First time back in the studio.

moomike

moomike

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Mike
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Like them too. First one is my fav though.Probs because I like the glimpse of thigh :)

Gaz
Of course I like the effect too.
 
Cheers Andrew, Gary, Toni, Paul & David for the feedback (y)

lightshipman said:
Nah, she's shaking coal dust out of her hair
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Interesting outfits they wear for mining nowadays ;)

Paul-H said:
...what's your method for that. Almost looks like it was shot on film.
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Fuji files always look a bit more film like to my eyes to be honest mate, I've just used a photoshop black & white filter & the usual levels & curves adjustments. Nothing even slightly fancy.
 
Look, they're all very accomplished.. but you asked for critique so I'm going to be picky, hope that's what you wanted.

#1 is an interesting pose, well lit and with a really nice conversion, but I don't get the splodges at all (and I like arty!). If they're trying to give a sense of movement then the ones in front of the forehead don't make sense - and she's not moving. Lose the effect and it could be a stunning image.

#2 is a very accomplished bold contrasty conversion but again I don't get the background. What story is it trying to tell? And she looks a little over-posed in this one for me, as if she's been holding and tweaking the pose for a while.

#3 the hand placement doesn't work at all. No-one naturally does that with their hands - and if you go for unusual hand placements they need to be really deliberate, for instance adding a graphic or strong compositional element to the image. These don't quite do that. There's also something a bit odd about the angles which I don't quite get. Maybe you used a wide angle lens? It seems as if you can see up her nose but at the same time you are looking slightly down on her.

#4 I like, though she's a bit low in the frame, but again the hand placement doesn't work. Having the edges of the hands facing the camera would make them less dominant. The other problem is that the highlights on face, chest and shoulder are a bit too bright, I'm not sure whether that's from the lighting or the post processing.

As I said, though, they're all good, I'm being picky in an attempt to be useful. Keep it up!
 
Thanks for the very well thought out feedback @juggler I appreciate you taking the time.

I'm on board with the majority of your comments mate, you certainly sound like you know your stuff!

#1 - After much thought, with this one, I'll have to disagree about the first shot looking better without the effect, the shot actually looks pretty plain without it, I thought of the effect to signify the title "anguish" & I made it a little chaotic to fit. This has been the shot that has had the most positive feedback so far & I'm not sure it would have done were it just a straight up shot of her hiding her face in black & white.

#2 - Yep, can see what you mean with this one.
I'm not at the point where I'd know how to tell a story with every single studio shot. Any tips on how you "tell a story" with studio poses would be very welcome - you may have inspired me to start a new thread on this actually, would be very interested in how others approach this.

#3 - I can see where you're coming from with this one too but I'm not entirely sure what I'd do to "fix" it - I thought it actually did look quite natural until you said it didn't :LOL:

#4 - Great tip about the hands! Highlights being very bright was just from the light placement, it's not blown & would be easy to just tone down those areas, will give it a look.

Once again, cheers Simon, really appreciate you taking the time for such constructive feedback (y)
 
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moomike said:
Thanks for the very well thought out feedback @juggler I appreciate you taking the time.

I'm on board with the majority of your comments mate, you certainly sound like you know your stuff!

#1 - After much thought, with this one, I'll have to disagree about the first shot looking better without the effect, the shot actually looks pretty plain without it, I thought of the effect to signify the title "anguish" & I made it a little chaotic to fit. This has been the shot that has had the most positive feedback so far & I'm not sure it would have done were it just a straight up shot of her hiding her face in black & white.

#2 - Yep, can see what you mean with this one.
I'm not at the point where I'd know how to tell a story with every single studio shot. Any tips on how you "tell a story" with studio poses would be very welcome - you may have inspired me to start a new thread on this actually, would be very interested in how others approach this.

#3 - I can see where you're coming from with this one too but I'm not entirely sure what I'd do to "fix" it - I thought it actually did look quite natural until you said it didn't :LOL:

#4 - Great tip about the hands! Highlights being very bright was just from the light placement, it's not blown & would be easy to just tone down those areas, will give it a look.

Once again, cheers Simon, really appreciate you taking the time for such constructive feedback (y)
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I should have qualified my remarks - I am not an expert, but I'm slowly learning to apply the same pedantry to my own stuff. Sometimes even before I press the shutter release! I still think #1 could be great, perhaps just lose the droplets at the front of her head.
As for telling a 'story' - perhaps story is too strong a word. But I always try to consider every element in an image. If it doesn't serve a purpose it should go in order to make the remaining elements more coherent. I also try to ask myself 'why?' about each element as well as the image as a whole. This is perhaps my current failing, it can leave things looking over staged and a bit lifeless - but that's an aside, really.
 
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