Beautiful Ms. Sunshine

Postman158 · Sep 15, 2012

Here are some shots I took about two days ago with my good friend, Sunshine. Believe me, she made it easy for me. She was a wonderful model! My photos are open for critique. I'm always looking to improve. Thanks!

1.

2.

3.

4.

rexbobcat · Sep 15, 2012

I really like #3 because I'm a sucker for natural backlighting using the sun. How did you light it? One softbox to image left?

#2 is really over-exposed and the the horizontal crop is awkward.

#1 and #4 are good, but I think I'd like to see #4 cropped a little bit closer so that the background doesn't compete with the model.

Postman158 · Sep 15, 2012

Rex, thanks for the input bud! As for #3, I used the sun for the backlight (obviously). I also had a 430EX II to camera left without an umbrella or softbox: just the flash.

How do you like this one, compared to #4?

Postman158 · Sep 15, 2012

Anyone else have anything to say? I want to know what you think!

slow231 · Sep 15, 2012

3 is nice. lighting is done nicely. i'd turn down the highlights a little on 2, but i like the ratio of her brightness to the background. i also like the horizontal crop on this. the wb on 1 might have been intentional but her face looks too red-ish to me. 4 is much better with the crop, the background had too much going on as a portrait.

CMfromIL · Sep 15, 2012

Great series. #2 is my least favorite, bad angle on the head. Otherwise very good shots. #1 is my favorite. Great coloring and pose.

Postman158 · Sep 15, 2012

Thanks again fellas. I believe all of these were shot with my 50mm 1.4. This lens is awesome on a full frame.

Postman158 · Sep 16, 2012

Postman158 · Sep 17, 2012

Really? No one else? I know these images aren't perfect..

Postman158 · Sep 18, 2012

Last time I'm bumping. 243 views and someone has to have something to say!

tirediron · Sep 18, 2012

All right, since you asked nicely, I'll take a crack at these:

1. Great lighting/exposure and nice expression, but WHY a landscape orientation? I would much rather have seen the empty space image left used to show a little more of the model.

2. I like the pose here, but the highlights on the short side are a tad too hot, and there's a lot of empty space that, IMO, doesn't add a lot. Again, a portrait orientation might have been more appropriate.

3. Very nice!

4. This one doesn't really do a lot for me. It's a nice enough shot, but there's so much going on that the model doesn't really stand out. I also think a trip into Photoshop and a bit of tweaking with the distortion filter might help.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

Big Mike · Sep 18, 2012

Last time I'm bumping. 243 views and someone has to have something to say!

A lot of those are non-members, possibly even search engine crawlers...so don't get so worked up about the number of views vs comments.
Also, the more you put into getting critique, the more you get out. You haven't provided us with much information or motivation for these photos...so how are we supposed to know if you achieved what you set out to do?

#1. The first thing that jumps out at me is the skin tone...it's very red. I don't know if that's what you wanted, but it certainly doesn't look natural. Secondly, it looks like the focus is off and/or your DOF is too thin. Her lips, parts of her hair & scarf and even the eye lashes on her close eye look to be sharp, but her eyes themselves look to be behind your DOF. If you are going to shoot that thin, you really have to nail it. I don't mind the horizontal framing on a vertically shaped subject, as long as you have a good reason for it.

#2. The skin tones are much different in this one. I'm not sure if they are accurate, but they look more natural. Nice lighting & location but I wonder what the shot is about. She is probably only 10% of the entire photo and is cut off at the knees.

#3. Very nice, I like this one a lot. Good use of sun as back light. The one thing I might suggest, is that you place your light on her other side, that way, her hair won't cast a shadow onto her face as it hangs down.

#4. Nice enough shot, but again, I think she's too small in the photo. If the photo is truly about her, then she could stand to be a lot more prominent. You can still 'set the scene' by including the background, you just don't need so much of it.
The next picture gets better in that sense, but I still think you could take it farther and get in closer.

jaicatalano · Sep 18, 2012

Here is something I will say... I like her naturalness in all of the shots. Either she is really comfortable or you are directing her really nicely. Hats off to you for that. My fav is 3. Sexy, confident, backlit... Nice shot. If you have after effects you can pop that even more. Nice job.

Derrel · Sep 18, 2012

Yes, very good subject/camera rapport...she looks pretty,confident, and natural in all shots. She's a beautiful woman, with a lovely "look". You're a bit all over the map on some of these....#1...horizontal and weird color...why? #3--nice location flash work. The photos of her on the bench have nice light, good exposures, but I kind of wish she were shown larger in the frame. Still, overall, some nice images. As Big Mike was saying, your own presentation, your own lack of guidance in seeking C&C, might have hampered these as far as getting much C&C. Also, these are not absolutely God-awful, and so...they didn't get a lot of C&C. If photos are just abysmally bad, they often elicit a lot of C&C from people wanting to either 1) help or 2) if the poster is a jerk, to condemn them. Sooooo...these appear to be shot by somebody who can shoot, so, no much C&C was offered. The whole C&C thing here on TPF has turned into a massive whine-fest over the last few months...people are afraid or unwilling to C&C, for various reasons.

Shot #4, as rexbobcat said--GOOD! But yeah, I wonder...how would it look cropped a bit closer?

Postman158 · Sep 18, 2012

Awesome, thanks again everyone. I understand now, that next time I'll kind of ask critique on something a little more specific

Also, I'm taking everything you guys stated into consideration! I'm glad to hear, Derrel, that they're not God-awful and that it appears that these were shot by "Somebody who can shoot". That makes me a little more confident!

Thanks fellas!