Marina in B & W !

[soulmike 58]

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B&W 1 by mikethe8ike, on Flickr

I converted this to B&W and added a slight red filter, previous entries lacked eye contact so i thought that this might redress the balance. I think we captured a rather "sultry" moment what do you all think of the expression the pose and tint . .? it was done late in the session and she came up with this herself !! for someone who a few hours previous told me she wasnt that photogenic i was pleased with her effort

Canon 600 D
Tamron 17/50mm
1/2500
2/8
44.0 mm
ISO 400
1 shot focus
evaluative metering

[Ridgetop]

The overall pose is fine and the tinting is a personal decision (not my favorite but all right). I was trying to figure out the lighting which has the interesting effect of shadowing her left side (right) eye while adding a hotspot on her right side (left) forehead area. The shadows don't bother me too much, but unless it's my monitor, her forehead is a little blown out. My only other minor issue is I don't like the slight edge of hand showing on the right side of the pic. I think I would have moved her a little more to the right side of the pic to keep her hair fully in the shot, to drop off the hand, and maybe bring her prominent eye slightly off the center line axis of the shot. But, overall, not bad.

[rachb]

I like the pose and expression! The only problem I have is with her jacket. I saw some of your other posts, and that jacket is in all the ones I saw. I wish she had put it down or out of the frame- can you clone it out of this shot at all? The furry liner is the FIRST thing that catches my attention in this photo, and the other ones you posted in this section. If you could pp the jacket out, I think this portrait would be a lot better. Great focus, as well.

[soulmike 58]

Thanks for your comments in hindsight the jacket could do with less screentime . . i maybe think it was used as a prop and as we both were charting unfamiliar waters i will deffo consider not having it on our next shoot .
I will do as you suggest and crop the hand/jacket out, im glad to see the focus/pose and expression all work that was my main consideration as i place more emphasis on these things above all else, and all comments here have been noted and will help my next session tremendously

once again thanks

[graciousness]

I have to say it, even though you may hate me for it. But sultry is just not the word I would think of looking at this shot. Her pose and expression, with the jacket and the sunglasses just look so forced that it looks silly.

Top that with blown out areas on her face and hair, and the conversion which makes her look like she has oily, greasy face rather. It doesn't help that she is not wearing make up so b&W will really highlight that fact. Most of the time, in an unflattering way if the aim of the image is to be a little sexy.

The shadow across half of her face - no good, as it makes that side of the face look dirty with the conversion.

Because of the angle of her face and lack of definition around her jawline (due to flat or underexposure), she doesn't look like she has a chin. It's really not flattering for women to have their chins tucked down as it creates rolls or hides the jawline. It makes our faces look fat around the chin area. Best way to avoid this is always tell the model to stretch neck and put head forward.

Another thing with her head tilted slightly on one side and the shadow created from her hair to that one side of the face, it makes her nose even more prominent. You want to avoid shadows on one side of the face as it makes sharp features on a face even more prominent. Nice, broad lighting is the key.

In regards to the conversion itself, not a fan of the red filter over it. Makes her look all hot and bothered and makes her skin look oily. I think you've also overdone the processing as the blown out areas look really unnaturally blown out. I think I would have done a face smoothing process in Photoshop so you can't see as much of the pores on her face.

Again, the eyes. Whilst she is engaged this time with the camera, her eyes are positioned in a way that there's 'almost' a little too much white again on the eye closer to the camera. You really do have to watch out for that. But it's good that you managed to get catchlights, though!

Christ, I sound like a d*ckhead with this harsh critique. I'm so sorry

Now that you hate me, I hope I've still helped with my feedback anyhoo. Someone may come along and tell the opposite of what I've said, so I guess what I"m saying is that take my feedback with a grain of salt.

I'll tell you what though, your next session will be much better with what you are learning from all the critiques. Looking forward to seeing them soon.

Cheers,

Grace

[tokyomark]

Originally Posted by graciousness

Nice, broad lighting is the key.

Grace, could you elaborate on this a bit?

Thanks!

Mark

[soulmike 58]

Christ, I sound like a d*ckhead with this harsh critique. I'm so sorry

Now that you hate me, I hope I've still helped with my feedback anyhoo. Someone may come along and tell the opposite of what I've said, so I guess what I"m saying is that take my feedback with a grain of salt.


Ha Ha not at all mate . . all your comments are very welcome and please dont worry about my "feelings" im a really big lad now and can take anything on the chin . i know your only trying to help and please dont stop . i did state that this was my first proper shoot ive not taken a course or anything i just read as much as i could and she let me loose for a few hours I take all comments on board i dont take anything personally i didnt expect to get it right first time and i dont expect to for a while . . and your right my next session will be better . . after all its all very subjective isnt it ? but my rule is if more than 2 people comment about the same thing then its worthwhile and valid . i try to live by this simple axiom . ."there is no such thing as truth . only perspectives

Keep it coming im a big boy now EH ?