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Fair enough. My portrait game is pretty weak but I'm trying different things out and attempting to figure stuff out as I go. What specifically would you say was bad about those two portraits? How could they have been better?
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Sep 14, 2017 03:32
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| # ? May 17, 2024 18:39 |
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 Untitled by Tom Olson, on Flickr
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Sep 14, 2017 18:03
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They already doing a "This is 40" sequel? 
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Sep 14, 2017 18:34
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Rangerscum showing off how to do actual sexy boudoir photos. Helen Highwater posted:Fair enough. My portrait game is pretty weak but I'm trying different things out and attempting to figure stuff out as I go. What specifically would you say was bad about those two portraits? How could they have been better? Well since you asked, in this type of shoot the client expects you to emphasis their form in a way that will attract their clients. PM me if you want examples, I don't publicly post sexy pics for privacy reasons, that and I don't shoot them for personal reasons just money. 8th-snype fucked around with this message at 00:22 on Sep 15, 2017 |
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Sep 15, 2017 00:17
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The brief was basically, dark and moody, sexy without being sexual, classy and safe for Facebook. I know what sexy pictures look like but the brief wasn't cheesecake. It was a weird shoot because my Slovak isn't very good and none of the girls spoke English so we ended up having to speak Spanish via the manageress who spoke it for some reason. As for direction, the manageress wanted some specific poses and clothing changes and I was mostly trying to refine those and tidying things up - keeping limbs in frame and so on. The girl in the first photo is quite a big girl and she was very conscious about the way the usual poses showed her size, the overhead photo I posted was my suggestion to try and de-emphasise her belly and hips. The second one, I was trying to show off her legs and draw attention away from her face while still keeping it in the frame. I'm posting here because I want people to tell me how to improve. If I just want uncritical validation, I'll go talk to my dog. I don't get pissy when people tell me I suck as long as there's something I can take away from it to suck less in future.
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Sep 15, 2017 00:58
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Helen Highwater posted:The brief was basically, dark and moody, sexy without being sexual, classy and safe for Facebook. I don't really do sexy portraits, but I think a lot of guidelines for commercial portraiture regarding how to display the human form in an appealing manner apply here. Before I give my thoughts on anything though, if you want to get better at this type of stuff, you need to expand your vision on how to shoot portraits. Regardless of the amount of pictures you've posted and received comments and criticism on in here, your style really hasn't changed at all. Your portraits where you use off-camera lighting are still pretty recognizably yours, and not in a particularly flattering way. I get the sense that you don't really understand what "good light" is. It's fine if you like the shots and are doing them for yourself, but if you want other people to like (and professionally use) your photos, you need to widen your aesthetic sensibilities. The good news is that it is actually going to require less work than you've probably been putting in. It's really easy. That shot you took of that Anastasia girl on the bed back in Feb 2016 is almost there, you just overexposed her face a bit too much. If you want to get a better idea of how to shoot "sexy but not sexual" look at men's magazines featuring photos of women. They have lots of different photographers who shoot in a lot of different styles. Challenge yourself to try some new styles. If you do not do this, I do not think you will really improve much, and you'll keep hearing the same groans over and over again. That said, my thoughts on a few things: 1. Stop shooting photos on that green chair/couch. If you are wanting to shoot on furniture, do it on something simple with a neutral color. That style of furniture only "sorta" works for your steampunk photos, and even then the green is a really distracting element. In this case, you probably should have taken these photos inside their business, giving them an opportunity to display their space as well as the people who will be inside said space. If you keep limiting yourself to shooting inside of your apartment with all of the same elements, you are severely limiting your flexibility and ability to grow. I think you should focus on getting better at working with natural/available light, and once you have a much better understanding of that, then start working with off camera lighting. You can still take very dramatic photos using available light- don't pigeonhole yourself. 2. For the photos of the heavier person, I think you should have had a talk with her and the manager about what their end goal is there. If she is a heavier girl, and she is working in a bar, or whatever, where people pay to flirt with her, or whatever; wouldn't they want to display her accurately so that everyone who finds her figure to be very attractive can look forward to meeting her? This is clearly less of a suggestion about photography and more of a suggestion about communicating with your clients. No one model is going to appeal to everyone, so in this case it would be sensible to display the unique qualities of each person to attract the people interested in said qualities. If customers are expecting her to look different then they aren't going to engage with her. I also don't know what to think about someone being so self-conscious about the way she looks when in this line if work. I feel bad for her. 3. Looking at your flickr, I think that 8889 and 8890 are the two clear best shots of the set. It's a natural looking pose and you aren't accentuating any "negative beauty features." Look at how you are accentuating that woman's chin in 8819. You are making her wrinkles so plainly visible that it almost comes across as mean. Women in general don't like their wrinkles to show; they are one of the main things they try to conceal with makeup. Making them so visible and front and center in the photo means that virtually noone would like that picture of themself. If you're working with someone with wrinkles, you need to use softer light so you don't have the deep black shadows (created from harsher lighting) turning the crevices into deep canyons. Softer light means softer shadows. Soft light is a pretty clear winner for a lot of beauty work because it helps to minimize most blemishes on someone's skin. It's the equivalent of someone spending a shitload of time in a makeup chair. 4. Now that I think about it, maybe you should find a girl friend/model and take a bunch of pictures of her and have her point out all the negative little bits that she doesn't like about them- the wrinkles around her eyes, chin, etc. The shape of her nose/face. Shadows she doesn't like. Angles and shapes of her face that she finds unflattering. Poses that work for her body type. Poses that don't work for her body type. There are way too many of these things for me to point out in your photos because I am not really invested enough in helping you to spend that much time, but I'm happy to offer suggestions on how to move forward. Also keep in mind that every person has slightly different beauty standards, no one person will be able to suddenly open your mind up to everything, but I think it's something you should start doing if you want to take beauty photos seriously. All of the above talk of beauty standards feels pretty gross. I ultimately think beauty photos are pretty shallow and boring, but to each their own. Edit - One final comment on this part: quote:The brief was basically, dark and moody, sexy without being sexual, classy and safe for Facebook. I understand your mentality here- you wanted the photos to be dark, and you didn't want your apartment to be visible in the background, so that is maybe why you felt forced to use the lighting you did. You simply should not have offered your apartment as a location for the shoot. It should not have even crossed your mind. In the future, I hope you can put those thoughts aside. RangerScum fucked around with this message at 07:39 on Sep 15, 2017 |
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Sep 15, 2017 07:35
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Thanks for the more detailed response, I appreciate it. I liked the aesthetic of the high contrast, two light setup so I've been playing with that a lot recently. I hope to get some outdoor shoots in soon to try and mix things up a bit.
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Sep 15, 2017 13:09
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Your photos where you are using film/medium format are way better in every sense because you aren't fiddling with your lighting gear, instead you were just working with the subject and getting a good portrait of them while using available light. If I were you I would continue in that direction while going with what Rangerscum said and work with some friends in private on practicing studio lighting while getting that feedback on your posing. What portrait photographers inspire you? Look at their work. Keep looking at it. Then find more. Absorb good portrait work. It helps.
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Sep 15, 2017 17:39
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Outdoor portraits. untitled-15-Edit.jpg by Iain Compton, on Flickr  untitled-32-Edit-Edit-2.jpg by Iain Compton, on Flickr  untitled-22-Edit.jpg by Iain Compton, on Flickr
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Oct 8, 2017 04:10
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RangerScum posted:
A shower stall AND a tub? 
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Oct 8, 2017 05:51
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 Untitled by Jason Martin, on Flickr  Untitled by Jason Martin, on Flickr
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Oct 15, 2017 23:43
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Those are fantastic, although I think I prefer the first one, and would have liked the second more if his eyes were open. Are these part of a larger project?
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Oct 16, 2017 04:41
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toadee posted:Those are fantastic, although I think I prefer the first one, and would have liked the second more if his eyes were open. Are these part of a larger project? Not particularly much of one, but more of the beginning of an idea I might expand on.  Untitled by Jason Martin, on Flickr  Untitled by Jason Martin, on Flickr  Untitled by Jason Martin, on Flickr
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Oct 28, 2017 20:41
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Last one looks like she's tweakin' her nips
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Oct 29, 2017 05:10
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Fart Car '97 posted:Last one looks like she's tweakin' her nips
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Oct 29, 2017 06:05
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Fart Car '97 posted:Last one looks like she's tweakin' her nips
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Oct 29, 2017 08:46
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quote:she's tweakin' her nips
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Oct 29, 2017 11:31
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thetzar posted:Not particularly much of one, but more of the beginning of an idea I might expand on. You're going to expand on shooting as many different portrait styles as possible and call it a series?
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Oct 29, 2017 22:09
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Spedman posted:You're going to expand on shooting as many different portrait styles as possible and call it a series? No, these are just more photos of people which are otherwise unrelated.
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Oct 29, 2017 23:20
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thetzar posted:Not particularly much of one, but more of the beginning of an idea I might expand on. I genuinely liked this one of the older gentleman you took:  Untitled by Jason Martin, on Flickr
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Oct 30, 2017 02:39
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ReverendHammer posted:I genuinely liked this one of the older gentleman you took: Thank you! I got to shoot a super interesting guy in a super interesting space. Editing thing thing down is very, very hard to do.
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Oct 30, 2017 19:50
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Some recent nerd poo poo: DSCF0625 by Rob Swackhamer Productions, on Flickr DSCF1102 by Rob Swackhamer Productions, on Flickr
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Oct 31, 2017 00:36
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ReverendHammer posted:
expose for the subject's face
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Oct 31, 2017 19:34
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Dren posted:expose for the subject's face Yeah, that is one thing I could have done better. Mostly by cranking up the power on the strobe I was using. That's something I need to get better at. There was something about how it wasn't fully exposed that I kinda liked (and the cosplayer was super happy with the pic). But that's more of a taste thing and I can see why some people wouldn't like it.
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Nov 1, 2017 01:05
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ReverendHammer posted:Yeah, that is one thing I could have done better. Mostly by cranking up the power on the strobe I was using. That's something I need to get better at. There was something about how it wasn't fully exposed that I kinda liked (and the cosplayer was super happy with the pic). But that's more of a taste thing and I can see why some people wouldn't like it. The way it’s exposed there’s a tremendous focus on the sunset to the exclusion of the cosplayer. At first glance I see a sunset and a silhouette, not a portrait showcasing a costume and makeup.
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Nov 5, 2017 21:22
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Any tips on shooting dog portraits? Especially all black dogs.
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Nov 5, 2017 21:57
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change my name posted:Any tips on shooting dog portraits? Especially all black dogs. a whole lot of light and prayer
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Nov 6, 2017 01:58
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change my name posted:Any tips on shooting dog portraits? Especially all black dogs. My tip is only share the pics with people who know the dog because nobody else cares unless it’s a life-defining photographic masterpiece.
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Nov 6, 2017 02:22
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VelociBacon posted:My tip is only share the pics with people who know the dog because nobody else cares unless it’s a life-defining photographic masterpiece. wrong, show me all the dog pics. change my name posted:Any tips on shooting dog portraits? Especially all black dogs. In what type of setting? Is it your dog or someone else's?
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Nov 6, 2017 03:07
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VelociBacon posted:My tip is only share the pics with people who know the dog because nobody else cares unless it’s a life-defining photographic masterpiece. This is incorrect, everyone loves dog portraits (especially if they're wearing flower crowns). It's going to be a birthday present for my girlfriend and I'll be dog sitting for her over the holidays, so I can shoot as much as I want.
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Nov 6, 2017 05:16
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VelociBacon posted:My tip is only share the pics with people who know the dog because nobody else cares unless it’s a life-defining photographic masterpiece. This is the worst opinion. All dog pics that are close to in focus are worth sharing.
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Nov 6, 2017 15:19
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Not really portraits but for lack of a better place to put them, I really like how these turned out. Especially since it wasn't planned, I had the wrong lens, and the subject spent most of time with his back towards me.  
Zero One fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Nov 12, 2017 |
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Nov 12, 2017 16:51
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change my name posted:Any tips on shooting dog portraits? Especially all black dogs. I took this a long time ago and I’ve learned a lot about lighting and whatever since then but it may create some ideas for you. https://500px.com/photo/27200369/modern-family-by-david-franco?ctx_page=3&from=user&user_id=289064
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Nov 14, 2017 04:58
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change my name posted:Any tips on shooting dog portraits? Especially all black dogs. Your camera's meter might be thrown off by dark tones, so you can use exposure compensation to properly bring out that beautiful black fur.
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Nov 14, 2017 12:27
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 Here's the best one I ever got. Echoing the need for a ton of light. Also wait until you dog is very very tired if you want a nicely lit traditional portrait.
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Nov 14, 2017 13:58
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Outdoor shots can be great if you have room and a longish lens.  IMG_4590.jpg by Iain Compton, on Flickr  Kosice_March007.jpg by Iain Compton, on Flickr  IMG_5690.jpg by Iain Compton, on Flickr
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Nov 14, 2017 14:05
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8th-snype posted:wrong, show me all the dog pics.  Here's an old shot of the best dog, Jet. Jet passed away around this time last year 
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Nov 23, 2017 09:27
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8th-snype posted:wrong, show me all the dog pics. Now this is a good doggie. Poe.  Poe by B. B., on Flickr
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Nov 24, 2017 21:58
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Nov 26, 2017 21:30
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 Birthday present by roland luijken, on FlickrI think she had deep thoughts at that very moment. That thingy on her neck is a kids tattoo fyi.
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Dec 5, 2017 11:07
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