Model shoot, C&C please

A few shots from a recent meet up.

I didn't give the model any direction, she just did her modeling thing. Any suggestions I could have made to her, given what you see as the starting point? How could I have cropped or composed the shot differently to improve the image? I concentrate so much on placing my focus point on an eye, that I forget to check limb placement, hair out of place, ruffled clothes, etc.

I stumble around in Lightroom a bit, but mostly very basic adjustments: exposure, temp, contrast, etc. Any post processing suggestions or tips?

Anyway, please C&C. Thanks in advance.

Hi!

You have nice work here. I hope you and the model had a fun shoot!

C&C.

Technically this is very good. Compositions are good, focus is very good, and the photos are interesting.

For a project, if you're going to go from color in natural light to color in tungsten light and finally to black & white, have a reason for doing so. Jumping around like that comes off as random.

Here are some suggestions. Fashion photography goes beyond the technical aspects of making a photo.

If you're going to do fashion photography, get a subscription to Vogue. This is your business journal. Look through it each month, both the ads and the editorial spreads. Look at what they do and how they do it. Get a model and try to recreate some interesting and fun photos!

Watch YouTube videos on how to be a model. Obviously you're not trying to be a model, but you'll get a sense of what the pros do. If you're working with an inexperienced model, you'll know something about how to direct her.

There's a book that works as my bible: "Nobody Wants To Read Your Sh*t" by Steven Pressfield. In here you'll learn about concepts and themes. Your shoots need both a concept and a theme. Otherwise they're random photos. While this is written for authors, the principles work for photographers.

I'm an amateur/hobbyist fashion photographer. That said, below is a link to a fashion/editorial shoot I did in NYC in September 2018 with model/actor Mary Adams of NYC (and soon to be Los Angeles). I found her on Model Mayhem. Our shoot lasted 2 hours. I invested probably 120 hours in preparation, shoot, and post production. Mary put in a lot of time herself, in preparing for the shoot and reviewing the end products. In addition to the photos, I produced a photo montage video and magazine, link to the video below the photo link.

https://grahamglover.z​enfolio.com/p691027414
https://www.youtube.co​m …0X6jyw5g3x0&fra​gs=pl%2Cwn

Finally, here's a link to a NYC fashion photographer, Brittany Smith. In her Articles link you'll find some interesting essays on how to do a model test shoot, as well as other essays on what it takes to be a professional fashion photographer.

https://www.slrlounge.​com/profile/57276/

I hope this helps! Fashion is lots of fun, especially with capable models! It's actually a lot of work if done right, but it's what you create that makes it worth the effort. Good luck!

Thanks for taking the time to give such a thorough reply. I appreciate the example of your work and the time and effort required to pull off such a project of that scope. Thanks too for the reading recommendations.

Cheers!

I may have missed something, but I don't see this as a fashion shoot...it looks more like a portrait shoot to me. Not that it's a big deal, but I think there are usually very different objectives with the two types of shoots. The hardest part sometimes is to find an attractive, willing model!

Usually, you want to try to avoid "up the nose" shots. That's not a hard and fast rule, but if your shooting from a low angle, you usually want to have a purpose for doing it.

I'm not sure what camera you're using, but for me, it helps to back up or zoom out, to give myself some room to crop in where I want it. This really helps if you forget to make sure you're getting all of the limbs and digits in the frame. If you leave enough room around your image, you can crop in to put your edges where you want them. Having more megapixels allows you to crop in a bit. Also, I hope you're shooting in RAW!

Two other things I would point out are lighting and color balance. In the first picture, there is almost no detail in the background, and there is a distracting shadow on her face. Good lighting will fix both of those issues. When you're mixing lighting you can get a color cast like you see in your 2nd image. If you aren't going to add light, you can use a gray card to correct the color in post production. In the 3rd photo, lighting might be tough because of reflections, but a reflector can be focused to put light exactly where you want it.

I'm not a fashion photographer, but I wouldn't recommend buying a magazine for reference, you may get a few great ideas, but your exposure is limited in magazines. Instagram will give you a thousand looks at some of the best portrait photographers and models from around the world, and it's free. You will find an endless supply of great portraits ideas there.

For lighting, youtube is great. There are tons of video tutorials to help with whatever lighting you may have. Adorama TV has some great videos too.

Good luck!

Thanks for the input and some really good tips. I'm using a 70d, which I would guess has enough megapixels for my to shoot wider and crop. I've actually told myself to do what you suggested, but it always slips my mind. I feel like I can capture focus better when I'm in a bit.

Anyway, thanks again for your input.

timotoby, you've gotten two very good replies so far, both with solid advice. Here's yet another one that may do nothing but add confusion, but I hope not. I think we all use different avenues for "inspiration". The suggestion of viewing YouTube for lighting ideas and "help" is spot on! It's an unending source of information. A magazine for ideas, yeah that can be good also, to a point, but be careful which ones you put your faith into! lol.
Now, these posted images? Take my advice with a grain of salt as I too am a relative "newbie" in the portrait game after 20+yrs shooting strictly motorsports. The only thing that "bothers" me in the first shot is the crop, cutting off her left arm. If you were going for the "flat" look, which works for me with this pose and her facial expression, you nailed it! The "up the nose" angle bugs a lot of people, but IMO, it can work at times, but I wouldn't make a habit of it. A slight head tilt toward the camera, and turn of her head toward camera left would've set this one off, again IMO, and I'm as guilty as anyone of the "up the nose" shot, usually when just trying to be "different", lol.
Second shot?? Not my style, but man I like it! Good execution!
Now number 3??!!! It's hard to dislike anything about this angle! lol. If anything, her eyes are cut too far camera right. I would have asked her to look into or just above the camera.
The "random" comments may be accurate, but to me, this set demonstrates diversity. Kudos!
It doesn't matter how great your images are to some, there will be some that will not like them, and may even "nitpick" due their own insecurities (Not a shot at anyone! lol Just don't want the OP to get discouraged). Take any CC on a public forum as lightly as possible and use it to maybe go outside your comfort zone from time to time. Other than that brother, keep shooting, and keep doing your thing!

rowdy wrote in post #18801260
timotoby, you've gotten two very good replies so far, both with solid advice. Here's yet another one that may do nothing but add confusion, but I hope not. I think we all use different avenues for "inspiration". The suggestion of viewing YouTube for lighting ideas and "help" is spot on! It's an unending source of information. A magazine for ideas, yeah that can be good also, to a point, but be careful which ones you put your faith into! lol.
Now, these posted images? Take my advice with a grain of salt as I too am a relative "newbie" in the portrait game after 20+yrs shooting strictly motorsports. The only thing that "bothers" me in the first shot is the crop, cutting off her left arm. If you were going for the "flat" look, which works for me with this pose and her facial expression, you nailed it! The "up the nose" angle bugs a lot of people, but IMO, it can work at times, but I wouldn't make a habit of it. A slight head tilt toward the camera, and turn of her head toward camera left would've set this one off, again IMO, and I'm as guilty as anyone of the "up the nose" shot, usually when just trying to be "different", lol.
Second shot?? Not my style, but man I like it! Good execution!
Now number 3??!!! It's hard to dislike anything about this angle! lol. If anything, her eyes are cut too far camera right. I would have asked her to look into or just above the camera.
The "random" comments may be accurate, but to me, this set demonstrates diversity. Kudos!
It doesn't matter how great your images are to some, there will be some that will not like them, and may even "nitpick" due their own insecurities (Not a shot at anyone! lol Just don't want the OP to get discouraged). Take any CC on a public forum as lightly as possible and use it to maybe go outside your comfort zone from time to time. Other than that brother, keep shooting, and keep doing your thing!

Thanks for the reply. I read a while back, sorry haven't taken the time to thank you for your input. There isn't much rhyme or reason to the posing, mostly because this was at a meet up, so the models were just moving from space to space. About a dozen of us were clicking away, hence her far off gaze in #3.

As far as the different thoughts behind the edits... yeah, I was just trying different things. The colors were pretty flat in #3, so I just decided to make it B&W.

Thanks again, I appreciate the encouragement.

My thoughts are: clone out that curved bar to the left of her head in the first shot. It kind of squeezes her head into an odd frame. On the second I would crop just at the top of the far right bulb. The lights add interest but the wall above them doesn't. On the last I'd crop some off the top. Her feet are almost touching the bottom of the frame but there is considerable excess of space above her head.
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Thanks for the input. Not sure why the edit for the first image in particular never occurred to me. I don't think anyone would miss that bar