The Eye of the Beholder with Kay

Bilsen

Yes there are the Russians, Amanda, Carly and Ann Marie. Of course, the BilCyn Dominican team of Cyndi and Anylza are also stunning but for pure gorgeous, at least in the eye of this beholder, Polish beauty Kay matches up to anyone. Your mileage may vary but, honestly, I don't see how.



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10.

Bryce Wilson

It just keeps gettin gooder 'n gooder.

Glad to see you came over to the "out of focus backgrounds side" in one through three.

Nice commercial lighting in them too!

Bilsen

Thanks Bryce. I'm absolutely a believer on bokeh. Just not ALL the time.

BTW, all ambient. No flash, no reflectors in anything.

Try this for a more "spiritual" side of Kay:

jonh68

I like 1-3, and 10. The others would have been better with a different setting. The doorway and porch do not work for me for the mood you are going for. They compete too much for attention with your model.

Bilsen

Thanks Jon.

I have long since reconciled to the idea that non-blurry BKG will not be popular here. Such is life. although I have yet to understand how a stone wall competes with Kay.

Anyway, thanks again.

jonh68

Bilsen wrote: »

Thanks Jon.

I have long since reconciled to the idea that non-blurry BKG will not be popular here. Such is life. although I have yet to understand how a stone wall competes with Kay.

Anyway, thanks again.

This goes back to the pretty girl syndrome Divamum and others point out. Yes she is beautiful. Getting past how beautiful she is the background does not complement. I don't photograph just models so I have to look for ways to compliment subjects. I can't rely on the subject to carry the photograph but look at backgrounds and the surroundings as well.

To me 1-3 and 10 are great photographs regardless of the subject. The rest are good if you are wanting the pretty girl picture. She is pretty enough that she doesn't get overwhelmed by the background and settings, but they do not help the photograph as a whole.

Bilsen

Jon, that wasn't an argument, it was just an acknowledgement.

When you say "pretty girl syndrome" you are forgetting what I do. Model portfolio work often has a background or story and I choose locations with interesting backgrounds. Even if no one else likes them, I do although, as you see, I am perfectly capable of bokeh when I think the shot requires it.

Again, it's not an argument. You prefer what you prefer, as do I.

Foques

she's gorgeous!

angled #5 works for me very much.
Though, #9 bugs me a bit.. This is the shot that i'd be going for when I shoot for..certain entertainment sites.


Here is a question. How do you find locations to shoot at?

Bilsen

Thanks Foques....., I think.

Anyway, i have the same shot as #9 from a different angle but I think it makes her look shorter. We chooses our poison.

divamum

1&2 would be perfect if you lost the brighter right hand side - since it doesn't look like you can crop, stick a LR gradient on it to tone it down.

Yanno, I know she isn't your "muse", but I think you actually get your very best shots with Kay.....

Bilsen

Thanks Diva. I'll take a look at adding a dark to transparent gradient.

I agree that Kay is my top non-Dominican . She just doesn't have the time to develop concepts and research them the way Cyndi and Anylza do. If not for that, she could easily be a muse. This entire shoot took an hour for three looks because we work really well together.

To hijack my own thread, I've been playing around with Portrait Pro 12 so here's a headshot of Kay as a green eyed redhead with sculpted lighting. Let's see what y'all think.

jonh68

Bilsen wrote: »

Jon, that wasn't an argument, it was just an acknowledgement.

When you say "pretty girl syndrome" you are forgetting what I do. Model portfolio work often has a background or story and I choose locations with interesting backgrounds. Even if no one else likes them, I do although, as you see, I am perfectly capable of bokeh when I think the shot requires it.

Again, it's not an argument. You prefer what you prefer, as do I.

I wasn't arguing. You asked a question about how someone could see a model being lost in the background and I answered. Of course there are going to be different views on this matter.