In Hell's Kitchen

schmoo

Well, actually it was west Chelsea but that doesn't sound quite as edgy, does it?

I'm still new to shooting people but it's still challenging enough to be fun. Haven't quite reached the brick wall yet, although I could use a lesson or two about directing poses. :dunno With models I find that everything moves so fast you can barely find your head... Even when the model is someone you've known since you were 17.









I am on the fence about this last one because the background is so busy. But I had so few shots showing off her tattoos (part of our initial reason for shooting) I threw it in here:



Feedback, whippings, suggestions and constructive criticism is highly encouraged!

urbanaries

wow, these are hot! Can't beleive no one has commented yet.

the colors are fantastic. the model is fantastical!

on #1, her face has a few hot spots, but this is still one of my favorites. I like the inky blue background, but maybe cloning out the poles in the background would make it less distracting.

#2, this is my fave, I just wish her arm was down or on her hip. I noticed there are a lot of "armpit" shots in this set. experiment with different hand positions. I love the shooting angle on this one, and the nice sky exposure as the bg. Really cool shot!

3. this is probably my least fave, not sure why, she just looks really uncomfortable, maybe like she's trying too hard. but as least favorites go it's still a gorgeous image. Maybe if you cropped her arm out entirely and made it a headshot only? just a thought.

4. I love how the shadows from the lace are playing off her skin. Awesome texture.

5. A lot of great lines going on in this image. Her acrobatic pose yielded a very cool diagonal shadow. If you could have stepped back a few yards, and the whole background would have been the concrete/tile, that would have been WAY cool.

Overall a juicy, edgy set, thanks for sharing!!! i am SO jealous of your models!:D Want to come shoot boring babies instead?

kisi

cool stuff! i like # 2 and 4 the best, i think the strong side lighting works to best advantage in those with the texture in the shirt. in # 3 i think the shadow on one side of her face is distracting, it would be better if she had moved to either side to get the lighting even or if you had a reflector or something to get rid of that shadow. for # 5, i think it is cool, but you are right about the background... maybe if you try a portrait crop of it to fill the frame with her arm it would be better, and clone out the white pole on top of her head.
thanks for sharing!

schmoo

urbanaries wrote:

wow, these are hot! Can't beleive no one has commented yet.

the colors are fantastic. the model is fantastical!

on #1, her face has a few hot spots, but this is still one of my favorites. I like the inky blue background, but maybe cloning out the poles in the background would make it less distracting.

#2, this is my fave, I just wish her arm was down or on her hip. I noticed there are a lot of "armpit" shots in this set. experiment with different hand positions. I love the shooting angle on this one, and the nice sky exposure as the bg. Really cool shot!

3. this is probably my least fave, not sure why, she just looks really uncomfortable, maybe like she's trying too hard. but as least favorites go it's still a gorgeous image. Maybe if you cropped her arm out entirely and made it a headshot only? just a thought.

4. I love how the shadows from the lace are playing off her skin. Awesome texture.

5. A lot of great lines going on in this image. Her acrobatic pose yielded a very cool diagonal shadow. If you could have stepped back a few yards, and the whole background would have been the concrete/tile, that would have been WAY cool.

Overall a juicy, edgy set, thanks for sharing!!! i am SO jealous of your models!:D Want to come shoot boring babies instead?

Thanks so much for this feedback, Lynne! I value your eye because you are such a good people photographer and this is exactly the kind of critique I was looking for.

I'm very pleased that you were positive about the colors! With the setting sun and her golden skin I was really worried about the yellow cast. Again, I have trouble with skin tones when I do get the chance to photograph models. I managed to balance it out using some PS tricks I already had under my belt but I think that down the line I'm going to have to pick up a book about skin to make my life easier.

The direct sun was also a problem for overexposing parts of her face - made even more difficult because of the black outfit. But thank you for critiquing those, too!

My main problem is that I do not know much about posing and rely on the model to flaunt and move about and basically do whatever they want until I see something that works in my LCD then scream "Stop! Hold it right there!!!" while I snap some more. Consequently I see problems when I get home that could have easily been fixed on-site, like the bushes in the background.

Also, you hit it right on the nose about the armpit shots. Huh! If only I could have noticed the ratio of them at the time...

Hey if I'm ever in the same vicinity as you I'd love to shoot people, grownup or not. I could learn a few tricks from you. Thank you again!

schmoo

kisi wrote:

cool stuff! i like # 2 and 4 the best, i think the strong side lighting works to best advantage in those with the texture in the shirt. in # 3 i think the shadow on one side of her face is distracting, it would be better if she had moved to either side to get the lighting even or if you had a reflector or something to get rid of that shadow. for # 5, i think it is cool, but you are right about the background... maybe if you try a portrait crop of it to fill the frame with her arm it would be better, and clone out the white pole on top of her head.
thanks for sharing!

Thanks for your critique, kisi! I do agree with the shadows. I am a very poorly equipped portrait photog and I did not have even a makeshift reflector with me. For a few of these I positioned her directly opposite a glass building on the other side of the street that had the sun bouncing off of it - it worked OK in a pinch although I'm sure fashion photographers might grumble about the temperature difference. :giggle

I appreciate your feedback and plan on playing around more with these (crops, clones) once I get the chance. Thanks again!

Thiago Sigrist

I agree with everyone here, this is super cool!

First of all, the model looks so cool, and she's very pretty too.

I like the poses, especially #s 1, 2, 4. But I wish I could see more of her without the sunglasses too. And perhaps some poses that showed her tattoos more, though I really can't help you much with ideas for poses or something like that.

I agree with you that things move pretty fast, it's hard to keep up when you're taking pictures of people. Still, from your pictures, if you didn't mention that, I'd never find out.

You did great!
Thanks for sharing!
Take care!

-- thiago

ian408

I'm not sure how I feel about these. You've got some classic
poses but I'm not sure the focus remains the tattoos.

What sucks is that I don't know what to suggest to help make
the tattoos more prevalent. Except maybe a longer lens and
some bokeh.

pathfinder

Darn, Schmoo, you get to shoot the neatest subjects over and over and over again!! You must have friends in high places.

This strong lighting CRIES out for cross lighting or fill flash lighting with off camera flash. Fill flash will help tame the high contrast lighting ratios and allow you to under expose the background to de-emphasize the poles and signs and such in the background. A nice 1/4 CTO gel would keep the color temp in line with the sunlight also.

You can see a video of what I am suggesting here - http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-two-speedlight-bikini-shoot.html

Give the video a chance - the beginning is kind of hokey, but the shots he gets do a great job of hiding the ambient surroundings and lighting the young girl very nicely indeed. And the lighting is so simple to do.

Mrs F

This is a great set and I love everything about #2! Thanks for sharing.

Llywellyn

Wow, so very cool. These images are just vibrant and lush, which I love. Have to say #1 and #2 are my favorites of the set, but I keep going back to #1 to stare. For such harsh lighting, you really found the right balance in the skin tones.

Is there anything you can't capture well?

schmoo

pathfinder wrote:

Darn, Schmoo, you get to shoot the neatest subjects over and over and over again!! You must have friends in high places.

This strong lighting CRIES out for cross lighting or fill flash lighting with off camera flash. Fill flash will help tame the high contrast lighting ratios and allow you to under expose the background to de-emphasize the poles and signs and such in the background. A nice 1/4 CTO gel would keep the color temp in line with the sunlight also.

You can see a video of what I am suggesting here - http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-two-speedlight-bikini-shoot.html

Give the video a chance - the beginning is kind of hokey, but the shots he gets do a great job of hiding the ambient surroundings and lighting the young girl very nicely indeed. And the lighting is so simple to do.

Thank you for the link, Jim! I took a look at it last night and I was VERY impressed. Like one of the commentors said, seeing all of the tools in action is extremely useful. I just hope that I never look that silly taking photos, though I know that it's practically impossible to be a photographer withoug appearing compromised every now and then.

I'm still a little bit confused about where to place key and fill lights in relation to the sun and the subject, but I am sure that stuff will come with practice and experience. I just (finally) upgraded my tripod in time for Glacier so I'm going to have to wait and see if Santa is going to be nice to me this Christmas with a 580EX or two. I can't wait to be able to create custom backdrops out of the scenery and sunsets.

You're a virtual goldmine of lighting information.

schmoo

Hey Thaigo, I'm glad you confirmed that shooting models is a fast-paced sport. Having never really watched a pro do it I was fairly sure there is something lacking in my technique. Everyone probably has their own style of working, but it makes me feel warm 'n fuzzy just the same.

Yeah while the tattoos were one main point we were aiming to get out of this, it didn't really seem to happen as planned. The light was changing so fast, pedestrians kept getting in the way, dog would walk by, etc etc. The problem is most of the photos of tattoos I see are straight-on flash snapshots that appear in the parlor albums. And that's not a very artistic way to portray them. Why can't tattoo shots be like clothing catalogs? What? Oh, those earrings are for sale, too? They're hidden behind her hair! :giggle

Thanks Kerry! I'm pleased you say the colors are good - I had a bit of trouble getting pop without blasting the yellows in my face.

ian408

I think you're on the right track with the "how" part and with the poses too. I'm
just not sure how to feature the tattoo && the person so that it looks natural
and not like the parlor book.