Hair Model

[mehtasahil]

Please critique on models pose, hair colors, some shadows on the neck and background.
F/8
1/200
112 focal length
Mode Manual
External Flash with umbrealla used on right side with some reflectors on left.




Regards
SM

[BigFuzzy]

First thing that popped into my mind is I really dislike the background as it's distracting with all those words on it.

I would have liked to see the whole of her right eye, as it sits now, having it cropped in the middle just feels odd to me. She's directly in the middle of the frame also, which doesn't help me.. but that's more composition than pose. Her neck feels squished.. I think she should have tried to have a "longer" neck.. by that I mean pulling her head upward as if she had a string attached to the top of her head. Something about this pose feels as if she's sticking her neck out to us.. not flattering I think.

Don't have a problem with the shadows on her neck, but the lack of shadows elsewhere make this feel like a pretty flat image to me.

Hair colors look fine to me, though the stray hairs on her right shoulder are a bit distracting.

There's lots of potential here, with just a bit more creative use of the light and composition it could be killer.

[graciousness]

Man, I really need to sleep. I'll just do one more post tonight so I can sleep, otherwise, I'll be in my bed analysing this photo in my head

First thing I noted is that this is for a hair show, right? Was this for a job?

I used to hair model for Vidal Sassoon in LA so glad to be able to put some experience in to this critique. As a start, you have to shift your main focus (as in visual focus) from the actual model herself, to simply her hair. Think of hair her as a product as oppose to a portrait or people photography. With haircuts and hair styling, hairdressers always refer to the client's or model's (1) face shape; (2) jawline; (3) hairline when shaping the hair. So how do you apply this to hair photography then? By accentuating the hairstyle by way of showing how it complements the client's or model's jawline.

In this photo, you had her head tilted up to show the 'shape' of the hairstyle which is great. However, the rest of her face didn't look good especially her eyes. What would have been a better shot is if you had taken from profile (model sideways) and then having her head slightly tilted forward and then up. OR her head down so that you can also see the length of the hair on the back (which is clear to me that it is quite a bit longer on the back) Who cares if you couldn't see her eyes - it's the hair that is the feature in this image. Unless of course, this shot is for the model's portfolio and then the rules revert back to portrait photography.

Another pose suggestion is her turned back against you, head tilted as much as possible to the left, showing the shape of the hair on the side and back.

The umbrella is on the wrong side - should have been on the left. The hair's volume is on the left, therefore, you highlight that. Light needed to be higher so that the top of the head is also exposed well. You need to expose for the hair.

The jawline. You used the reflector underneath to get rid of as much shade as possible, however, you need a stronger jawline here. As it is, her chin looks fatter than what it is.

Is she topless on this shot? She looks like it. Not a flattering look esp with the arms tucked in against her sides. Arms out and probably hands on her hips so you can see her shape better.

You did a good job, regardless though. The best that I've seen of your photos yet here in the critique!

Cheers and I hope thsi helps. I know it concentrated on hair modelling/photography, but I am assuming you took this shot as an assignment.

Grace

[wulf]

I agree with Al about the words being distracting. Perhaps you didn't have any choice about the background but I wonder if you could have used a wider aperture to at least throw them out of focus.

My main contribution though is to wonder if a square crop would work better. If the photo is about the hair, it occupies a surprisingly small proportion of the frame. About half the image is taken up with the model's upper chest, which being bare and strongly lit is pretty featureless. If you cropped to a little way below where her left shoulder meets the frame, I think it would be a stronger composition.

Wulf

[mehtasahil]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

First thing that popped into my mind is I really dislike the background as it's distracting with all those words on it.

I would have liked to see the whole of her right eye, as it sits now, having it cropped in the middle just feels odd to me. She's directly in the middle of the frame also, which doesn't help me.. but that's more composition than pose. Her neck feels squished.. I think she should have tried to have a "longer" neck.. by that I mean pulling her head upward as if she had a string attached to the top of her head. Something about this pose feels as if she's sticking her neck out to us.. not flattering I think.

Don't have a problem with the shadows on her neck, but the lack of shadows elsewhere make this feel like a pretty flat image to me.

Hair colors look fine to me, though the stray hairs on her right shoulder are a bit distracting.

There's lots of potential here, with just a bit more creative use of the light and composition it could be killer.

BigFuzzy - Thanks for your feedback mate.. The college wanted the background however I think I might be able to do some photo-shop to fix it.

I didn't see the stray hairs on the right shoulder thanks for pointing that out.
I'm learning a lot about lighting these days. For this shoot however I found a german photographers video tutuorial how does hair photography for Toni& Guy.

I told the model to keep her neck straight but I think it went back in 2 sec.
Thanks again for your feedback.. I'm learning and your comments are priceless that I can't find on any other websites.

Cheer
SM

[mehtasahil]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Man, I really need to sleep. I'll just do one more post tonight so I can sleep, otherwise, I'll be in my bed analysing this photo in my head

First thing I noted is that this is for a hair show, right? Was this for a job?

I used to hair model for Vidal Sassoon in LA so glad to be able to put some experience in to this critique. As a start, you have to shift your main focus (as in visual focus) from the actual model herself, to simply her hair. Think of hair her as a product as oppose to a portrait or people photography. With haircuts and hair styling, hairdressers always refer to the client's or model's (1) face shape; (2) jawline; (3) hairline when shaping the hair. So how do you apply this to hair photography then? By accentuating the hairstyle by way of showing how it complements the client's or model's jawline.

In this photo, you had her head tilted up to show the 'shape' of the hairstyle which is great. However, the rest of her face didn't look good especially her eyes. What would have been a better shot is if you had taken from profile (model sideways) and then having her head slightly tilted forward and then up. OR her head down so that you can also see the length of the hair on the back (which is clear to me that it is quite a bit longer on the back) Who cares if you couldn't see her eyes - it's the hair that is the feature in this image. Unless of course, this shot is for the model's portfolio and then the rules revert back to portrait photography.

Another pose suggestion is her turned back against you, head tilted as much as possible to the left, showing the shape of the hair on the side and back.

The umbrella is on the wrong side - should have been on the left. The hair's volume is on the left, therefore, you highlight that. Light needed to be higher so that the top of the head is also exposed well. You need to expose for the hair.

The jawline. You used the reflector underneath to get rid of as much shade as possible, however, you need a stronger jawline here. As it is, her chin looks fatter than what it is.

Is she topless on this shot? She looks like it. Not a flattering look esp with the arms tucked in against her sides. Arms out and probably hands on her hips so you can see her shape better.

You did a good job, regardless though. The best that I've seen of your photos yet here in the critique!

Cheers and I hope thsi helps. I know it concentrated on hair modelling/photography, but I am assuming you took this shot as an assignment.

Grace

G'day Grace,

Other than my boss's email you are the only other person who's emails I read more than a couple of times. Your detailed review is very precise and not to mention valuable for an amateur.

Right so this was volunteer photoshoot for local hair college at Glebe near Broadway. I take some comfort that as I wasn't paid for this job hopefully the client didn't expect anywhere close to the results I achieved.

After coming back I realised at least for this model I should have had the lighting/umbrella on the other side, but due to time pressures like 10 mins with 10 hair models thats all I could salvage.

Oh I'm happy you've sort of started my this post. I'll keep posting more when I get more shots.

No she wasn't topless. I wish.. Lol.. She was wearing a top but thats how the picture has come. I think I'll crop the image to get that arms out..

Question about Jawline? you said I need to get a stronger jaw line? does that means more shadow I'm guessing so the line between neck and jaw is clear? Am I interpreting this in the right way??

Thanks Grace.. Cheers SM

[mehtasahil]

Originally Posted by wulf

I agree with Al about the words being distracting. Perhaps you didn't have any choice about the background but I wonder if you could have used a wider aperture to at least throw them out of focus.

My main contribution though is to wonder if a square crop would work better. If the photo is about the hair, it occupies a surprisingly small proportion of the frame. About half the image is taken up with the model's upper chest, which being bare and strongly lit is pretty featureless. If you cropped to a little way below where her left shoulder meets the frame, I think it would be a stronger composition.

Wulf

Wulf, Thanks for your feedback mate. Actually the idea of the have a naked looking body with hair done composition was inspired from some research done by looking at high-end hair products models on the internet. But I get your point, that I'm a bit distracted by beauty and not concentrating on the product that is hair in this case.

I will update the cropping and post it later today.

Thanks Mate
SM.