When this client booked us they asked for artistic fashion oriented images. These are all angies shots. You can see more on the colorado wedding photography blog
Overall,
pretty good. I like the settings poses. In my opinion though, your lighting needs work. I'm gonna guess you were doing this with bare speed lights or something similar. There are a lot of really harsh shadows and split lighting that I feel could be improved upon.
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#6 is the closest to there for me, but none of them quite make it in my opinion. For one thing, the guy totally kills many of the shots for me. His role as the nightclub bouncer just doesn't really fit here.
I can appreciate that Angie is trying to push the boundaries - and I know it's difficult stepping outside of the usual way we do things.
My suggestions I guess would be to perhaps try and experiment with fashion bridals rather than engagements, and i'd try and work in some softer lighting and get a more balanced scene. Now, you have free license with the style of lighting, of course, but I can only give my feedback from my point of view and with my personal preferences and biases.
Great job on these! I personally feel torn as I generally like less static fashion editorials, and my work focuses much more on natural light lifestyle portraits. But I think you managed to get what you planned, and I can appreciate the photos even if they aren't my style. I also think these go with your brand and style and will further your goals. One thing to note is that it's more difficult to work with real people than models, and I think Angie did a great job working with these two. I have a special fashion/editorial shoot I tore out of Vogue some time last year that has a similar feel to this. I could send some shots over via email if Angie wants inspiration for another shoot. Actually, this shoot has inspired me to try something similar this Saturday's wedding.
1 - I'm surprised people told you that you need to work on your lighting. This shot is all about completely control over the light and poses. One thing I'm not a fan of is the shadow of the guy that's still peaking out from the left side. I think I would prefer it cropped or cloned out. Otherwise the posing and lighting are A+!
2 - Not such a huge fan. There's something about the light falloff here I don't like - that sharp shadow under her chin and his shadow on the wall. Well executed regardless. I think it's really the poses that I'm not really appreciating. I can't put my finger on it. It's more him than her. Think that it's good to have one disinterested person in this type of shot - but I think it might be better to have another person engaging that disinterested person. Like, having the girl look away from the guy is great - but maybe the guy should have his hand on the chair, looking slightly toward her. The current posing just looks a tad too stiff and "off".
3 - Good use of reflection and light. Again, I personally would like to see one disinterested person, and one engaged person, but that is personal preference. I like this shot and prefer it to 2.
4 & 7 - I'm going to critique 4 & 7 together since they are in the same location and the guy has as similar pose. I Like both of these shots. Very interesting, great harsh light, etc. I think 7 is a great example of the "disinterested person, engaged person" idea I've been mentioning in two of my other critiques. I love the idea that the guy is just standing there, and the girl is looking at him, engaging him - there's some tension in the shot. I love 4 because I think Angie did an awesome, awesome job lighting the girl. She looks fantastic. He looks like he's waiting for her to be ready. She's engaging the camera in that shot and it helps.
5 - this shot just isn't my favorite. There's not much to critique other than to say it doesn't engage me like the others do. But it's a great addition to the full set.
6 - Good pose, good lighting. She's pulling it off better than him, and I think that's because of his right hand. It's a tad too tense and hidden from the camera. I would also love to see this shot where he's looking at her and she's looking at the camera.
8 - Interesting change from those shots that we all do where the B&G are kissing or laughing at each other. A fashion take on that shot. It's not my favorite, but it goes perfectly with the theme.
deepbluejh wrote:
They're nice technically, but the guy's poses are killing it for me.
Yeah I agree here. She is really great in the photos but he feels really out of place and with stiff posing. Like someone else said, the bouncer look doesn't do it for me. Like the concept though!
DB wrote:
Great job on these! I personally feel torn as I generally like less static fashion editorials, and my work focuses much more on natural light lifestyle portraits. But I think you managed to get what you planned, and I can appreciate the photos even if they aren't my style. I also think these go with your brand and style and will further your goals. One thing to note is that it's more difficult to work with real people than models, and I think Angie did a great job working with these two. I have a special fashion/editorial shoot I tore out of Vogue some time last year that has a similar feel to this. I could send some shots over via email if Angie wants inspiration for another shoot. Actually, this shoot has inspired me to try something similar this Saturday's wedding.
1 - I'm surprised people told you that you need to work on your lighting. This shot is all about completely control over the light and poses. One thing I'm not a fan of is the shadow of the guy that's still peaking out from the left side. I think I would prefer it cropped or cloned out. Otherwise the posing and lighting are A+!
2 - Not such a huge fan. There's something about the light falloff here I don't like - that sharp shadow under her chin and his shadow on the wall. Well executed regardless. I think it's really the poses that I'm not really appreciating. I can't put my finger on it. It's more him than her. Think that it's good to have one disinterested person in this type of shot - but I think it might be better to have another person engaging that disinterested person. Like, having the girl look away from the guy is great - but maybe the guy should have his hand on the chair, looking slightly toward her. The current posing just looks a tad too stiff and "off".
3 - Good use of reflection and light. Again, I personally would like to see one disinterested person, and one engaged person, but that is personal preference. I like this shot and prefer it to 2.
4 & 7 - I'm going to critique 4 & 7 together since they are in the same location and the guy has as similar pose. I Like both of these shots. Very interesting, great harsh light, etc. I think 7 is a great example of the "disinterested person, engaged person" idea I've been mentioning in two of my other critiques. I love the idea that the guy is just standing there, and the girl is looking at him, engaging him - there's some tension in the shot. I love 4 because I think Angie did an awesome, awesome job lighting the girl. She looks fantastic. He looks like he's waiting for her to be ready. She's engaging the camera in that shot and it helps.
5 - this shot just isn't my favorite. There's not much to critique other than to say it doesn't engage me like the others do. But it's a great addition to the full set.
6 - Good pose, good lighting. She's pulling it off better than him, and I think that's because of his right hand. It's a tad too tense and hidden from the camera. I would also love to see this shot where he's looking at her and she's looking at the camera.
8 - Interesting change from those shots that we all do where the B&G are kissing or laughing at each other. A fashion take on that shot. It's not my favorite, but it goes perfectly with the theme.
That was a very nice job of critiquing. Well thought out and very helpful. Critique around this place has been very interesting lately which I wrote a thread about a few weeks ago. Your first paragraph is right on.
Cole Cauffman wrote:
I think this is a very cool concept and really enjoy your images shared above.
I'm guessing that this was probably more her idea and he went a long with it... That's probably why you see her getting into it more than he was...
But it's really awesome and seems to fit the couple well :o) I like how you still got some images with connection with the couple!
Cole, exactly it was the kind of shoot she wanted. How many guys do you know that would do this kind of a shoot for their girl. Most want to go home drink a beer and watch a game. These are normal people not models trying to get something different.
JazzyMac wrote:
Please ensure you are only critiquing the photos, not the subjects.
Thanks.
Why not
Isn't it our job to help the subject look better with posing? Not everyone is accustomed to having a camera pointed at them. To me a big degree of critiquing the photo includes critiquing the subject (IE the photographer's work). This could be things like resting on one leg, placing a hand in his pocket, etc etc.
Isn't it our job to help the subject look better with posing? Not everyone is accustomed to having a camera pointed at them. To me a big degree of critiquing the photo includes critiquing the subject (IE the photographer's work). This could be things like resting on one leg, placing a hand in his pocket, etc etc.
+1
Exactly what I was going to say. We're not commenting on how they look, but how they're posing. It's our job to make models out of our subjects.
Why not