Hope you don't mind the feedback... I'd love if other people chimed in with their thoughts too, because I'm probably not right. And feedback is best way to get better.
This was a model that contacted me on Instagram of all things.
I actually have some full body and more wide angle stuff, but just assumed nobody would've liked them, or picked up on some of the being a little soft focused.
This is probably my favorite half body of her, just a touch soft focused.
I don’t know if that’s the right way to go about your selection of pictures here. NeoGAF is a fairly diverse audience, so I would personally select the pictures I like best, or the subject preferred. Or if there is some story being told then obviously those in according order. But since NeoGAF (or flickr or any other community for that matter) is not a single entity, trying to post pictures that appeal seems futile.
Anyway since I do like critiquing as much as getting critiqued and I too feel it valuable to give and get critique and compare with that of others, here’s mine:
Model shots 1:
Picture 1, 2557: I first noticed her chin, more notably not the brightness, but what looks like a slight double chin. That’s a bit unfortunate.
P2, 2567: I’d like to see a bit more on the top of the frame, her head could probably be about 10% lower in it. Your horizon seems at an angle and not straight, but not angled enough to look purposeful. I think she looks alright in it, I get a slight sense of the place, but as vern mentioned, seeing a bit more of Times Square might have been nice. I think it has a good amount of bokeh, but due to the brightness of the sky my first thought was: her face is too dark.
P3, 2571: As vern mentioned: Very unfortunate expression. I would not have shown that to the public for that reason.
P4, 2578: My absolute favorite. I love her expression, I don’t mind the wrinkles on her neck. I like the composition. I also like the amount of bokeh and the light on her face. What might be debatable: Burning the highlights on the left side of the frame. But then again it kind of gives a nice contrast to her being a rather dark spot, composition wise on the other side.
P5, 2563: I like the background, I’m still not a fan of positioning the camera as low as you have, I think eye-height would be beneficial. I also agree with the idea of showing more of her body. Bokeh amount is right for me, in fact I wouldn’t want to see much less of it. But as with the second shot due to the bright background she is perhaps a bit too much in the shadows. Her facial expression isn’t doing much for me. And again, due to perspective, combined with her having her mouth open, there’s double chin showing. I would also consider showing this in portrait instead of landscape format. And when shooting in landscape position her more on the right side of the frame instead of centered. Or rather I would leave her standing as she was and just move 2-4 steps to my left when taking the picture. That billboard/concrete building on the right seems very boring compared to what I assume to be on the left side.
Street shots: getting the right situation is tough, but with that in mind:
2609: It’s very close to me to being very good, if the blonde girl’s face wasn’t obstructed, and I could see more of the street scene to the right of her instead of having the full head of dark hair (I think about 2/3 to half of her head would suffice).
2621: No complaints. Works really well, might consider cropping a bit differently to have a bit less awkward cutting off of arms/fingers on the bottom/ bottom-left of the frame.
Model shots 2:
In general I think all 3 pictures are better than your original selection (aside from 2578). If I had chosen which of those 8 pictures to show, it would have been those three and 2578.
2552: I like the framing, I like the bokeh, I like the light on her face, although there might be a touch too much below her eyes/on her nose. I would have removed the stray hairs from her forehead.
2560: Aha! More of her body and portrait format. I think you are a bit too close to her, and again, I’m not a fan of shooting upwards in this situation, it feels like I’m as tall as her belly button. I would prefer to be on eye height. Her facial expression is close to great but not quite there for me. But that’s a nitpick.
2586: hm… framing wise I think she should be more on the side. But then again, the couple moving in on her is a nice element. Perhaps if she was more on the left and looking to her left? But my first reaction was: Her pants are tight and wrinkly. Make of that what you will. Other than that, I think she looks good in it at first glance. But she’s kind of close in terms of brightness to parts of the background, also the pole behind/left to her head is a bit distracting as are the dark guard rails (?) for the reason mentioned before.
And after having read vern’s thoughts: Kind of see it too, in fact her right arm is gone and her feet. I think it would benefit from either showing her feet or cutting of closer to the knees. Maybe even about the lack of neck… hm…
Model shot 3:
2573: Why would you not post that in the first wave? Whatever issue you think you are having with your focus here is a non-issue. Especially when only viewed in reduced size on the forum.
In general: I don’t really notice any kind of pinkish hue, at least not in terms of being distracting.
