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 p.2 #9 · Carly in golden light | |
Eyeball wrote:
Bud, as I said earlier this is a very nice set of images. Here is my feedback. I am not trying to be negative about your work nor am I saying I could do better. I just enjoy looking at photographs and trying to put into words what I like, don't like, and what I might do differently as part of my own learning process. If you find any of my comments useful, that's great, too. All of these comments are minor things.
#1 - This one is also my favorite of the set. It has a beautiful, ethereal quality about it and it is very flattering for the young lady in terms of skin tones and a slimming appearance.
I think that elements in an image that are brighter, contrastier, or more saturated than the subject have a tendency to rob the viewer's attention from the subject. In this case, I would suggest reducing the saturation of the car's tail light and reducing the contrast of the trim elements by brightening the shadows there. I think that would make those elements less distracting and make them fit into the light/ethereal style a little better.
I would clone out that bright, yellow blob in the grass in front of her head.
This is much more subjective but if this image is cropped at all, I would suggest experimenting with some more negative space on the left - sort of like extending the canvas on the left, making an 8x10 proportioned frame. I think it might give her a little more space to gaze into and boost the serene aspects of the image a tiny bit. Just something you might want to experiment with.
#2 - Nice setting. Wonderful, golden light. I have to admit having the feeling on this one and several of the other ones with the dress though, that I would have liked for you to have maintained the lighter, more delicate feel in these like you had in #1, rather than going with the more high-contrast look. I just think the lighter look is more flattering for her - particularly where she is wearing the elegant dress. Using a larger soft-box or large, shoot-thru umbrella might have helped.
This photo and several of the others have her eyes pretty dark and racoon-like. It's not horrible by any means but it seems a bit of a shame with her lovely eyes.
#3 - It's nice but I like better the other photo of her with the horse that you have in your gallery. The juxtaposition here just seems a little odd to me. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a more traditional pose.
#4 - Nice with my same comments regarding contrast and dark eyes. This is also one of several where the color balance for her skin changes and becomes noticeable as part of a set.
#5 - Nice and closer to the style you established in #1. Skin has a bit of a greenish tint in some places.
Did you process her eyes? The whites seem a little too bright to me. I would darken the whites a bit and possibly boost the contrast and saturation of the irises. Love those eyes.
I would clone out the background branch that is coming out of her neck.
#6 - Nice with more casual, almost tom-boyish feel. I notice the dark eyes again here and her dark, saturated legs - probably a result of the fall-off from your small-ish soft-box. I would be tempted to brighten them up a bit in post.
#7 - Nice casual shot and the bike makes a great prop (hope she didn't try to ride it, though  ). Same comments regarding contrast, dark eyes, and dark/saturated legs. I would crop out the flowers. The floating, cropped flower on the left is too much of a distraction and the other stalk is distracting, too - partly due to its spindly nature. I know these framing elements are hard to give up but they just compete too much with the subject in this case IMO.
The dark, saturated shadow on her belly is not very flattering IMO. I would process it out.
#8 - Nice, moody B&W. The belly bump peeking through the sweater bothers me a little bit but not as much as in #7.
#9 - Nice portrait with a painterly quality. I like the slightly less neutral expression with just the barest hint of a smile. I still would like to see a little more light in her eyes, though.
Like #7, I would crop out the plant. IMO this one makes even less sense to leave in. Cropping it in floating on the edge of the frame like that makes it an instant attention-grabber. And what does it add? It's too small to add any real context or ambiance to the image. I think most people are going to see it as a mistake and it's going to give the impression that you don't pay attention to detail.
A couple of general comments:
- I too noticed the similarity of the neutral expressions and I read your response. The only thing I would add is a reminder that the human face is capable of more than just "smile" and "no smile". There is a whole range of subtle expression that you can bring out of your subject if you have the time and intent. I would recommend Peter Hurley as a source if you're not familiar with him.
- As a set what I missed seeing was a close-up of her face and eyes. I see you have a couple of close-ups in your gallery though. My comments for those would be similar to #5 regarding the eyes.
Keep up the great work and thanks for allowing me to share some thoughts.
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hey mate,
A big thank you for taking the time to critique each image. It really is of great benefit to have another eye go through the images.
This whole shoot was actually about the horse and Carly and I had some ideas of what I wanted. Originally I wanted it all in Black and white with her and horse walking through the trees etc. That plan didn't work out...she was nervous around him, he was also a large animal. It was also late in the day and he was tired and wasn't too keen to move to better places etc.
Regarding processing The first photo just spoke to me and I could immediately see what I wanted to do with it. the rest with the white dress I chose my standard way of processing. I have revisited some of the white dress shot and applied the same processing as 1, I have added those to my gallery as well as some more with the horse in B&W.
if anyone is interested here's the.
link http://www.studio102.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=3917
The rest of the processing is a new thing lately trying to give the images more of a warmer tone and contrast and it's not there yet, as you mentioned I use a reasonable sized softbox (30"x30" from memory) and while it's lighting the face reasonably well it's not throwing light on all of her (maybe needs to be a little lower) and the processing is showing that up even more. It worked in some and maybe not as good in others. in the last photo for example I think it worked perfectly. OOC the shot looked good and the processing helped it. I had a reflector with me and should have used it as well to bounce some light back, something not always possible as I try to show a bit more of the surroundings in my photos.
the eyes were touched up in the close-ups a some slight dodging with the brush at 10%.
Once again thanks for the detailed critique and please feel free to critique any image I post.
regards
Bud
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