Marble & Mage

[SJH Foto]

I like that telephoto lens crack too Zet! You have a great sense of humour.

Actually, it was posed. That's the way she poses/stands a lot.

[bagofscraps]

I love those edits - they really sort out the background problems.

I don't particularly like her arms folded - she looks defensive and not very happy about posing. I agree with the earlier comment about getting women to pose in a more flattering way.

The marble is a lovely background - none near me unfortunately, but it has made me wonder about what other buildings there might be that could provide a good background.

[SJH Foto]

Originally Posted by bagofscraps

I love those edits - they really sort out the background problems.

I don't particularly like her arms folded - she looks defensive and not very happy about posing. I agree with the earlier comment about getting women to pose in a more flattering way.

The marble is a lovely background - none near me unfortunately, but it has made me wonder about what other buildings there might be that could provide a good background.

What do you propose then, to "shoot a woman in a more flattering way"?

[bagofscraps]

There's probably quite a few tips that pros out there can give - I only know a very little! But the things about this image that strike me are ...

With her arms folded it draws attention to her bust - which may or may not be an objective, but I'm guessing not in this case.

You can make a woman's hips look narrower if you get her to stand slightly more sideways on and then twist the top half of her body back towards you - the sort of pose that models and film stars give when they know they're being photographed on the red carpet, but not quite so pronounced. Take a look through a lingerie or swimwear catalogue - you'll probably find few women who have their hips showing their full width.

If you want to do a head and shoulders shot of a woman, get yourself up higher than she is and look down at her. When she looks up at you she'll have to extend her neck, which smooths out all the neck wrinkles. If a woman has adouble chin or a thick neck, or wrinkles that don't get smoothed out by extending her neck, get her to rest her chin on her hands - it covers up necks/double chins well! By looking down at her, you'll also get the light to fill the shadows on her face rather than accentuate them. Much more flattering especially for the under eye area.

Above all, don't use flash - it'll wash out the skin tone create nasty shadows and might make her look like a startled rabbit.

So when will you get a chance to have another go with a female model? I'd love to see what you come up with!

[bagofscraps]

Just found this for you ...

http://www.memorymakersmagazine.com/article.aspx?id=61

[SJH Foto]

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll print them and bring them with me.

Mage's a bit "modeled out" right now, and Tera moved away. I don't know when I'll have another female model that I can adjust and position. I can try your shots with my senior pics, but I don't want to experiment on customers-so I'll wait for another friend/model.

I am intrigued by some of your statements-you are right-it was NOT our intention to draw attention to the bust-actually, it didn't even occur to me! The whole hips thing-not to get personal, but some girls don't like to look like they have narrow hips, but we'll see how that works (I definitely wouldn't mention this to her, so I'd probably take a few both ways and see what happens).

Thanks again for your insights/suggestions!

[Loose_Canon]

Originally Posted by lissykeeper

I don't really mind the sunglasses and the purse. It gives it a casual feel, which it should. But that rail coming out of her butt looks terrible. I don't think you could clone it with a lot of sucess. I did a couple of quick and dirty edits. See what you think about these.

lissykeeper, you fixed everything I didn't like all in one edit. Thanks - saved me tons of typing.

[Mrs.Anthony337]

I don't like the outfit (colors) with the background- it's blah...her red hair would be awesome but its tied up...wonder what that photo would look like in b&w...

[SJH Foto]

In B&W, it would look like this:

[Mrs.Anthony337]

Hmm...the shirt still drowns out...I don't know- I think I'd just choose an outfit and hairstyle that would stand out amongst the marble...or if she gave more 'attitude' in her pose with darker clothing (for b&w) -the marble would look pretty neat.