just as long as you and your client love them the heck with the rest of us.

Bilsen

As always, thanks Hack.

Going to the end of the story, she's thrilled with the set as a whole including the two "panty" pictures. So I guess the "client" and I are pretty satisfied. On the other hand, as y'all know here, I can be satisfied (which I am) without being complacent so keep talking cause I keep listening.

Zoomer, both my "L"s are f4 and I don't have the money or the musculature to carry the 20-70 or the 70-200 f2.8. To the extent that limits me, it just hasta be.

I also find it interesting that the same set on different boards will get HUGELY different reactions. Still, I tend to agree with Cuban that neither "Great shot" nor "this sucks" are particularly useful and you KNOW my feelings about the "S"(napshot) word.

I may have to break my word on taking a leave from here. I'm shooting Cindy in 2 bikinis on Tuesday (late in the afternoon). You all may want to see that (well, except maybe DivaMum )

Hackbone

Just checked out the gallery. Wow, some of the short blue skirt ones really rock.

Bilsen

Thanks Hack.

High praise indeed from you.

Here's one that shows her off quite nicely in my opinion.

zoomer

I wish I had kept some of the reviews/critiques I received from 7 years ago from when I first started shooting people.
Man I got hammered for about 2 years...then it finally started making sense to me.....and I very slowly started to get better.

You are doing fine...if people didn't think you had so much potential and on top of that a great attitude and fun to go back and forth with...... you wouldn't be getting all this "help" .

Bilsen

Thanks Zoomster.

My ego is healthy enough to take a bump or a bruise now and again.

If I didn't enjoy the crit, I'd stop posting. I don't pretend it isn't a bit frustrating when a frame I think is really strong gets hammered, or worse, ignored (like "panty shot # 1"). However, I also appreciate that y'all are strong enough to have me tell you "nope, not this time" and not think I'm arguing or teed off.

It's funny, I read an article two years ago dissecting the SI swimsuit issue, pointing out the techniques used and the good stuff/not so good stuff. One of things I still remember (other than Bar Rafaeli nearly naked ) is that a main comment from pros was too many generic images of a gorgeous model in front of blurry blues and greens (Caribbean waters). That comment got me to look at developing a style that incorporated backgrounds rather than just blasting them 100% of the time.

One example in that last frame I posted above. To me, the river and far shoreline are a part of the image. I KNOW that gets blasted on here but it wasn't a mistake. For better or worse, it was intentional. Same with the times I use a wall to incorporate textures.

See you soon with my local version of SI on Hudson.

zoomer

Oh believe me I know how you feel. I used to post wedding pictures that I thought were awesome and the wouldn't even get a peep.....and I have posted a lots of portraits that I loved just to have them nit picked to death.

Like you....often I just agree to disagree. I am not going to let the fact that somebody else doesn't like my shot make me also not like my shot. You have to trust your own instincts...while also listening to Valid critique. Just like you are doing.

I kinda laugh at people who critique and blast the Sports Illustrated shoots....jealous much.

When the scenery is amazing it has to included in the shot. Not much point in flying 5000 miles to a location and then shooting all closeups and not showing the scenery.

Hang in there you are doing great.

Bilsen

Thanks again Zoom.

As far as SI, if they'll give me 5 gorgeous pro models, $50,000 worth of lights and modifiers, a crew of 20, an art director, MUA, stylist and hair people, I'd be willing to shoot for free and take my lumps on here for showing the palm trees.:D

Since Sunday's shoot is gonna get drowned by the hurricane, my next shoot is Cindy again, in her bikinis. I can't wait for that one and I probably won't even see the background, much less focus on it.

wolf911

I say go with your vision, if everyone shot the same way, how boring pictures would soon become. Your active and shooting