Critique?

neverenderr · May 28, 2008

So I did a shoot yesterday with a friend of mine and I was pretty happy with the end result. I'm still pretty new to this, so I would love it if some of you could give me some feedback on these :] Thanks in advance!

Alpha · May 28, 2008

From a technical standpoint, the color muting is too obvious and amateur-looking. Tone it down a bit. Top left doesn't say anything to me. Top right needs more detail in the eyes. I don't have much to say about the bottom two. I've seen them a million times before.

If I had to guess I'd say you're trying too hard. What are you trying to get out of these photos? All in all they're extremely cliche. That doesn't make them technically poor but it makes them purposeless. Shooting people should be about the people. The processing is always secondary; some way of adding emphasis somewhere. It won't make an average photo better but it will make a good photo great. So I think you should start by aiming for a great shot and then worry about processing, because right now I think you're doing it backwards.

neverenderr · May 28, 2008

Alpha said:
From a technical standpoint, the color muting is too obvious and amateur-looking. Tone it down a bit. Top left doesn't say anything to me. Top right needs more detail in the eyes. I don't have much to say about the bottom two. I've seen them a million times before.

If I had to guess I'd say you're trying too hard. What are you trying to get out of these photos? All in all they're extremely cliche. That doesn't make them technically poor but it makes them purposeless. Shooting people should be about the people. The processing is always secondary; some way of adding emphasis somewhere. It won't make an average photo better but it will make a good photo great. So I think you should start by aiming for a great shot and then worry about processing, because right now I think you're doing it backwards.

Thanks for that, thats the kind of critique I really need to help me excel. Thanks!

Alpha · May 28, 2008

You're very welcome. I'm here all week

Early · May 29, 2008

I agree with Alpha on the top two, but I'm liking very much the bottom two all the way down to the haze. If she were my daughter, I'd blow #3 up and hang it on my living room wall.

Emerana · May 29, 2008

If she were my daughter, I would ground her for smoking lol

Judge Sharpe · May 29, 2008

One is better than two- too much is lost in the crop. three and four need some thought about the exposure- too dark subject against a too bright background-
She needs to be grounded for smoking. I hope that her mother sees these.
JS

neverenderr · May 29, 2008

Judge Sharpe said:
One is better than two- too much is lost in the crop. three and four need some thought about the exposure- too dark subject against a too bright background-
She needs to be grounded for smoking. I hope that her mother sees these.
JS

Would ya'll believe me if I told you she's 19?
Because she is ahaha

Than thank you for all the critque :]
I'll keep all this in mind.

Heck · May 29, 2008

Top 2 do nothing for me there kinda dark mood wise I guess. The last 2 are keepers, I like the effect and the subject with the flower. But thats just my 2 cents. Welcome to the forum.

Senor Hound · May 30, 2008

I'm not going to critique the photos, but I will say that even if they are cliche, there's nothing wrong with that. We all take cliche photos in our learning process. A cliche is only one to the person who's heard the saying (or in this case, seen the photo) before. There's a reason these shots get done a lot, and that's because they're cool.

What I find helps me with figuring out what I want to do, is selecting a feeling. It can be simple, like pure rage, or complex, like love. But select a feeling, and keep that feeling while shooting. Then you'll find your composition and post-processing doesn't conflict to the flow you wanted to achieve. Plus, it will help you stay true to the subject's purpose.

Also, in the bottom left photo, she looks a little rigid. But only a LITTLE.

Alpha · May 30, 2008

Really...and you don't even have to answer this one...but do you even know what you're talking about?

This is an instance when the photographer has confused two things: using someone as a means to an end (a model), and photographing someone as an end unto themselves. That is, the poster went out trying to do two things simultaneously and ended up fully accomplishing neither. They wanted to take some meaningful, candid shots of their friend, and they wanted to do a gritty shoot as if their friend were a model.

What I find senseless about your post isn't that it's not substantive. I suppose it may be in a very general sense. Rather, it really says nothing that specifically addresses any of the problems with these shots. Instead, it's just vague commentary that doesn't end up meaning much because you haven't identified what the particular goals of this shoot were and how it did or did not meet them.

Edit:

When I said that the photos were cliche, I wasn't referring to the act of taking this style of shot. Cliches are perfectly fine when done well. And can be great when done exceptionally well. If you go into a shoot knowing that it has the potential to be very cliche, then upon looking at the final shot you ought to ask "why does/doesn't this look like the stereotype," which is what I tried to answer and I don't think you even attempted to do.

kellylindseyphotography · May 30, 2008

These have been done before, but I like that you have an eye for photography. I think the third one, while done a LOT, is pretty good. The model has an edge to her (I think I would feel this way even if I hadn't seen her smoking in the first 2 pics)

Back to the 3rd one= it has technical problems, but I LOVE her body language and her eye contact. I actually wish she wasn't holding the dandelion. You could use this girl a lot, I think, becasue she has somethign that's coming across the pictures very well.

Do you have the original of the 3rd that you can post? I'd love to play with it in post processing.

Emerana · May 31, 2008

neverenderr said:
Would ya'll believe me if I told you she's 19?
Because she is ahaha

Than thank you for all the critque :]
I'll keep all this in mind.

i would still totally ground her. Anyways keep working at it, these may not be perfect but I think you have a good start

kombizz · Jun 1, 2008

need better exposure

Senor Hound · Jun 1, 2008

Alpha said:
Really...and you don't even have to answer this one...but do you even know what you're talking about?

This is an instance when the photographer has confused two things: using someone as a means to an end (a model), and photographing someone as an end unto themselves. That is, the poster went out trying to do two things simultaneously and ended up fully accomplishing neither. They wanted to take some meaningful, candid shots of their friend, and they wanted to do a gritty shoot as if their friend were a model.

What I find senseless about your post isn't that it's not substantive. I suppose it may be in a very general sense. Rather, it really says nothing that specifically addresses any of the problems with these shots. Instead, it's just vague commentary that doesn't end up meaning much because you haven't identified what the particular goals of this shoot were and how it did or did not meet them.

Edit:

When I said that the photos were cliche, I wasn't referring to the act of taking this style of shot. Cliches are perfectly fine when done well. And can be great when done exceptionally well. If you go into a shoot knowing that it has the potential to be very cliche, then upon looking at the final shot you ought to ask "why does/doesn't this look like the stereotype," which is what I tried to answer and I don't think you even attempted to do.

Your attitude is very condescending and I don't appreciate you implying I am stupid. I understand you're a professional and all, but that doesn't give you the right to undermine other people's opinions by calling them out. I believe its the discretion of the OP to determine whether or not my post is pertinent, NOT YOURS.

I was simply putting in what I felt comfortable adding. When people critique my shots, I appreciate the more general criticism, cause in reality I don't want to know how to make this exact shot better, I want to know how to make other similar shots (portraits, landscapes) better in the future. And I didn't know what he was going for in the shot. To me it seemed somewhat confusing. And besides, anyone can say that a corner is out of focus, cause that is concrete and tangible. And I stand by what I said, whether YOU (not the OP) find it substantiative or not.

It amazes me you have any clientèle with your attitude. Surely you don't work with the public, and if you do, I hope you don't have this same personality towards your clients.