The Era of Billie Holiday

[indiamb]

I have always admired the photographs of female jazz legend Billie Holiday. Here is my attempt at this style using my future sister in law.
http://indiaburns.smugmug.com/photos/84987836-M.jpg



http://indiaburns.smugmug.com/photos/84987791-M.jpg


http://indiaburns.smugmug.com/photos/84980272-M.jpg

http://indiaburns.smugmug.com/photos/84980278-M.jpg

[xiphoid]

Lovely! I think you did a great job!

[KYBOB]

Stunning! I love them.

[indiamb]

Thanks, I was pleased with the way they turned out.

[Smooth1]

Love the style, great work.

[PalmBayFlo]

I simply love Billie Holiday's music and you've captured that era very well....great work!

[wagonwheel]

I would crop a little of the dead space from the top of the first one. Other than that, it is AWSOME! I really like the last one also; the sepia tone works well in it. The two in the middle are also good but they are not jumping out at me. The first one is by far the best.

[PhotoAlien]

lovely and classy, i especially like the last sepia one. :)

[rdking01]

the only word i can come up with it "tastie"

[saravrose]

classic and timeless.. just beautiful lovely model and fantastic poses...

sari

[NatsRoses]

very nice poses and shots ... I agree with cutting of head space on 1st. She is a very pretty woman. Good job!

[flaphotogal]

Gorgeous photo's, great work..well done.

[98photo]

Stunning shots! I love them all. I agree with wagonwheel that the middle two are lacking something, maybe they just need punchier contrast?
I'd like to see some more!

[indiamb]

Thanks for the C & C. I am going to crop the first and work on the two in the middle and repost them.

[Noelle8818]

Beautiful! I love the last one, I look forward to seeing what you do to the others.

[LBaldwin]

You are almost there. First, Stop putting your subjects dead center. You waste the frame space over there heads. Crop tighter and fill your frames more. If you camera get a grid screen it will help lots.

If you like the lighting style used in Lady sings the Blues than try

George Hurrell here http://www.hurrellphotography.com
He was one of the premier Hollywood photographers during that time. Study the lighting and poses, backgrounds etc.

Also look for his books you can often find them on Amazon and just about any used book store.

Les

[dkenney]

WOW, these are nice. I just love the last one. I am a huge Billie Holliday fan and this model does her style a great compliment. I would love see more of this shoot. Your work is really nice :)

[dbernard]

Nicely done. I do agree with the wasted space over the head. Crop, crop, crop. And you do have a bullseye thing going too. Get her out of the center.

[indiamb]

I usually crop to 5 x7 and leave space around the subject before the client orders their prints so that if they order and 8 x 10 or larger I can be pretty sure they're heads won't get cut off. I order my prints from mpix and usually use their cropping tool befor I place the order.

[dkenney]

I order my prints from mpix and usually use their cropping tool befor I place the order.

I know this is a bit off subject, but I was looking at mpix and it looks like a good site. Are you happy with them? How long have you used them? Any pros/cons I should know about? Thanks so much.

[hawkfeather]

The first one is a classic!!!! Excellent work!!!

[Mike_Canon5D]

Great pics, and the styles you used. My only recommendation would be to place the model further away from the muslim background, or open up the lens to diffuse the background some. The texture of the background is noticeable IMO.

[wandag]

I think these look great! Good Job.

[Larry_NB]

Great shots. The last one is my favourite. Great mood.

[PEACHMAN]

Beautiful future sister in law...and you sure captured the era you were after in a breath taking way...they don't get any better than these!