First photoshoot C&C

JTchinoy · May 7, 2012

Hi everyone!
Went with my brother to San Francisco to try to do a impromptu photoshoot.
I feel like my sense of imagination with the angles and lines is rather lacking.
C&C please!

#1

#4

#3

#2

Jaemie · May 7, 2012

Legion of Honor? Sorry - SF is my hometown and I can't help trying to guess the location.

Here are my thoughts. Bear in mind I'm not much of a people photographer, so it's just my untrained opinion.

#1: My eye is drawn to the hand and watch, so maybe cropping that out or focusing on it would be worth trying?

#2: Nice. I like the wall - not sure if the graffiti ads or detracts. The photog's reflection bothers me a bit.

#3: meh.. iunno.

#4: I like this one the best. It has the most character, perhaps because I can see the model's eyes. But I'd definitely crop out the person in the background.

Overall, I like the mood, but I think the model should take off the sunglasses and thus convey more feeling. Of course he's posing, and that's fine, but I think it would be more interesting if he wasn't so obviously posing. If he were my brother, I'd probably do something silly to make him lighten up and then I'd start snapping pictures. hehe..

DiskoJoe · May 7, 2012

The focus on all of these shots is soft and they look a bit grainy.

JTchinoy · May 7, 2012

I scaled them pretty far down and they're currently on facebook. I'll try to reconvert them and repost them for you.

Thanks for the input! I'm not completely comfortable myself with photoshoots yet, so I'm grateful my brother had the patience to deal with me learning as we went.

Yes, they were all from Legion of Honor.

We took some at Land's end and Japantown, but these were my favorites.

Jaemie · May 7, 2012

JTchinoy said:
I scaled them pretty far down and they're currently on facebook. I'll try to reconvert them and repost them for you.

Thanks for the input! I'm not completely comfortable myself with photoshoots yet, so I'm grateful my brother had the patience to deal with me learning as we went.

Yes, they were all from Legion of Honor. We took some at Land's end and Japantown, but these were my favorites.

Facebook has an upload in "High Quality" option, but I've found it lacking, and besides, few people seem to use it consistently. A photography-optimized blog is probably a much better place for your work. So far, I've been rather happy with Wordpress.

I haven't done any work with a model, yet (just myself and that's very difficult for so many reasons). Often, my sister goes with me to shoot photos and stays in the car or opens a book or something. I love the company, and she's incredibly patient, but it's still not the same as when I'm alone, without anyone waiting for me, with zero distractions. I've never used her as a model, either. Maybe I'm worried the close relationship will undermine the artistic process - that she'll be too relaxed or something.

Yay, I recognized Legion of Honor! Silly me. Anyway, next time perhaps try a more ordinary location to get a more natural feel. Except in the abstract, I feel LoH, like any landmark, is so recognizable and spectacular as to divert attention from everything else in an image (when I first saw your work here I immediately thought "LoH!" and then "why is the subject at the LoH other than to model?" and couldn't come up with a reason). Also avoid graffiti, unless it's the focus of the image - it naturally draws the viewers' attention. (I've got some graffiti shots on my blog, but they are the point of the photos.) San Francisco is full of character and texture and shadows and color and fog. Anyway, those are some random thoughts.

JTchinoy · May 7, 2012

Thanks! I'll try to find more unrecognizable locations next time and try to avoid graffiti.

I didn't notice the graffiti on the door frame, only the ones inside the room.

If anyone else could give some input, i'd appreciate it!

DiskoJoe · May 8, 2012

JTchinoy said:
Thanks! I'll try to find more unrecognizable locations next time and try to avoid graffiti.
I didn't notice the graffiti on the door frame, only the ones inside the room.

If anyone else could give some input, i'd appreciate it!

I would say find better graffiti and not avoid it.

ReganP · May 8, 2012

I feel like they all look a bit washed out, like none of the elements really stand out, except for the first one, but in that case it might be a little too extreme. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of photography experience, so I'm not sure how useful any pointers will be for fixing it but here are my thoughts.

In #3 the light just seems odd, and the person in the background is distracting, as already noted.

In #4 it's like there is depth of field, but there isn't, if that makes any sense. As far as editing goes, I would increase exposure and try to brighten his face and the surrounding area.

In #2 the wall seems to be more of the focus than his face, which feels kind of weird.

JTchinoy · May 8, 2012

I was trying to avoid too much saturation in the pictures, but I'll try to give it another go!

Yeah, I didn't know the wall was taking the attention from his face until later. Any suggestions on how to fix that?

Jaemie · May 8, 2012

JTchinoy said:
Yeah, I didn't know the wall was taking the attention from his face until later. Any suggestions on how to fix that?

You could clone out the graffiti in PS or some other program.

JTchinoy · May 9, 2012

Okay, here's 2 and 4 after some touching up.

I wasn't sure how to brighten up 4 without losing too much coloring or brightening the surroundings more than the subject.

Jaemie · May 9, 2012

Nice job. There's way less distraction in #2 (B&W image) with most of that graffiti removed. I like this a lot.

Here's another version of #4. I tried to correct the color (remove the green from the model's skin, etc.) and I cropped in an attempt to focus attention on his face. I really like his mauve sunglasses.

Edit: I think my version looks kind of washed-out, unfortunately. hmm... :meh:

JTchinoy · May 9, 2012

It might've just been the light during that time that makes the colors so washed out.

It was around noon when we took those shots, which is why I liked my shots in the shade more.

Yeah, I like the crop better, thanks!

Jaemie · May 9, 2012

JTchinoy said:
It was around noon when we took those shots, which is why I liked my shots in the shade more.

I'm just a beginner, but I know I love early morning and late afternoon light and shadows, hence I avoid midday sun mostly. Thanks for posting this; the comments remind me that I really need to study and begin working with human subjects, more. My goofy self-portraits show I have so much to learn.

camz · May 18, 2012

I think in 2 and 3 you need to up the exposure of your subjects a little more. If you're shooting natural light, you don't want to be shooting against your source, shoot along with the light instead. Legion should have enough shade to where you can set it up that way.

Also tell Patrick to relax his jaw next time

. Talk to you later cuz.