Kim on Couch (moderately NSFW)

[ElNico]

Form disclaimer - I'm a hobbyist. I do photography for fun, not to make money or make a career out of it. I've been told to mention this up front. It's also in my signature.

Photo from a studio shoot last December, and my first attempt at using Photoshop. Taken at f/3.5 and 1/100s; camera model is in my signature.

I'm looking for C&C both on the image in general, and on whether the edits I've made have come out well. I used surface blur to smooth out the skin of the face, and a patch plus some tweaking to eliminate an area of exposed skin that I felt was out of place and distracting. I haven't made any changes to exposure, contrast, shadows etc, as I though that the lighting and color looked pretty good already; should I edit any of that?

Thanks!



DSC00696 B fixed (crop) by El Nico, on Flickr

 

[JoeW]

Here are a couple of hints about the pose. Having her head at that angle where her chin is pointed down tends to widen her face--if her chin is instead a few inches higher her face would look thinner. Instead of her left boob going in to the pillow, us that pillow to push it to the center and enhance her cleavage. I'd have her take that right knee and bring it towards her chest/body by 3-4 inches so the two knees aren't symmetrical. That will be more pleasing visually and will give her a wider hip (which by contrast makes her waist smaller). Rather than extending a clothed arm down her right side, I'd have her bend it at the elbow and just let it drop over her waist. Right now she looks (as this is a visual illusion) like she has the same dimension at her shoulders, waist and hips--you want to create more of a curve or hour-glass figure there and the arm just laying at her waistline would almost serve like a belt--a visual waist and the straight arm (as it currently is) wouldn't create the illusion of no curves. Last of all, I'd do something different with her feet (below the knees). Either tuck them further back (so we don't see small bits of feet and shoes) or extend them so add length and flow to her pose.

Best of luck and interested to see more from results of your work with this model.

 

[bulldurham]

In addition to Joe's remarks, for me, the pose is not at all natural, nor is the eye position natural at all...she is stiff and more like a barbie doll than a person. Whatever else you do with the pose, lose the high heels. Nobody, but nobody wears high heels on a velvet couch.

 

[ElNico]

Instead of her left boob going in to the pillow, us that pillow to push it to the center and enhance her cleavage.

If you mean that the pillow should be inbetween her boob and the edge of the couch rather than in front of it, I think that it is already mostly in that position (judging by how much of it is covered) and is indeed helping to push her chest inward; though the pillow could perhaps be a bit straighter so as to not "look" like it's a bit in front of her. If you mean that the pillow should be pushing her boon inward in a manner beyond simply having it be inbetween her chest and what she's leaning against, then I'm not sure how I would do that.

Other than that, everything you said sounds very helpful and is much appreciated.

Best of luck and interested to see more from results of your work with this model.

This model and I get along very well, and are hoping to work together a lot more once people can go outside again; so hopefully you'll get to see that eventually.

In addition to Joe's remarks, for me, the pose is not at all natural, nor is the eye position natural at all...she is stiff and more like a barbie doll than a person.

I'll start by taking these remaks at face value; I think there's something you might be noticing unconsciously, which I'll get to in a minute. For me, I notice her expression first (which her right hand compliments), her cleavage second; and then everything else kind of fades into the background, as a general concept of "sprawled sexily on the couch" with the details being unimportant. If I deliberately turn off my instinctive reaction and actually THINK about the image, I guess I can see why you might call the pose unnatural; as I can see how Joe's suggestions would imporove the pose, and thus I can see how all of those flaws add up to something less than natural.

For the eyes, I have to say that I really don't see that. For me, it looks like she's giving a direct, sultery look to the camera. To me her expression looks confident and sexy, in such a way that those two things compliment eachother. Can you explain more what you see wrong with the eyes?

That said, when you say you think she looks like a barbie doll, are you sure that that's not because of the texture of her face, rather than her eyes or the pose? As I said I smoothed out blemishes on her face, and one of my concerns was that it makes the skin of her face look "fake."

Whatever else you do with the pose, lose the high heels. Nobody, but nobody wears high heels on a velvet couch.

Nobody actually wears business attire with an open blazer and no shirt either (or likely wears a blazer with no shirt period); this pose and outfit are rather stylized. I for one feel like the presence of high heels makes the outfit sexier even if they're not being used the way they'd realistically be used; and even if you disagree on that point, I definitely feel like having no shoes at all would detract from the ensemble.

I suppose I could have had the feet out of frame, had the heels be off but still visible in the photo (sitting on the couch or on the floor), or had her wear professional but heel-less shoes for the shots on the couch. For that last, it seems like a lot of trouble to ask the model to bring an extra pair of shoes just for that... and for the other two, in short I'm not so sure that that would be an improvement, all things considered.

Can I get some more opinions on this? Do others agree that wearing heels on a couch is such a big problem (again, considering that the pose is by nature stylized, pinup-y and somewhat unrealistic)? What do others think of those three solutions I listed? Which would be better than the way I did it, and which would be worse?

 

[bulldurham]

I don't want to get into too much but frankly, I don't see her as sexy at all...I don't get sultry, I don't get the pose, I just don't get any of it and perhaps that's just me.

 

[Derrel]

I think the pose looks a slight bit stilted. I do not mind the high heels, and in fact think they are appropriate in this type of pose.

I do think however that lifting her chin upward a few degrees at least would you have improved the shape of her face and improved the eye contact with the camera lens.

 

[sleist]

I realize you're working with what you've got, but a couple additional comments:

Everything in the frame is part of the composition. You seem to have oriented the model in the composition at the expense of the couch and I find that to be a problem. Positioning the model and couch properly within the composition may have helped with the pose problems mentioned above or at least made them more obvious to you.

Color palette and patterns are clashing all over - not flattering. If that is the only pillow, the plaid bra needs to go (or vice versa). The outfit clashes with the couch. The outfit clashes with itself. Monochrome might help with that, but won't save this particular shot.

Just some things to keep in mind for next time.

 

[ElNico]

Everything in the frame is part of the composition. You seem to have oriented the model in the composition at the expense of the couch and I find that to be a problem.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Do you mean that only part of the couch is visible in the frame? That the couch isn't parallel to the edge of the frame (eg the diagonal line in the lower left corner)? That the model isn't lying parallel to the length of the couch (her shoulders being at the back of the couch and her knees at the front)? A combination of those things? Something else that I'm still missing?

Color palette and patterns are clashing all over - not flattering. If that is the only pillow, the plaid bra needs to go (or vice versa). The outfit clashes with the couch. The outfit clashes with itself.

When you say the outfit clashes with itself I assume you mean the presence of both red and green in the outfit, but why do you say that the outfit clashes with the couch? The outfit is predominantly red, and the couch is also a shade of red. Where's the contrast there? Also, what sort of pillow do you imagine would have gone better with the plaid bra?