1.She looks as if she has no idea what you are doing!
2. The pose doesn't work....I've seen and done a similar pose, and very few folks seem to be able to pull it off. too many folks just aren't really flexible.
3. The lighting is beautiful for a portrait. And your stage here seems to have potential. But I don't think this lighting works for whatever this was intended to be.
I of course, have no true idea what your intention was...but I bet that a better pose, lighting with some color gels and spots/snoots would make a dramatic improvement!
There: My most cynical!
thanks for posting, I look forward to seeing more!
Thank you guys for your comments, I will try to make it better the next time!
The model is indeed very pretty and young (she is 26), but is hard to direct, she is a bit hyperactive, so getting her to stay put for more than 2 seconds is practically impossible....
The place is an old abandoned fish packing facility, it has about 7 thorn down buildings, i will try to go again and repeat the shoot with the same model or another.
I love fashion photography and working with models; it’s something I really miss and need to get back into.
From your description of the shoot and the image you present here, it seems like you and your model had a lot of fun. But you wanted a harsh critique, so here goes. To be honest, the first time I saw this image at a friend’s house I said to him, “She looks like something out of that episode of The X-Files with the generations-of-inbreeding family.” The pose seems more than awkward to me; she looks deformed. I mean, her left leg is growing out of her torso and, uh, what happened to her right leg? It looks like a light breeze could knock her over. Moving the camera about two feet to your left would have made the image much less . . . odd. Or . . . animal poses like this are fun and sexy, but shooting the same or similar pose from the side or 3/4s will be much better, thus showing her figure and flexibility. Then tell her to be a big cat on the prowl and watch her expression give your image an entirely different mood.
Which lights you used is good to know, but what’s more important is how you used them. For instance, as has already been said, you have a great balance with the strobe and the natural light – excellent work, there! For me, though, I'd use a wider ratio between the two strobes to add impact to the lighting on your model. Reduce one flash by ¼ to 1 full stop. That’ll add to the shadows without disturbing your balance with the natural light.
Also - and this is aimed directly at post processing - fiddle with the saturation sliders: I hope you won’t mind my editing of your image, but I went -85 on the cyan (for the background) -88 on the magenta (for that spot above her head) and +56 on the green to pop the foliage a bit. I also dropped the yellow just a touch, to about -20. I then sharpened it by 75% and lightened the entire image by pulling the center of the Curves line a little closer to the upper left corner to lighten the image and add a touch more contrast. I also leveled the horizon (the verticals, actually), which necessitated a bit of cropping.
Thank you for the opportunity to help and for giving me more inspiration to push myself back in the direction of working with models, which I’m doing . . . ever so slowly.
"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
Good potential on this shot, but you asked for criticism...
a) I am a hugely picky guy when it comes to horizons. Your horizon is not straight. First thing I noticed (for some reason)
b) I think your environment could provide you with more complexity in terms of the emotion/nature you are trying to convey. Back up a bit and also try some different angles/perspectives. Dead-on parallel perspective undermines the raw-ness I think you're going for.
Comments
2. The pose doesn't work....I've seen and done a similar pose, and very few folks seem to be able to pull it off. too many folks just aren't really flexible.
3. The lighting is beautiful for a portrait. And your stage here seems to have potential. But I don't think this lighting works for whatever this was intended to be.
I of course, have no true idea what your intention was...but I bet that a better pose, lighting with some color gels and spots/snoots would make a dramatic improvement!
There: My most cynical!
thanks for posting, I look forward to seeing more!
here's my scoop...
- You got a good balance of flash and ambient
- Model looks young and very pretty
- Her outfit matches the environment and the whole scene definitely has some potential
- The combination of her facial expression and her pose doesn't do anything for me
- Neither does dead center composition
- Not sure if a different angle would help
- Since you were probably rather close, her extended (right) hand looks *thick*
HTHThe model is indeed very pretty and young (she is 26), but is hard to direct, she is a bit hyperactive, so getting her to stay put for more than 2 seconds is practically impossible....
The place is an old abandoned fish packing facility, it has about 7 thorn down buildings, i will try to go again and repeat the shoot with the same model or another.
Thanks again for your comments!
Z
From your description of the shoot and the image you present here, it seems like you and your model had a lot of fun. But you wanted a harsh critique, so here goes. To be honest, the first time I saw this image at a friend’s house I said to him, “She looks like something out of that episode of The X-Files with the generations-of-inbreeding family.” The pose seems more than awkward to me; she looks deformed. I mean, her left leg is growing out of her torso and, uh, what happened to her right leg? It looks like a light breeze could knock her over. Moving the camera about two feet to your left would have made the image much less . . . odd. Or . . . animal poses like this are fun and sexy, but shooting the same or similar pose from the side or 3/4s will be much better, thus showing her figure and flexibility. Then tell her to be a big cat on the prowl and watch her expression give your image an entirely different mood.
Which lights you used is good to know, but what’s more important is how you used them. For instance, as has already been said, you have a great balance with the strobe and the natural light – excellent work, there! For me, though, I'd use a wider ratio between the two strobes to add impact to the lighting on your model. Reduce one flash by ¼ to 1 full stop. That’ll add to the shadows without disturbing your balance with the natural light.
Also - and this is aimed directly at post processing - fiddle with the saturation sliders: I hope you won’t mind my editing of your image, but I went -85 on the cyan (for the background) -88 on the magenta (for that spot above her head) and +56 on the green to pop the foliage a bit. I also dropped the yellow just a touch, to about -20. I then sharpened it by 75% and lightened the entire image by pulling the center of the Curves line a little closer to the upper left corner to lighten the image and add a touch more contrast. I also leveled the horizon (the verticals, actually), which necessitated a bit of cropping.
Thank you for the opportunity to help and for giving me more inspiration to push myself back in the direction of working with models, which I’m doing . . . ever so slowly.
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"If you've found a magic that does something for you, honey, stick to it. Never change it." - Mae West, to Edith Head.
"Every guy has to have one weakness - and it might as well be a good one." - Shell Scott: Dance With the Dead by Richard S. Prather
Thank you much for all your input, its very valuable to me. I do have a lot to work pose wise!!
Dont mind at all that you play with my photos!
Z.
a) I am a hugely picky guy when it comes to horizons. Your horizon is not straight. First thing I noticed (for some reason)
b) I think your environment could provide you with more complexity in terms of the emotion/nature you are trying to convey. Back up a bit and also try some different angles/perspectives. Dead-on parallel perspective undermines the raw-ness I think you're going for.
(shoot first, then ask questions)
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