justruss
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 p.2 #13 · My review of the a7RII (with lots of tips and mentions of electronic 3-axis gimbal stablizers) | |
Lunatique wrote:
I guess you dislike glamour/fashion photography in general?
The whole point of glamour/fashion is to capture and express allure, and I'm influenced by that in the casual portrait and candids I shoot of my wife. I've been shooting in that style ever since I first picked up a camera, and I've been a fan of glamour/fashion photography long before I picked up a camera. I like other types of photography too (journalism, fine art, abstract, etc.), and I shoot other styles sometimes too. It just happens that I enjoy shooting my wife more than anything else, and she happens to be very photogenic and enjoys the attention I lavish on her.
She's very comfortable in front of the camera because she was an actress and model in her youth, but more importantly, she's very comfortable in front of my camera, because we have an amazing marriage and she's so used to having a camera around her 24/7 for the last 14 years. It's one of the really fun aspects of our relationship and brings us a lot of joy. What you don't see from the photos is us goofling around while I'm taking the photos, her making funny faces and dorky gestures, the hilarious conversations we have, etc. To us, it's like two children having fun together.
She doesn't feel objectified and she shares the photos with her friends and families. She's a bit more conservative in how she curates them on her end, but only because her social circle in China is much more conservative than my social circle of westerners. Otherwise she's fine with photography of feminine allure and she enjoys looking at glamour/fashion photography herself. When we go out, she would point out really beautiful women to me if I wasn't paying attention, which is very different from what a lot of women are like--those who would get upset at their husbands looking at other women. She's confident enough and trusts me enough to not feel threatened at all, and in the past she used to assist me when I took glamour/fashion photos of other women, and she would keep an eye out for beautiful women for me to photograph such as friends and relatives she thinks are very photogenic.
As you can see, your feelings reflect your own values and your assumptions, but in reality, how my wife and I feel about the photos we take is very different. We're just having fun and it's a part of our relationship we really enjoy.
Regarding the colors--I tend to like a bit more stylized and saturated colors, and again, that's part of the influence from glamour/fashion photography--especially Japanese gravura photography. But I love B/W too, and sometimes muted colors--it depends on the situation. Also, if you're using a web browser that does not have color management feature, you'll see much more saturated colors than what the photos actually look like. If that's the case, try a web browser that has color management: http://www.color-management-guide.com/web-browser-color-management.html
The AF of the a7RII will only trounce the 5DMKIII when it's extremely dark and forces the a7rII to use its AF illuminator, and it's only when the 5DMKIII does not have a flash attached and cannot use AF assist illumination from the flash that the a7RII wins. I explained this in the review--I'm not sure why you guys missed it.
Using the Super 35 crop mode is just more intuitive when composing the shot, that's all. I can certainly just shoot wider and crop later, but it feels less immediate to me in the moment of the shot.
When you formatted your card, you retained all of your settings in the memory slots 1, 2, M1, M2, M3, M4? Or are you talking about the general settings in the menu? If you're seeing all the memory slot settings reserved, then this is something I'll need to investigate because when I posted about this in other forums, everyone agreed it should be fixed and they all had the same problem.
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See my reply above about the AF assist illuminator.
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I can add a "slightly NSFW" warning, but objectively, the photos don't show more than what the average entertainment/media website will show even in just their sidebar links to articles or ads. But I suppose you shouldn't be looking at those entertainment/media sites while at work either.  ...Show more →
I totally agree that each person's art is subjective and individual-- and I'm confident my impression (which I mentioned was not analytic, but autonomic) won't impact or take away from the enjoyment you and your wife get from shooting such images, your deep connection, or any of that. My comment was merely an aesthetic reaction (having no bearing on any underlying reality in terms of the relationship, photographer, subject in real life; an interpretation of art, not reality, to be clear).
Indeed my reaction reflects on my own sense of art and aesthetics, but, I'd argue, less on morality or enjoyment of a genre. In fact I quite enjoy a lot of fashion photography, but of course that doesn't mean I need to find this particular execution of it up my alley. Likewise, I don't have a problem with overt nudity, even explicitly erotic or pornographic nudity, so it's really not a reflection on morality, social mores, or cultural norms I suspect. But here we are on a photography forum, where opinions are shared... and along with the positive reactions come the negative ones.
In any case, put me in the camp that's glad you wrote this review-- and even happier for you and your wife and your art that you have this thing that brings you joy. I'm totally for that, even if I don't always enjoy every artist's particular style or execution or vision (and I expect many people find my work equally unappealing or off-putting; that's subjectivity for you).
Keep shooting!
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