7 images from Saturday

[James_Sample]

Tell me what you think of these. Good, Bad, Blah?









Thanks for your time,
James

[Zairia]

Hi James,
I think #1 needs cropping. I like #2 but it need a little more work on the left side of her face near her eyes. (Beautiful Eyes) I like #4 and #5. #5 is really Nice. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]JMO
Zairia

[rdavis]

I'm not a big fan of PS effects so I like #2 the best. Clear and direct.

[jford]

First, I'm not a fan of PS manipulation.

1 - I can see it in certain editorial situations, I suppose, but see comment above.

2 - very nice, but there's kind of a softness/blurring of the cheeks that I assume is smoothing in excess. Especially her right cheek. Very sensual lips and eyes, though.

3 - too soft for my tastes. Sorry. Also, it's generally disconcerting to crop a model's limbs like that.

4 - Wonderful picture of her, but see comment above. Personally, I'd like to see it in color or all b/w. As is, I think the color detracts from the lovely model. See crop comment above.

5 - IMO, best of set, as glamour picture. Shoulder is somewhat enlarged by pose - did you use normal or wider lens, in kinda close? Still, she looks quite beautiful, warm, engaging - very nice work. There's a speck on her left "nose wing" - a piercing? Bit distracting, once noticed.

6 - She has wonderful eyes. Not sure about the shot, though. A bit dark above, and the mesh is so tightly held that I thought at first it was the edge of the frame. Still, her eyes are a beautiful color.

7 - You and I both know this is a personal snapshot not of the same technical quality of the others. She's quite lovely and you're extremely lucky to have her not only tolerate your hobby but to participate. Lovely overall pastel coloring, and decent blurring of otherwise distracting background (but could be better), but the exposure and contrast of the harsh lighting is, well, not so good. BTW, best, sexiest smile of the series, IMO.



My few, outdated Mb

[James_Sample]

Thank you for you comments they were extremely helpful. I went back and re-did Number 3 so that it was not so soft but you gave me some great advice that I can put to use in the future.

As for the last picture she was dieing to go outside since it was the first really nice weather day we had. Since I had already shot the pictures I wanted I took her to a local park but your right the mid day sun was way to harsh for any decent pics. I just really likes the way this one ended up colored almost like Easter colors with the pink, yellow, and blue.

[ceedeedesigns]

The Red tank top up against the Black and White background looks spectacular.
I love your work!!
[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[James_Sample]

Thank you very much. That was my first attempt at doing a selective color image and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

BTW, Love your portfolio.
James

[jcnlv]

Busy Saturday huh? ;-)

A lighting technique that I have always found good for women that you might want to try next time... for your main light use big, broad, soft, light sources, in close to the model and shoot from as near to the light source as possible, it is very flattering and you don't need to buy 4" x 6" Soft box to get it(but that would be the ideal) You can bounce it off of neutral colored walls, foam core,(watch out for lens flare)sheets, what ever... also a reflector in tight on the opposite side from the broad main will fill your shadows a bit.

Another to try is to shoot her in doorways and/or windows or garage doors (with you shooting from outside) when the sun is low and behind your back...or it is overcast. You can use tungsen work lamps or inexpensive floods to backlight her from inside if you like... the light is flattering and the backlight adds drama...

Depending on how flat the light is you might want "bump it up a bit" in processing or photoshop.

I think your lady will love how she looks shot this way. :-)


JC

[jimmyd]

#1-- the 'lensbaby' thing is interesting in a cinematic kind of way.

#2-- too soft and splotchy for my tastes.

#3 & #4-- I'm not a big fan of the "selective color" trick. usually, for me, it don't work and seems, i dunno, "gimmicky."

#5-- i like the crop. eye sockets seem a bit dark and, overall, the image seems to soft.

#6-- my favorite of the series. the upper shadow, imo, could be darker.

#7-- seems like a candid snapshot. DOF might be overly exaggerated for that framing.