they work among us Part zwei

ok,

so my professor hated my original concept with the mask, which can be seen here...https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=579216

so i went another direction. again, the idea is based on the stereo types of immigrant jobs. But this time, more from the angle of the glamor of unglamorous jobs.

these were a few i shot the last two days...available light only unfortunately.

c&c

and i am excited, i just got the rest of my lighting kit in today, so now i can start experimenting...but these two shoots are just available light only.

I don't like that the girl is looking at the camera. How many railroad lines are being laid these days? Not a very common job by any stretch of the imagination.

Why isn't the guy using the weed whip? It takes a second to even tell what it is. At first I thought it was a scythe.

The concept is interesting but I don't know if the execution is all there yet.

Know anybody in construction? A guy in a tux framing a house perhaps.

Any particular reason you're going for a vintage washed out look?

old money? i don't know, i did them in b&w too but felt these were stronger.

yes, i am aware that railroad tides aren't being laid like they were in the 19th century...figured i had the opportunity so why not?

i have a short order chef and roofer shoot setup for later this week.

the one weed wacker pic just happened to the strongest of the set visually, or so i think.

Did you get any of him actually whacking weeds? I think that'd be cool, maybe with dust and grass flying.

Yeah, I really like your idea here. These shots are pretty good. There is something about them that doesn't completely do it for me. I am not sure what it is. I like the one of the guy starting the mower.

The ones of the girl I think are better executed than the others. I think you need to better capture the job you are trying to portray. Just having them hold a prop isn't really doing it for me.

Also, I think multiple "workers" in one shot might help. And, some of the shots seem to have some dead space, maybe crop or move closer to the subjects.

I don't know, these are all just thoughts. But, either way I would like to see whatever your do with this idea in the future.

thanks.

i will try to implement what everyone has said. I am finding it difficult to find a way to show multiple different jobs with some sort of continuity...

i personally thought the two of the lawnboy were better than the two of the girl (my girlfriend).

I am also working with whoever will lend me their bodies, so no real model experience, and i don't have any experience directing people so its going to be interesting.

These are so funny (in a good way). I'm laughing soo hard at the concepts he's got to give you a good grade on originality. Pictures are supposed to be enjoyed and I most certainly did. Thumbs up dude! You made my day!

Shots 2 & 4 are soooo funny (in a good way, like tacoma200 said). The gloves on your girlfriend are especially good (although I'd go with full color).

For me, the 1st shot is too close -- I have a hard time understanding what she's doing -- need more context.

I like the concept!

again thanks for the input. I need as much third party input as i can get. I really like the look and feel of the lawn care shots myself and will try to reprocess the others to look more similar. I've just been trying different looks to see what works and what doesn't. It seems the action shots are more effective in conveying my ideas so i will try to shoot more of that in the future.

I am glad the two of you are getting the absurdity of my concept. I am often alone on these comical ideas...as in the only one who finds them funny.

i promise i'll update when i have new material.

with the lawn care, i had him in the frame of mind of shooting a calvin klein/express men/designer frame of mind. He kept asking what i was going for and i was like "designer fashion shot with lawn care tools" and he worked it. He's just a friend of mine so no real experience modeling but i am willing to take what i can get, as most people i ask are unwilling to help me out in front of the camera.

Interesting concepts, I dont care for the washed out look for the first shot (the wb looks off). I dont think I could do photography for a grade, everything is so subjective. Something I love might be hated by another... I liked your mask series...

Sorry, but your professor doesn't know what s/he is talking about. The mask ones are SO good and to be honest, better than these. Most of these don't isolate the subject from the background enough and the people blend into the trees.

It's a good concept, but I think you could go further and get them doing harder jobs (think picking fruit, cleaning a disgusting bathroom, doing laundry, etc).

update: its been a rough 2 weeks in terms of schedules, model availability and weather. These were a last minute effort due to rain.

I am still very new to strobe lighting and only had one speed light with me at the moment. On a side note, I think the focus is a little off on my 40d. I haven't been able to test this but compared to my 300d, they always just seem a little soft. None of these were taken with a tripod (didn't have it with me at the time) as you can see. Most of these were taken around 1/160 or 1/250 if i recall with the kit 18-55 @ 18mm somewhere between f/5.6 and f/9. Maybe its just the kit lens that is soft on the wide end, though i have noticed this softness with my 35L as well (not as much with my 135L,that seems to still be tack sharp on the 40d).