I would love to get any feedback on this project/site/and photos. I only have one gallery up now for Ashley. In a week or two I will put the second photoshoot up in a gallery.
Also, here is my facebook page as well. I want to help this direct people to the main site and vice versa. If you have time, I'd love it if you liked the page when you were there.
www.facebook.com/utahfaceproject.com
Anyway, I'd love to hear your input and comments and critiques. Please feel free to comment on the site if you are bored. Thanks for your time!
p.1 #2 · Ashley - My attempt at a personal art project
p.s. I'll be putting some videos of interviews with the subjects up in the future. I'm not sure if I'll post it on the blog or on the site...or both. We'll see.
p.1 #3 · Ashley - My attempt at a personal art project
Hi Benj,
My comments or suggestions below are not a criticism of you, your model, your talent or skill. I offer them in a friendly tone of voice and with the sole intent to help you with a second POV and set of eyes. If you read sincere questions and simple suggestions as "criticism" of you, then you will miss how I am trying to help you.
Of course this may be your own "style" or your own "vision" and I suppose we can assume that the images look just like they do because that is exactly how you like them. That is OK too. It just shows that there are differences of "opinion" on what looks good. IF these are exactly what you want and like, then by all means continue making your images look like that and have fun doing it. As I always say: "Follow your own muse."
_______________________
I followed the first link to see the photos.
I clicked on the "About" the project.
I have a few suggestions:
1. Don't post the photos until you have edited them, eliminating the weakest and keeping the displayed photos as your best and those that fit the project's goals. As I looked at the first set of the girl, I thought to myself: "Too many photos, weak photos included, too many lighting effects...not enough editing (eliminating weaker photos/shots). Where is the project focus?"
2. Only post the edited photos when you have the back-story complete for the subject/face. Otherwise I see the photos as merely another "face a day" type project. The captions and story are as important as the photos IF you truly want people to understand something about the people in the photos.
3. Add a photo of YOU so people see who is behind this "faces" project. You could add this in the "About" section. I want to see who is behind this project.
4. You mentioned in your "About" section something about homeless people and I do think this can be confusing (unnecessary), because it leads me to think your faces project is also about homeless people. I suggest you more clearly define the project and eliminate references to other projects that had a different goal or different theme etc. Keep it clear on what YOUR goal is and do not muddy the water. Most people do not read things carefully, so mentioning loaded subjects/themes may cause confusion or cause people to wonder what this has to do with another project.
_________
I hope these comments help you and wish you good luck on your project.
p.1 #4 · Ashley - My attempt at a personal art project
I get the feeling you are just trying to drive traffic to your sites.....as far as the pics, to much of the same thing,imho. She needs to learn to emote.
p.1 #6 · Ashley - My attempt at a personal art project
@ Steady Hand,
I appreciate your feed back, and will more than likely take your suggestions. I did some preliminary edits, but in the photos where I was shooting into light (for the hazy effect), I didn't edit out the light stands and some of her hair is still random. I did basic stuff, but didn't want to over process it for fear of departing from what she actually looks like.
But I do agree that I should have final edits before I post. I was just impatient, because this was supposed to be up months ago, but it just wasn't getting done. I figured if I just did it, then it would motivate/scare me into getting everything back on schedule.
I intended originally to post 1-3 photos...5 at the most. It was supposed to be posted with a video interview of who they are and what inspired them to be part of the project. Unfortunately, my computer had issues and I can't find the folder with those files. So I will have to re-interview them or paste statements from our first email conversation where she talked about her interest.
I think I over compensated this first round by putting more photos on so that people had something to go through when they got to the site.
Subsequent posts will have fewer photos.
Since I will eventually thin down that gallery and pair it with her statements, I would love to get your thoughts on which were the strongest.
I've talked to the subject and asked her to comment on the post so that we can get to learn about her (per the project).
---
p.s. I will revisit the About page. I was thinking about other parts of the description today that I want to change. I'm hoping that it's something I'll be able to refine over time...and hopefully...after a year of doing this, people will have a fun collection to go through. Then I could do "Best of" galleries or a gallery of each person per year. I don't know yet. The project is still forming in my mind...which is probably a large part of the problem.
I appreciate your time that you took to comment. It helps me work through stuff. I will need to get a photo of myself, but I don't really love self portraits. But perhaps it's time to get over that.
I did have (with the video files) a lot of behind the scenes photos that show me, but i can't find them, and it's making me really frustrated. I was hoping to use those photos for the getting to know me part of it.
p.1 #7 · Ashley - My attempt at a personal art project
Michaelparris wrote:
I get the feeling you are just trying to drive traffic to your sites.....as far as the pics, to much of the same thing,imho. She needs to learn to emote.
You are spot on 100%. I was definitely trying to drive traffic...but I wanted that so that I could get a good test base and then get the feed back that I need to make the project better. Steady Hand already had a lot of great comments and I hope that others will let me know what they've liked or didn't like on the site.
I appreciate your feedback on the photos. I'll learn to weed the gallery to show only the best. I'd love to know which of the photos in the group were better in your opinion.
Thanks for the feedback. I was intentionally going washed out on many of the photos, but if there are others in the group that are still too light, please let me know. I want to make these the best possible, so I would appreciate knowing which you liked more and which you didn't like.
p.1 #9 · Ashley - My attempt at a personal art project
Steady Hand wrote:
2. Only post the edited photos when you have the back-story complete for the subject/face. Otherwise I see the photos as merely another "face a day" type project. The captions and story are as important as the photos IF you truly want people to understand something about the people in the photos.
Ok, so right after I replied to you initially, I talked to my wife and she reminded me of a place the files could be...and they were there. So I have found the missing video interview. So I'll work on editing those and then hopefully post them soon to pair with the photo gallery.
I wonder though...what is better? Is it better to introduce each person with the interview first and then show the gallery? Or does it make sense to post the interview with or after the gallery?
3. Add a photo of YOU so people see who is behind this "faces" project. You could add this in the "About" section. I want to see who is behind this project.
Also, I found some of the snap shots taken of me in the photoshoot, so maybe I'll look for one that is decent enough and put that up in the About after I rewrite it. Thanks for your suggestions.
Thanks for your time!
