Beautiful model, excellent lighting and b&w conversion. But, imo the placement of the hands in almost all of photos is weird and distracting. The OOF of the hands in the second image is particularly unfortunate.
Excellent model and photography. Both the black and white and the color versions work well. Her gaze in #1 is exceptional. Relaxed, not too happy and not at all grim. There does seem to be something going on between her hand and her face, like the hand was replaced. It is softer and lighter than her face with still a sharp line of separation--I might just darken it a tad at the least. The second has some banding in the background. I agree with Kohala that more dof might help. Is the blur real or added? #3 is very nice. Just right amount of contrast between her light skin and the surrounding dark tones. There is a white spot on one of her teeth. #4 I like as well. good shading. I don't know if the shallow dof is strictly necessary with the solid backdrop so maybe the hands could be clearer as the above poster noted. The shallow dof works better in #5 but it would be nice if the face was as clear as in #1. Love the colors in #6. The lightness of the background chair makes me think it could be lighter in some of your conversions. I like its tone here. My only nit is with the position of her eyes. Seem a little tense, too much to the extreme corners. #7 is nice, as well. Maybe too much texture in her face and more wrinkles in her clothes than one might like. A little hunched in the shoulders. Might be nice with a dress instead of split outfit.
Overall, excellent and far better than I could ever do.
As for the OOF hands... I am all for narrow DOF, but the obvious T/S look and (or) processing makes it a but too surreal for this type of photography IMO.
Also, a bit of cloning will go miles for her complexion. I don't like the plastic look, but she is trying to cover up blemishes with makeup and would, I'm sure, appreciate getting rid of the pimples.
Brev00 wrote:
Excellent model and photography. Both the black and white and the color versions work well. Her gaze in #1 is exceptional. Relaxed, not too happy and not at all grim. There does seem to be something going on between her hand and her face, like the hand was replaced. It is softer and lighter than her face with still a sharp line of separation--I might just darken it a tad at the least. The second has some banding in the background. I agree with Kohala that more dof might help. Is the blur real or added? #3 is very nice. Just right amount of contrast between her light skin and the surrounding dark tones. There is a white spot on one of her teeth. #4 I like as well. good shading. I don't know if the shallow dof is strictly necessary with the solid backdrop so maybe the hands could be clearer as the above poster noted. The shallow dof works better in #5 but it would be nice if the face was as clear as in #1. Love the colors in #6. The lightness of the background chair makes me think it could be lighter in some of your conversions. I like its tone here. My only nit is with the position of her eyes. Seem a little tense, too much to the extreme corners. #7 is nice, as well. Maybe too much texture in her face and more wrinkles in her clothes than one might like. A little hunched in the shoulders. Might be nice with a dress instead of split outfit.
Overall, excellent and far better than I could ever do. ...Show more →
Thanks for the feedback! I won't get too far into the goals/direction of the shoot as I don't want to influence critique or sound defensive. The hands and DOF are all real, though, and were intentional. This is a friend who has never really been in front of the camera, so I appreciate your thoughts on her looks (aka comfort). That was a big part of the project.
As for the OOF hands... I am all for narrow DOF, but the obvious T/S look and (or) processing makes it a but too surreal for this type of photography IMO.
Also, a bit of cloning will go miles for her complexion. I don't like the plastic look, but she is trying to cover up blemishes with makeup and would, I'm sure, appreciate getting rid of the pimples.
HTH
greg
Thanks Greg. The T/S look is from an actual tilt shift. It was part of the direction I wanted to go with. Doesn't make it successful, but was a conscious choice when shooting.
I actually did a bit of cloning here already. She has a few natural moles and marks that aren't blemishes, so I didn't want to remove those. Tried to find a middle ground.
As for looking relaxed 2 and 6 are the only shots where I can get any sense of her being tence. The only color shots.
3 and 4 are the two best IMO.
Good choice to not over-cook the skin smoothing.
Well done.
I don't have an issue with the hands or the tilt-shift. To me, it's representative of a style or brand. Same with the lighting here. I think it all comes together to create a unique vision.
As for feedback, I really like the b&w conversions. It's a great set. Thanks for sharing!
Really nice series and I also don't have an issue with the T/S images. Some people are looking for a different style of image. It provides them with a bit of individualism and separation from other, more traditional portraits.
If your friend hasn't been in front of the camera much, she should get in front of it more! She has a great, relaxed attitude and a variety of real expressions. Great team effort on this one!
Style is personal and we don't know the project intent - for me these are all excellent and interesting images of a gorgeous lady with real personality ... however having said that the first is outstanding to my eyes for its' simplicity.
krug wrote:
Style is personal and we don't know the project intent - for me these are all excellent and interesting images of a gorgeous lady with real personality ... however having said that the first is outstanding to my eyes for its' simplicity.
. Awesome. #5 is (to me) off the charts.