Beach shoot C & C please.

[Aze]

After a very long break from doing any real photo shoots I'm at it again. Frankly I just feel like I'm missing something. The photos here are all SOOC and shot in RAW, they were exported from Lightroom with no editing whatsoever. To me these photos feel bland, I don't feel any punch with them. My lack of experience makes me wonder if this is just how a RAW photo looks before editing, or if I need to do more to get the shot beforehand. I know post is important, but I don't want to hide behind it. I want to get it right. With that said, please, rip these apart, they are some of the best from the shoot, but with that said, I still feel like they are awful and could be much better.













The first thing I have to do is get the UV filter off my lens, I was hoping having a good one would work well, I'm still feeling they are a little soft, so off it goes, not worth it. These were all shot with my 28-135 and I tried to keep the lens above 50mm, I think I stayed wide open a bit too much and that probably contributed to some of the softness. I also need to start using my 430ex for fill flash I think. Will a diffuser allow me to get fill flash on camera or do I really need to get it off the camera. Ok, I think I asked enough for one thread. All advice is welcome, I really want to get better.

One last thing, are there any post techniques I can use to salvage these at all? I still really want to give this model some decent photos at the end of the day. Thanks!

 

[amolitor]

The light is quite flat, by which I mean even, in all of these photographs. The first one is the only one where there's really any sense of the light coming from a specific direction and creating shadows on her face, which give the 2 dimensional image a more 3 dimensional feel. The colors also feel a little muted, partly this is because you have a dark haired model in a black bathing suit -- not a lot of color here to start with -- and partly it's because you have not pushed the saturation up.

The second and third ones also feel quite dark - the model is in shadow, and it shows. We have some to expect beautiful women in bathing suits to be shot with bright, fairly directional, very golden/warm light. Either out in the sun, or with lights simulating the sun.

The first one is the only one that gives that warm sunny feeling, and that not very strongly.

 

[tirediron]

Exactly that ^^ !!

 

[Aze]

@Amolitor, thanks so much for your critique. Now that I look at the pictures I can totally see what you mean, I thought they felt completely bland, and it's the flat lighting. In this case I think it was because I was trying to avoid the harsh shadows, I went too far. Unfortunately we shot a little late, my fault. To correct this in the future should I try shooting closer to the golden hour with an on camera flash acting as fill light?

As far as the saturation, when shooting raw is there anything I need to do before post processing? I can't really think of anything I would change when shooting for saturation purposes.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

 

[The_Traveler]

My guess is that you plan on cropping these to get them more up close and intense.
In the last I think the framing of the shot will get in the way of that.
I would crop the final one as shown to get the face full-on and intense but the original framing doesn't allow that.

 

[amolitor]

@Amolitor, thanks so much for your critique. Now that I look at the pictures I can totally see what you mean, I thought they felt completely bland, and it's the flat lighting. In this case I think it was because I was trying to avoid the harsh shadows, I went too far. Unfortunately we shot a little late, my fault. To correct this in the future should I try shooting closer to the golden hour with an on camera flash acting as fill light?

That would be a fine idea, I think. Also consider some sort of gold colored reflector. A friend in a yellow short standing just out of frame can change the light in surprisingly dramatic ways, for instance.

As far as the saturation, when shooting raw is there anything I need to do before post processing? I can't really think of anything I would change when shooting for saturation purposes.

Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

Nope! That's all in post. Well, try to expose properly If you have to wang on the file too much in post, your colors can sort of fall apart.

 

[The_Traveler]

If you have to wang on the file too much in post, your colors can sort of fall apart.

'Wang' on the file?
That's an mental image I didn't want.

 

[Derrel]

Yes, the lighting is quite flat. Time to start manipulating the images to give 'em some "Pop!". Images shot under flat, even lighting can often be "pushed" quite a bit in processing, the get a nice final look. Large expanses if light-colored water, or light-colored sandy beaches actually serve to act as HUGE reflector fill, and they make the light "flatter" than if you were shooting over, say, grasslands. I'm pretty sure that these images can handle quite a bit of "pushing" in post to jazz them up a bit.

 

[Aze]

Yes, the lighting is quite flat. Time to start manipulating the images to give 'em some "Pop!". Images shot under flat, even lighting can often be "pushed" quite a bit in processing, the get a nice final look. Large expanses if light-colored water, or light-colored sandy beaches actually serve to act as HUGE reflector fill, and they make the light "flatter" than if you were shooting over, say, grasslands. I'm pretty sure that these images can handle quite a bit of "pushing" in post to jazz them up a bit.

That's just about the best news I could hear! Time to go research how to enhance flat lighting with Photoshop.

I'm being greedy now, but I'll take all the critiques I can get. Other than flat lighting, what other mistakes did I make here? Anything is fair game

 

[jesse101]

2 of the four photos seem underexposed (2nd and 3rd), 1st and last need a fill light, her facial expressions do not seem appealing. I would have utilized a speedlight or a reflector of some sort. I do like the first pose, but again, her facial expression. forgot to mention, her left breast in the first photo looks off, like she forgot to tuck it in per say. last photo i like her eyes..as mentioned previously if cropped, and PE the eyes to make them stand out a bit more could potentially be a nice shot.

 

[Yantropov]

May I ask... what's her name?

As for the photos, I am also a beginner but I think your photos would benefit from an enhanced bokeh.

 

[Aze]

Now that I've gotten a chance to start processing some of the shots she requested, lets see if these are any better.



I'm not a big fan of this one for the background, but she liked the shot. I feel like the lighting here is still a bit flat, but better than the first few. I tried to keep the processing to a minimum, but it still seems like it's lacking something, I can't quite pinpoint it, but it feels bland. Thanks again for any critiques you may have.

 

[cgipson1]

I would have been using your 50mm... and used much wider apertures for most of these. The backgrounds are much to sharp in all of the non-water backgrounds, and are distracting. Online Depth of Field Calculator

 

[Derrel]

Now that I've gotten a chance to start processing some of the shots she requested, lets see if these are any better.



I'm not a big fan of this one for the background, but she liked the shot. I feel like the lighting here is still a bit flat, but better than the first few. I tried to keep the processing to a minimum, but it still seems like it's lacking something, I can't quite pinpoint it, but it feels bland. Thanks again for any critiques you may have.

THis is not just a background--it's a scene! Rope, weathered wood planks, palms...this background actually is a GOOD one! In this shot, she is presented in front of a "location", one that is obviously near water, and palm trees. The background advances the shot. She looks great in this frame too!

 

[DiskoJoe]

I would suggest taking a look at Guiness Mans Glam Thread. He does lots of stuff like this and its really good.