MissBuffalo critique....

[jfm741]

First time with a model. Any thoughts on improvements? Wind was around 35mph that day......

[Radtech1]

I like the tone in the first one. The second has been flattened too much for my taste by the fill-flash.

Back to the first one. It needed to be straightened. (There is a reason it it called "The Horizon" - it needs to be horizontal!)

Also, the background was too distracting. I lens blurred, lightened and desaturated it a bit. If I felt like putting in a bit more of an effort, I would have desaturated it with a gradiant, but I think you get the point.

Rad

[ezzie62]

many problems. BTW, I teach photography. Color is wrong for her. Why the bldg. It's very distracting...blow it out...longer lens and wide aperture..crop in close-get rid of black pants or move bacl and get hands in pic. Shoot fdown on her-not up. get sky out of there as it's not interesting (start to use polarizer to heigten blues, etc. If the wind is going to blow then get rid of hair spray and let her hair flow.Color and exposure are good but need conturing shadow. Fill flah OK for highlight in the eye but need another to side, stronger to give contour. Best! Steve ezzie62@aol.com check my site imagesbysteve.com

[arumdevil]

Back to the first one. It needed to be straightened. (There is a reason it it called "The Horizon" - it needs to be horizontal!)

it seems to me that the slant you are refering to is not due to camera tilt, but rather perstpective on the building, wouldn't you agree?

[arumdevil]

ok, maybe just a bit of rotation, but only a tiny amount

[jfm741]

thanks for the relpys guys! I should clarify....this is for the Miss Buffalo Magazine cover. They wanted City Hall in the background so people would recognize Buffalo. I agree it should be blured out more (i took some wide open but they didn't like 'em). The pants will be croped out for the cover. I needed some room on top for magazine type?.....thanks for looking....

[sparker1]

If the building is a requirement, why not make it as sharp as possible, rather than any blurring? Maybe pose her closer to the building and use wide angle? I'm no expert at making this kind of photo, but I've looked a lot!!! lol

[CyberDyneSystems]

There is a distracting halo around the building in the background in all but the first shot.. to my eyes this is the telltale sign of an attempt at a "sky job" :)

I think your portraits are looking good.. but the backgrounds are a problem.

[jfm741]

These were taken on a cold windy drab day in Buffalo (go figure).... My PS skills need work i must admit...still trying to figure out how to make natural sky transitions...

[charlesu]

If you want to emphasize her but also make the building recognizable.....take two pics and put them together. One with model in the image. One without. In the one without, focus on the building or skyline.

It's cheating.

But if this is for a mag that wants the city recognized, then it might work.

Just a thought.