Pictures Of A New Model (girl)

[Kemal]

Hi, I was wondering if I could get some critiques. I took these with my Pentax K10D with the kit lens and a 55 mm manual lens. I have more pics up on my site: http://www.kemal.ca

http://www.kemal.ca/mine/albums/Digital/K10D/l/Picture_031_%28Large%29.jpg

http://www.kemal.ca/mine/albums/Digital/K10D/l/Picture_036_%28Large%29.jpg

http://www.kemal.ca/mine/albums/Digital/K10D/l/Picture_089_%28Large%29.jpg

http://www.kemal.ca/mine/albums/Digital/K10D/l/Picture_145_%28Large%29.jpg

http://www.kemal.ca/mine/albums/Digital/K10D/l/Picture_177_%28Large%29.jpg

http://www.kemal.ca/mine/albums/Digital/K10D/l/Picture_219_%28Large%29.jpg

[Kurdt]

The last picture in my opinion is the best. The others are okay, but rather generic centered shots that place the subject in tough lighting. That is with a bright white background, and and dark foreground. It makes it difficult to capture the dark black and bright whites with everything in between not becoming washed out. The library picture has great depth of field but again, the subject is dead center in the picture, try some different angles and experiment a little bit. The last shot had nice depth of field, and angle with a well presented facial expression but the sweater is completely blacked out, again routing back to the bright background, but dark cloth/foreground. All in all, not bad, just keep practicing with exposures and try bracketing to find what works. =)

[Brett Bradford]

Here's an interesting critique... not in regards to the photo techniques but "model" techniques. And not yours in particular, but just model techniques in general.

Certain models can pull off certain looks and very few can pull off every look naturally (or flatteringly) you want them too. Now yes, I know that few of us have a black book with contacts for a hundred different types of models depending on what your shooting. But you should try to find poses/looks/expressions that work for the person you are shooting, and just stick with those. When the girl you shot tries for the "serious" look, it makes her look as though she's just sort of "pissed off" and/or "faking it". It takes a bit to figure out what a model's character is, but once you do, stick primarily to those expressions. A person in a photo with a look that "fits" them can somewhat mask a lot of technical flaws in the photo itself. People just like looking at people in general, and everything else sort of takes slightly less of a priority.

Not that you shouldn't be trying to nail the shot, but I think people can see the point I was trying to make.

By the way, I am using a Pentax K10D myself.... Absolutely love that camera.

[StompinTom]

i agree with what was said above (and Brett Bradford raises an interesting point).
the backgrounds are too busy and the centralized composition doesnt work. the lighting and focus on the first few just make the model blend too much with the backgrounds; she doesnt pop out as the focus of the picture.
the last one is the best because she clearly stands out and the shallow DOF separates her from the background. two things: the crooked right side is distracting and the blown out sky/ceiling takes away from the model. her expression in the last one is probably the best of them all.
using an ND filter and some flash on her face would be good to darken the surroundings and pull her out of the background even more.

also, i took a look at your website and was turned off by the gallery. way too many pictures in way too many folders/sections. immediately when you see a huge list of links and folders, you lose the will to explore it all, at least i do. i think for an online portfolio, take 10-15 of your BEST pictures and lay them out in a simple way to allow easy intuitive viewing without pressing the Back button 50 million times. i duno about anyone else, but my attention span isnt long enough to accomodate a maze of directories and subdirectories.

[tiefight]

The last one is by far my favorite from both a compositional standpoint, and because of her expression (she's a pretty girl, she should smile more ;)).

The rest are a little too loose for my taste compositionally, and her blank expression doesn't really work for me either. The one of her looking at the light has potential, but I would have liked to have seen it a little tighter, with something of a more dynamic pose (turned to the side, doing something with her arms, etc), and a little less going on in the background (either by DOF, cropping, or paying close attention to the angles to avoid so many competing lines.)

The DOF in the library one is interesting, but, again, I think would have preferred it a little tighter, with the books straight, and the girl somewhere other than dead center.

[purplerose]

Hmm, less is sometimes more: I think better compositions would improve these a lot; try not to centralize everything. :)

[eazym]

nice smile, the last picture works well

[Looped_Warrior]

I also like the last one the best, compositionally, and because i assume its candid... not so much a fake smile, or the pissed off serious... I would continue to explore composition with your models...

[marlboro]

i'm not even at the level of giving comments to people about their photos (cause i really suck)
but yeah like what they said, maybe try taking the photo from either the left or right side of the model instead and try out different angles !
and maybe you can just talk to the model while you shoot, so you can have that natural look (if thats what you're going for)
very nice shots nonetheless !
i love #1 and #5, they're very nice !
and since it's in b&w, maybe you could make the model stand behind some light colored stuff like in #1 !
i'm sorry, i'm new myself, so i don't know much ! :^^: !

[samsite999]

umm, what can i say thats not been said. the last one is by fair the best. composure is the most interesting. The model acutaly looks happy!! and the focus and levels are nearly bang on.

Alot of the other photos suffer from low contrast, and focus issues. The DOF isn't quight right on some of them. i.e the books in focus the model slightly out.

Work on your post production skills for your levels. And try a much simpler composure that isn't quight as busy. fianly..get your model to smile!! she looks great when she does

[Rhynome]

I'm just gonna do two.

2nd to last, the book to the left of the photo is a bit too distracting, it doesn't let the eye run about how it would naturally and it screams for attention, and bloody well gets it. The photo also feels a little skewed.

Last one is, as everyone has said so far, by far the best. Though there is one thing that bothers me, I don't know how it affects others, but I do know it bothers me; the corridor is tilted and that just makes me feel a bit disorientated, though I don't actually know if anyone else gets put off by that.

Cheers for the photos.