Critique Please.. and Thank you

tmjjk · Jun 4, 2012

tmjjk · Jun 4, 2012

just saw in the third her right eye is out of focus...darn

Designer · Jun 4, 2012

Lovely model!
#1 is fairly "static", both in pose and in lighting. She appears somewhat tense, as her hands are making "girl fists". I wish you had lowered the camera position some, and framed lower, to include her knees.
#2 is superb! if only a little over-exposed on her face. Nice pose, good framing (a little too high camera position)
#3 I can't tell the focus on my computer, but to me, this should have been vertical format, and include more of her hair and torso. If framing tightly, you can cut the frame just above her bust line with no harm, but this is too tight. Also, I like her pose, but you have framed too much empty space to the right, and cropped her hair on the left. A little balance is called for here.

tmjjk · Jun 4, 2012

thank you very much... and does static mean boring? And these are great tips... really grateful

DiskoJoe · Jun 4, 2012

Static is that thing that happens to your socks when you forget to buy dryer sheets.

She does look tense in in all these. By #3 she seemed to be getting a little more relaxed.

But i dont like how you have the camera pointing down at her in both 1 and 2 and three the crop was a bit too tight and what is she staring at? There is no context to the off camera stare.

tmjjk · Jun 4, 2012

didn't even realize I was pointing down... definitely an easy fix and I will change that... I just like the horizontal orientation and was told if she was looking off camera I could do that lol.... and she is grounded until she smiles better for her mom :sexywink:

Designer · Jun 4, 2012

tmjjk said:
thank you very much... and does static mean boring? And these are great tips... really grateful

Sorry for the ambiguity. What I mean is that the model is simply standing face-on to the camera, and nothing about her pose indicates she is "animated". something like a 3/4 pose, with her hips thrust to one side, or something like that You knid of make a suggestion, but let her pick the pose.

The lighting is simply straight-on to the model, therefore not "modeling" her features with differing light and shadow across her face. For an example of a better modeling light, see shot #3.

Designer · Jun 4, 2012

Oh, one more comment on shot #3; I know why you wanted her gaze to be off camera, and that is to show off her big brown eyes. Reason enough to set up a slightly different shot. Next time, find something like a little toy bird, or butterfly, and ask her to hold it out to the side about half an arm's length out (elbow bent o.k.) and ask her to fix her gaze on it. You will get those eyes, and a legitimate reason to frame horizontally, if that is what you want.

tmjjk · Jun 4, 2012

Great!! Thank you... I will try again tomorrow and really appreciate the advice... Can't wait to use this info

cgipson1 · Jun 4, 2012

Did just a little touchup .. with the blue dress, she is a bit yellow, and a touch overexposed (on my calibrated monitor). So added just a tiny bit of red and magenta, and a touch of blue to kill the yellow. Upped the sat just a hair too....

my edit is on the right

Jaemie · Jun 4, 2012

Nice edit, cgipson1.

tmjjk, for ease of C&C, please number your photos in the future. In my untrained opinion:

The obvious winner is #2.

The less obvious winner is #1, however. In it, her pose and fists make her appear very stiff and tense, as if she's holding her emotions in check. It's striking and memorable and makes me imagine she's involved in some intense drama, though not in a good way at all. I like this photo for that candid quality, but I doubt that's the image you were expecting.

And #3 is truly adorable, and not very interesting I'm afraid.

tmjjk · Jun 5, 2012

I really like the edit as well! Thank you cgipson... lets see what I can pull off today... its so dreary where I am, hope I can manage some natural catch lights.

cgipson1 · Jun 5, 2012

tmjjk said:
I really like the edit as well! Thank you cgipson... lets see what I can pull off today... its so dreary where I am, hope I can manage some natural catch lights.

Thanks... just meant to be an example of what you can do in post... to help a shot look better. If you aren't calibrating your monitor... it is easy to be out of bounds on exposure and color...