First photo shoot with model (C&C please)

bmrust · Aug 14, 2009

This is a good friend of mine that is intending to get into acting someday. He wanted to get some photos done, and I told him I'd give it a shot.

Please let me know what you think of these, and if there is anything I should do differently with any of them.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

MelissaMarieImagery · Aug 14, 2009

They all look pretty washed out, and he looks sad in most of them. I like your composition, but try making the images pop more.

TriniPhototakeoutta · Aug 14, 2009

I like #2 but his left leg in #3 looks kinda weird how its positioned. #5 look desaturated, not sure if that was don't on purpose. composition looks solid for all.

bmrust · Aug 14, 2009

TriniPhototakeoutta said:
I like #2 but his left leg in #3 looks kinda weird how its positioned. #5 look desaturated, not sure if that was don't on purpose. composition looks solid for all.

Yea, I was just trying something a little different for #5. I didn't actually notice his leg in #3, but I agree that it looks a little wierd.

As for him looking sad... I agree. I had a really hard time getting him to smile, without looking like I was TRYING to get him to smile, heh. I do have a few good shots of him smiling, however the eyes in most of them are out of focus (which is why I didn't post them).

Thanks for the comments, I really had no idea what I was getting into with this shoot.

Dominantly · Aug 14, 2009

I would say there are some issues with lighting, especially with the face, in pretty much all of the photos. Agents are usually going to want some well lit head shots that they can use to market their client. He'll need to smile, or at least make a different face to show some range/emotion as well.

I would say the first photo would benefit from a tweak in the white balance, an slight increase in the brightness, and a tad bit more contrast.

shortpballer · Aug 14, 2009

#2 isn't in focus

Cely · Aug 14, 2009

#3 is my favorite, but I agree, the leg looks kinda weird.

thenikonguy · Aug 14, 2009

i know everyone says there are times when you can cut off limbs, but i just really hate it when a foot gets cut off in the middle of the foot.. it makes the photo look bad to me.. (i.e #1 and #5)

bmrust · Aug 14, 2009

I updated the black and white one (it was 300dpi, now its 72... sorry for that)

Also, here is another one, of him happy. Let me know if it is too saturated (i feel that it is, but i was getting a lot of comments about things not being saturated enough)

thenikonguy · Aug 14, 2009

the color looks good.. but this one is almost to happy... but thats a personal preference!

GeneralBenson · Aug 14, 2009

By model, do you mean first time shooting with a human subject? Or do you mean he is/thinks he is/wants to be a real model? If the latter is the case, he really needs to works on his expressions ans posing. I think most of what you did is pretty good. I could nitpick about busy background and cut off feet if I wanted to, but the prevailing problem in all of these picture is the model. Posing is an intersting thing. When working with regular people, I think it's almost entirely up to the photog to handle correct posing, but when working with talent, they should really have that stuff down. It's up to the photog to decide what the poses should be, but the talent should know how to make them look good without much direction. What makes a good model is the ability to look natural while in a pose. When most people just look 'normal' it doesn't actually look very good, like the guy in your images. Despite the fact that it's very convincingly natural looking, the poses just don't look good. But these these same regular people when you try to pose them too much, it starts too look unnatural and forced. The tlent of a true model is the ability to be in a pose that is well thought out and perfected, while looking completely natural, like thta's how they just happened to sit down, or thta's how they just happened to lean against a wall.

bmrust · Aug 14, 2009

to answer those questions, i would say both...

it was my first time shooting a subject, and it was his first time being the subject of a photo shoot. he wants to get into acting, but was up for trying a little modeling for me. i agree that his poses aren't "natural" looking, which was the most frustrating part about the shoot.

any suggestions or websites i should read about how to "control" a model / subject during a shoot?

inTempus · Aug 14, 2009

Personally I would stop shooting with the 50mm at f/1.8. Your not getting his whole face in focus. You're getting one eye almost in focus and the rest of his face is out of focus. The 50mm f/1.8 is notorious for missing focus and being at f/1.8 makes the missed focus a hundred times more noticeable.

Most of your images are a little soft and the natural light isn't doing anything for me. They look kind of flat. I would use a speedlite to liven things up a bit and get creative.

inTempus · Aug 14, 2009

bmrust said:
to answer those questions, i would say both...

it was my first time shooting a subject, and it was his first time being the subject of a photo shoot. he wants to get into acting, but was up for trying a little modeling for me. i agree that his poses aren't "natural" looking, which was the most frustrating part about the shoot.

any suggestions or websites i should read about how to "control" a model / subject during a shoot?

Shooting models is tough, especially inexperienced models. As you see in your pics, inexperienced models tend to show no emotion and look drab. You have to really work with them to get them to lighten up. Goof around, don't let them know when you're about to shoot... do something spontaneous to get them laughing. Get them to focus on something else besides the camera.

An experienced model is SO much easier to work with... it's night and day. Once you hit a rhythm with them... man, you don't want to stop shooting. When you're working with an inexperienced model you want to stop early out of frustration.