Ladies church group portraits.

photodoug

the thread that won't die.

at least we get to look at photo #1 everyday

dogwood

JohnDC wrote:

There is also the same phenomenon in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. (the states of Oregon and Washington). Women there tend to be more natural, and beautiful, too.

I live in (and shoot) in Oregon and ALWAYS use an MUA (makeup artist) for my shoots. Even shoots with guys!

A good MUA who works regularly with photographers can really help. There are many different makeup tricks (and products) used specifically for photography. When subjects do their own makeup, it's almost always noticable.

Even "natural" looking shots generally have MUA's and post-processing-- they key is to make it all look natural (even though it's not). Here's a recent example:



P.S. I like the OP shots-- but do tend to agree-- there's a bit much post work. Have you checked out "Skin" by Lee Varis? Lots of good tips in there on natural looking post work.

muyguapo

photodoug wrote:

the thread that won't die. at least we get to look at photo #1 everyday

I'm on some photography forums where some threads have been going on for 2+ years.

brianhanley

photodoug.. the girl is like 12.. thats gross

zoomer

Wow I looked back here and just saw that this post is still going.
Glad I was able to provoke some nice discussion.
The girl in the first picture is 17, a junior in high school, a very nice religious girl who was just having some fun.