MELANIE RETURNS (Mildly NSFW)

Bilsen

A couple from a studio shoot with Melanie last weekend.

I'm curious to see what people think of my version of a pinup treatment.



2.


3.


4. Her expression here almost killed me dead when I was in PP. LOL


5. ORIGINAL IMAGE


6. PINUP PROCESSING

Y_Knot

Nice, I think you nailed it with # 1. I like # 4 also.

~Steve

Sam

IMO this is not near your best work. White balance are inconsistent.

#1 Her neck area looks like something from outer space. Her face doesn't portray sensuality, happy, campy or anything endearing.

#2 Background with the room corner is distracting and cheap looking, too much magenta.

#3 Skin tones go from very red to morgue. Background is too close and the concrete floor doesn't add anything.

#4 Very awkward the hands placement makes it look like her fat tummy is rolling over her hands. (I can see she isn't fat)

#5 The pose is too close to the backdrop with shadows, the angle makes her midsection appear too large, and the processed skin tone is all over the place with blotchy areas.

I don't mean to be cruel or harsh but this is what I see.

Sam

anonymouscuban

John.. gonna beat you a bit on this set.

#1 - This is the best. Not much to say, good or bad.

#2 - Good but you got some halo or artifact on the right side of the photo. Almost like a bad vignette job.

#3 - I think you shot this from a bit too high up. It's not flattering to her figure. Also, you got some weird vignetting, mottling of the light on this one too.

#4 - This one is good but that cat suit is really unflattering to her. I think the dark material coming down the middle, in contrast to her bright skin, makes her look really square. She doesn't have the hip-to-waist ratio for something like that.

#5 - Good one but that vignette again man. It's killing me.

#6 - Not digging the processing but better than the original. Did I mention the vignetting?

Chaoslillith

I agree # 1 is the best. The rest look over processed or badly lit. I am not sure how much you compressed these but other than # 1 they look very grainy and have blown out spots. Her posing is ok but not really pinup more lingerie model type.

She has a great look though.

Bilsen

OUCH. That's what I get for going indoors and playing with lights and gels.

Seriously though, thanks everyone for the comments. Sam and Cuban, thanks for the detailed C&C.
Sam, you aren't being harsh (at least I don't take it that way). When my outdoor season started last April I took some WAYYYY worse beatings from Cuban, Zoomer, DivaMum and several others on here. The result was that by the end of the summer I had improved my shoots enough that they actually started to notice the models (like Cindy - right Zoomer??)

I had my last 2011 shoot yesterday so I'll be posting the last of 2011 this coming week. They're all indoors so I'll take my beatings and then it's off on a cruise to shoot in Mexico back in the outdoors where I belong.

EBERYBODY HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS or HANNUKAH or the FEAST of the HOLY RAMEN NOODLES or whatever else you celebrate.

Sam

Why would you give up studio work? Cindy in the studio is excellent. The major issue here is when look at the shoots side by side it doesn't look like the photographer shot both.

As a side note on occasion I get grouchy and miffed when I start reading nothing but great, very nice, good work etc when it really isn't. That doesn't benefit us.

As an example I had someone I know give me a fast review of some architectural photography I had done. He ripped me to shreds. :cry But he also articulated how to improve. I am not mad in the least. I intend to keep his valid cratique in mind for future shoots, and I am positive I will do better. Had he sad OH, these are good I would have learned nothing.

Sam

Bilsen

No worries Sam, I'm not giving up the studio work. However, my experience outdoors is just more extensive so I'm more comfortable outside.

We TOTALLY agree about getting good, solid C&C, including negatives. That's why I genuinely appreciated your comments.

Ed911

4, 5, and 6 are not flattering at all. Her arm in 5 and 6 add to her waist...making her look thick wasted...not too feminine. And in...the cat suit and the way her hands are placed makes her figure go away...she looks very flat from the front. Number 3...repose...she looks like she has a boy body...no hips...no figure. And, like was mentioned in number one...the collar bone...looks terrible. 6 is also suffering from all kinds of artifacts...on her waist...and on her legs, near her bottom...looks like you tried to push the blacks using the adjustment slider in the Exposure function in Photoshop. Question: Did you use the liquify tool to boom her butt in 5 and 6...because she doesn't look like she has much of one in the previous photos.

I think 2 is probably your best shot...excepting the terrible halos.

Just my two cents...