2nd Model Shoot - C&C welcome

I hooked up with a start up modeling agency so I will be getting some more work and not having to deal with setting up appointments, etc... Here are some shots I took last weekend of Prisilla. She was new, 2nd time for her and 2nd time for me as well... Suggestions?

Thanks

1.

#4 for me works the best although maybe if the frame was slightly tighter it might be better. I think #1 and #3 could be tighter as well. Lighting on #5 does not work for me. These are pretty decent but they don't really wow me. Good try though for #2 time. So what kind of lighting did you use?

Watch the hands in all your shots.
The model needs to look relaxed in all aspects. #1, #3, and #5 have her relax her fingers so that you can see them as opposed to gripping something. (fingers look chopped off)

#6 - if your going to show that much of her body.... don't cutoff the hands.

#4 - is by far the better shot in this whole series. The lighting and pose is good.

#1 - careful shooting up the body as in this one.... as in this one the legs take on a whole new proportion in relation to her body.

Go back and compare #4 to all the other shots, and notice how much more it pops. Lighting is a big key here.

What is your own take on these shots.... what do you think you could have done better?

big_apple_ken wrote in post #6293873
#4 for me works the best although maybe if the frame was slightly tighter it might be better. I think #1 and #3 could be tighter as well. Lighting on #5 does not work for me. These are pretty decent but they don't really wow me. Good try though for #2 time. So what kind of lighting did you use?

Thanks for the feedback. Still trying to learn how to get that "wow" factor... Lighting I used an onboard 430ex and an off camera 2800d vivitar into and 45" umbrella bounced. Shots 4 and 5 were just the umbrella, no on board. I really need a second umbrella set up... want to get the flash off my camera completely.

tonyr0584 wrote in post #6293991
Watch the hands in all your shots.
The model needs to look relaxed in all aspects. #1, #3, and #5 have her relax her fingers so that you can see them as opposed to gripping something. (fingers look chopped off)

#6 - if your going to show that much of her body.... don't cutoff the hands.

#4 - is by far the better shot in this whole series. The lighting and pose is good.

#1 - careful shooting up the body as in this one.... as in this one the legs take on a whole new proportion in relation to her body.

Go back and compare #4 to all the other shots, and notice how much more it pops. Lighting is a big key here.

What is your own take on these shots.... what do you think you could have done better?

Thanks for all that... I noticed that hands after the shoot... will take note of that for next time...

My take on these....When I left the shoot I had a bad feeling, like I screwed it up. It was about 95 degrees in the hot florida sun at 1pm....Not the best lighting conditions but I wanted to try it since I know I wont always get ideal conditions... Looking at these shots on the computer I was actually pleased, not so much with the poses and comp but my exposure was pretty on key and they were very sharp. I purposely shot at F4 -F5 range to see if stopping down would yield better results and it sure did. My first shoot I shot exclusively at F2.8 and they were a little soft. So in that sense, I felt good. I experimented more with lighting too so learning more of that.

I have learned that I really need to work on poses and direction. I went into this thinking a model should know how to pose but quickly realizing that is not the case and I had to think up some poses and act them out for her. She did pretty good I thought but she wasnt relaxed like you pointed out. Not sure how to fix that with a new model. So my big question is, Should a model know how to pose? Rather than, looking all pretty, getting in front of the camera and asking... What should I do? That kind of kills the day for me...

Unfortunately this is a learn as I go type of deal for me so hopefully I get better pretty quick...

I think no 4 is let down by the bright concrete showing in the background. Cover it up and see how much stronger the photograph becomes.

A tip that I was given when I was at college was to turn the image upside down and then look at it and see where your eye goes. If it is not where you want it you have to either do something about it or retake it!

cory1848 wrote in post #6294123
Thanks for all that... I noticed that hands after the shoot... will take note of that for next time...

My take on these....When I left the shoot I had a bad feeling, like I screwed it up. It was about 95 degrees in the hot florida sun at 1pm....Not the best lighting conditions but I wanted to try it since I know I wont always get ideal conditions... Looking at these shots on the computer I was actually pleased, not so much with the poses and comp but my exposure was pretty on key and they were very sharp. I purposely shot at F4 -F5 range to see if stopping down would yield better results and it sure did. My first shoot I shot exclusively at F2.8 and they were a little soft. So in that sense, I felt good. I experimented more with lighting too so learning more of that.

I have learned that I really need to work on poses and direction. I went into this thinking a model should know how to pose but quickly realizing that is not the case and I had to think up some poses and act them out for her. She did pretty good I thought but she wasnt relaxed like you pointed out. Not sure how to fix that with a new model. So my big question is, Should a model know how to pose? Rather than, looking all pretty, getting in front of the camera and asking... What should I do? That kind of kills the day for me...

Unfortunately this is a learn as I go type of deal for me so hopefully I get better pretty quick...

Dude...I am totally in the same boat with you. There definitely is a learning process if you are not shooting experienced models whereby you need to coach the girls how to pose. First time I did my shoot (a month or so ago) a few of my photos looked a little soft too. I was so used to dragging the shutter when I have my flash on a bracket (for low night club stuff) that my shutter speed was a little slow. Couple that with the flash not always completely overpowering the ambient light...a few of my eyes were a little soft for my tastes. In regards to poses what I've been doing lately is just browsing through pools of photos on Flickr such as:

http://www.flickr.com/​groups/fashion/

http://www.flickr.com/​groups/fashionphotogra​phy_ed/

Besides just randomly browsing if you know your locations beforehand just search for similar photos in the pool for inspiration. Find out what poses work and don't work. Develop a library full of poses in you mind so next time you shoot an inexperienced model you'll be confident when you command her how to pose. If all else fails...I say just go for more simple natural poses. A lot of times people get too complicated and the poses just look awkward which in turn ruins the photo.

I usually shoot with 1 extra friend of mine so we share our equipment. That could be something you can look into if you don't want to buy extra equipment.

I like pictur #4
its verry nice
A- lighting
B- color
its wow