Is it just me or?

[dots]

I do see a lot here kind of glossing over some stuff, but it seems to only be on the people who don't want or aren't ready for EVERYTHING.

Well yea.. a youngster trying photography in their back yard deserves gentler encouragement than someone 'pro' whose pictures are sub par.

 

[bentcountershaft]

I normally get a few views with one or two replies from others, which is fine by me. As long as one "forum veteran" responds, I'm normally happy. I was stalking the forum long before I posted my first picture, and you know who took the time to offer his advice in a nice, positive, awesome way?

BitterJeweler

My very first C&C thread kind of spoiled me actually because tirediron was the first to post followed by bitter, both giving excellent C&C. Bitter only made fun of me a little bit.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I haven't posted anything for critique here, but I would expect these guys to be brutally honest. I do see a lot here kind of glossing over some stuff, but it seems to only be on the people who don't want or aren't ready for EVERYTHING.

And when you are in depth and brutally honest, you get exactly what you have been rallying against, and miffed members posting overdramatic "I'm leaving" threads. More often than not.

There are more people asking for critique that are not ready for it. Just like that M.Shalaby guy who is better than 99% of the people on here. Nobody was rude to him. He was rude and copped an attitude. He got what he asked for then couldn't take it.

 

[mishele]

I've had some amazingly helpful C&C threads on this forum!! I actually enjoy hearing what people don't like about my photos...lol It doesn't matter if I agree w/ them or not, it at least gives me something else to think about the next time I am shooting.

So no complaints here!!

 

[bentcountershaft]

There are more people asking for critique that are not ready for it. Just like that M.Shalaby guy who is better than 99% of the people on here. Nobody was rude to him. He was rude and copped an attitude. He got what he asked for then couldn't take it.

Was that the guy with the smiling street shots?

 

[Derrel]

Is it just me, or is this the beginning of the winter of our discontent???

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

There are more people asking for critique that are not ready for it. Just like that M.Shalaby guy who is better than 99% of the people on here. Nobody was rude to him. He was rude and copped an attitude. He got what he asked for then couldn't take it.

Was that the guy with the smiling street shots?

I think so.

I was thinking back to his fashion mag style shots.He asked for critique, got some, disagreed with it, copped an attitude.

 

[bentcountershaft]

Thought so. He said the C&C here sucked because people actually critiqued him instead of giving him a bunch of "These are awesome!" comments if I remember correctly. There were some nice shots taken by a very insecure individual.

 

[kundalini]

Just out of curiosity, would these replies be in line to what some / most people would want for C&C?

Very attractive mature lady. Good on her for helping you out.

One thing I would be careful of is that your lights (camera right) are a bit too hot. You are loosing definition on her forearm in #1 and her shoulder on #2.

The earring and armpit shadow in #2 may have been effectively reduced if your reflector (or second "fill" light) had been positioned closer to the lens axis.

I like the lines you created in #1 with her arms, but feel that if the rearward leg had been extended, this would have opened her hips to a more slimming look for her torso.

Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by shootermcgavin
I think I'm going to have to give up on trying to black out a photo with a white wall behind it, still have a little under exposed while not totally blacking out the background.

You should familiarize yourself with the Inverse Square Law and its effects with light and light falloff. Here's a starter video for you.


http://www.youtube.com/adoramatv#p/c...29/f5BIvSBjvLg



You can have a totally black background even if your actual background is white while still properly exposing your subject.

Of the last two, the crop is off slightly IMO. Both having the edge of the frame right on her breast, where the nipple would be, is bugging me. In my mind, it is similar to cropping at a joint. If you have more room in the original file, I would suggest having a play with them...... I'm only suggesting the images in this instance.

For the last photo, the blades of grass in front of her hair is okay, but I would try to remove them from her neck and forehead. One little trick to have up your sleeve is to keep a pair of scissors in the car if you're going on an outdoor shoot so that you can clip these sorts of stuff by looking through the viewfinder carefully before triggering the shutter. Lastly, next time consider having her bend her elbow and bringing to the back of the head. This will help create a more interesting line than just an arm extending to nowhere.

Just my 2¢. Pretty girl. Thanks for sharing.


EDIT:

Here's an example of bending the arm to create a more interesting line. Look at the second photo. (The OP suggests this is NSFW)

Model Alicia cc welcome (nsfw sort of)

Just a few thoughts.....

With portraits such as this, I would try placing the main light just outside of the frame so that the light source becomes larger. Also, I would feather the light towards the camera so your subject is not hit by the center hotspot (assuming a shoot-through brolly) but will still be illuminated properly. Your images look as if the main light should be brought closer to the camera (in degrees of an angle) and raised vertically on the girl and lowered slightly on the guy. The nose shadow and catchlights are the tells here.

I would also try placing the reflector below and slightly on the opposite side of the main. it looks like you may be cancelling out the lighting ratio by the position of the reflector.

The dude may have sweaty or oily skin that is causing the hotspots, keep some powder close at hand.

Still these are a good start. Thanks for sharing.


EDIT:
Forgot to add.... when shooting people with eyeware, try to avoid the frame encroaching the eye.

My 2¢ is that in the majority of these images, your camera position is too high. As in, your shooting a child from an adults POV. Camera position for(traditional) portraits should be even with or slightly higher than eye level. As my old football coach used to say...... drop down and give me a knee.

And for varied suggestions on varied subjects that get varied questions......

For this type of genre, basically any camera body will make do because it's all about lighting. That's gonna be where the money shot will land. The second major will be glass, then the camera body. Also, if you're wanting to convert to B&W (assuming you'll be digital) something like Nik Silver efex pro software is the dog's bo!!icks for conversion. I've been tempted to buy, but haven't yet.

Bouncing off the ceiling is great, but has its inherent problems. Throw some light forward or use a reflector to uplight the face, which counteracts the bounce effect on the recessed eye sockets.

One thing to consider while setting up your shooting position is the surrounding environment. Photos of the fireworks only, up in the sky, usually are quite boring because that's what most people will do. Add some interest with landscape elements, people, cityscape, etc. Reflections off water is a nice addition. Flickr has a bunch as Trever mentioned, but there are quite a few here on TPF. The Search function works well for this.

​

Originally Posted by mrstravis

The Nikon d3100 has a grid. It should tell you how to use it in your manual.

But if we are to be helpful......... the information you desire is found on page 41 of the user manual.

Or am I missing the point again?

 

[bentcountershaft]

Just out of curiosity, would these replies be in line to what some / most people would want for C&C?

(A sh!tload of useful, thoughtful advice)

Or am I missing the point again?

I can't speak for everyone, but that's what I would be looking for.

 

[12sndsgood]

Thought so. He said the C&C here sucked because people actually critiqued him instead of giving him a bunch of "These are awesome!" comments if I remember correctly. There were some nice shots taken by a very insecure individual.

anyone that disagreed with his viewpoint just didnt get it and wasn't keen to what the fashion world puts out. we were all thinking inside the box because we didn't enjoy the images he was trying to copy.


i dont usually get a ton of comments to my pics but i usually get some very good critiques to improve upon.

 

[dots]

No - Other things annoy me.

lol I might choose that. Still considering my options!

 

[Tillit]

Just out of curiosity, would these replies be in line to what some / most people would want for C&C?

(A sh!tload of useful, thoughtful advice)

Or am I missing the point again?

I can't speak for everyone, but that's what I would be looking for.

Yes absolutly, thats very good critiquing.

 

[e.rose]

Just out of curiosity, would these replies be in line to what some / most people would want for C&C?








Or am I missing the point again?

I can't speak for everyone, but that's what I would be looking for.

Yes absolutly, thats very good critiquing.

So then there's nothing to complain about.

All Kun did was copy/paste a bunch of critiques from this very forum for his examples.

 

[Tillit]

I can't speak for everyone, but that's what I would be looking for.

Yes absolutly, thats very good critiquing.

So then there's nothing to complain about.

All Kun did was copy/paste a bunch of critiques from this very forum for his examples.

Again, I wasn't complaining about this forum.