1st Photo Shoot [w/ a Pretty Girl] Critique Please!

Essence Of Perception · Sep 30, 2007

Alright, This is one of my friends and she has been trying to get into the modeling world, but she has a height issue of only about 5'4". So in this photo shoot, we were trying to give her a taller look. She isn't interested in anything big in the modeling world, more just random magazines, lingerie, Tuner cars, 2 Wheel tuner, etc. Any critique is welcome.
The shoot was at sundown, and it was rather overcast, so my reflector wasn't helping out what-so-ever, so Im sorry if her face is a bit dark in a few of them. We have a 2nd attempt coming up next week before the snow kills the nature scenes..

There is a whopping 40 some pictures that I put on a website, they are numbered and everything because I wasn't sure if I was allowed to post THAT many pictures! Lol
My website, there is a place to leave critique (Not fancy, just made it to put the pics on)
http://www.freewebs.com/badenterprizesportfolio/

Here is a taste of the photo shoot:

001.)

002.)

003.)

004.)

005.)

ShaCow · Sep 30, 2007

I like the last one

..

shes pretty tasty

Essence Of Perception · Sep 30, 2007

Thanks, I'll let her know. Lol. If you view the website, you can also leave critique there as well, but please keep it constructive

Thanks!

JimmyJaceyMom · Sep 30, 2007

Very pretty girl.. I like the first one the best.

Mike Jordan · Sep 30, 2007

She's pretty and the pictures aren't bad. You need more practice posing a model and she needs more practice posing as a model. So it's a good match where you two can do a lot of praticing together. You should check out a few books on posing though. That will help.

For instance, the last one, she has her weight back on her arms, which throws her shoulders back, causing them to deform (as in joints and muscles positioned where they it's not natural or flattering).
The one of her at the tree is pretty good, but if you had moved her or your camera so her head was just a tad to the right, she would have been framed inside the limbs better.

The 3rd one is not a bad idea, but she really doesn't have the legs for an upward shot like this (I'm not saying her legs are bad, but compare this pose with those in magazines of long legged women) and the pose just doesn't do anything for me.

The 2nd one isn't bad except for the jacket. If you had had her take it off and throw it over her shoulder or had it on completely, it would have helped. Being partially off is a litle awkward looking. Also, watch for straight lines in your background. See how the fence railing and brick lines are slanted but she is straight? You want to watch for that.

The first one is probably the best of the bunch
and I think she looks her best here and the most natural.

You might want to take a couple of shots with a calibrated color card though so you can set white balance while you process. Your white balance is off just a bit. If you took a shot with a calibrated white card (such as a Digital Calibration Target or WhiBal card or something like this.

I took a look at your web site but even with my 15mbs fiber connection it was slooow. So I only looked at a few images and left.

Keep up the work.

Mike

It looks like you have having fun and the more shooting you can do like this the better it will be for both of you. So keep at it. Most of the posing comments on my part can be overcome with a little bit of study and some more practice.

JimmyJaceyMom · Sep 30, 2007

I was noticing that a few of these maybe could use some contrast to bring out some of the nice colors, like her eyes. I see it's ok to edit so I did the first one, which I think is your strongest image of the bunch. If you don't like it I can take it away.

oldnavy170 · Sep 30, 2007

Yes Kathi, I like your edit. I seen that first photo and thought "yeah, thats nice" but now its like "Wow, look at her". See what alittle PS can do!!!!!!

Trenton Romulox · Sep 30, 2007

I like the second one the best, I think it works the best for her face/body. I'm not saying the other ones make her unappealing, but as someone said above, she doesn't have what it takes to pull of the style that is in the 3rd shot. The third shot makes her seem, I don't know, not as good as the rest, yes, that's the best way to put it I think. The 5th shot is decent, but yet again, she doesn't have what it takes to really pull off that style of shot. I think you and her make a good team though, great learning experience for you both. And by the way, a model can be 5'4". Don't try and deceive the viewer, let the viewer decide if she's hot, no matter what her height. Seriously, I know lots of beautiful girls that aren't 5'8" or whatever. In fact, the most beautiful girl I know is only 5'4", and she looks fine in pictures, so like, don't try and deceive the viewer. Let them take the model in for what she is, attractive and of average height.

Essence Of Perception · Sep 30, 2007

JimmyJaceyMom said:
I was noticing that a few of these maybe could use some contrast to bring out some of the nice colors, like her eyes. I see it's ok to edit so I did the first one, which I think is your strongest image of the bunch. If you don't like it I can take it away.

Excellent! Tha is exactly what I was going for, but my hubby thought it looked too.. 'fake' because there is already a lot of PS on her skin etc. I am new to PS (You have no idea what these pictures looked like BEFORE my attempt.. Grrr they were bad! Have you ever seen super bad razor rash on bare legs..? And I swear this girl falls down the stairs daily- there were bruises on her arms and legs. Ouch!)

I was trying to bring out her eyes, but I just have very little experience with the photo shop program I just bought, I think I am going to go back to my older programs- I know how to use them better!

All right, as for the other critique, thank you all very much, very helpful and constructive. I agree, the website SUCKS, super slow. Lol. I put some of my worst shots on here to see what other people thought, as everyone here is telling me they are all good, but they aren't willing to give true critique. I agree that #3 doesn't work for her.

She was pretty hard to 'shape' if you know what I mean. I tried to get her to relax a bit when she was leaning back in picture #5, use her stomach muscles to hold herself up instead of her arms because I know exactly what you mean- but when she did that her stomach stuck out oddly far, stood out against the background and was rather obvious when looking at the pic, and she was literally devastated with 'how fat she looked.' Lol, so we went back to how she wanted to do it.. She doesn't want me to show the 'fat' pic to anyone (She really didn't look that bad!)

Oh and sorry if I sounded like I was 'deceiving the viewer', but she has gone to quite a few different modeling agencies, etc, and every single one of them has turned her down due to her height. Some of them even got rude to her about it, so she wanted me to include how tall she was whenever I showed the picture to someone so that she could get their opinions. I'm sure she will be pleased with yours! According to to agencies, you should be 8 'heads' tall... if you know what I mean?

Question though: Is there a maximum number of pictures I can post in one critique wanted thread?

AbelR74 · Sep 30, 2007

You are so lucky to have a beautiful model that you can practice with!
Your fourth shot is my favorite; everything just flows really well for me on that shot.
Can't wait to see other shots of yours!

subimatt · Oct 1, 2007

I liked #1 and #4 the best.

wildmaven · Oct 1, 2007

#2 is definitely Men's Magazine type of a pose, and #4 is catalog style.

You might want to get rid of the red spot on her chin on #4 and smooth her right eyebrow in #1 (it looks like she has a gap there).

#3 definitely does not do her beauty justice.

Next time, get rid of the necklace, as it makes her neck look short. Clothing wise, chunky heels never do anything good for the legs. The slimmer the heel the better. I would rather have seen #5 with her barefoot than those shoes.

Take a look at her feet and imagine those shoes weren't there. See how much longer her leg looks? If you're trying to elongate the leg, no ankle straps.

Marian

Campbell · Oct 1, 2007

I like the shots alot, although #5 seems a bit too grainy. What ISO were you shooting at?

Essence Of Perception · Oct 1, 2007

#5 is grainy because it was practically a black picture that I PS to get to show up. Picture.. no skin color, no face, just nose and knees! Lol. The sun during the shoot was almost below the horizon, and I use natural light, so. I was getting near the end of he shoot for that one.

And opps, I forgo a red spot in the chin? I will fix that, thanks for pointing it out, I was probably so caught up in PS with other things I forgot about that.

And as for the shoes, that was all she had, and my pointy heels didn't fit her. But I agree 100%, I didn't like the big chunky heels much either (They were cropped out in most of the other shots..) And the necklace.. Hm.. Odd, I am sure we took that off after only a few shots, so that pic must have been earlier i the shoot. I agree, (She didn't want to take it off because her BF gave it to her..)

Thanks guys! I love to learn from critique like this!

mtyler24 · Oct 1, 2007

IMO she needs to watch her neck. In particular #5, I notice it the most. Also there is too much weight on her arms in that picture, causing her shoulders to shrug and her neck to disappear. And the chunky heels are not really helping. In #3 I think a more confident pose would help, I think the placement of her arms is making her look shy. #1 is my favorite!!! If ya'll redo the photo shoot, I think a simple outfit can go a long way! Hope this helps, otherwise good job.