James is a new model from the Detroit area. I setup a test shoot with him to add some male portraits into my folio. What do you think.. Critique is welcome. Thanks.
Beauty, Portrait & Editorial Makeup Photography and Retouching
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Love the black and white ones! The last one is awesome too!! :) There might be a tiny bit too much magenta in the shadows for my taste in the color ones though, but perhaps it was what you were going for? :)
Thank you very much for the feedback Quentin!
The model looks at ease and his hands and head angle are perfect, so either he's a great model or you direct well.
But...
Judging these purely as model port shots, you'd have benefited from standing further away and using a longer lens for a lot of these. There's serious nose distortion going on in some of them.
The third shot looks unnatural and uncomfortable and focus seems to have missed the face - the boot is the sharpest thing in the picture. (Older and cheaper DSLRs shouldn't be trusted to focus accurately with all lenses if you're shooting with a narrow dof - it's not until the 5Diii that focus tech got that good, when Canon added their closed loop feedback system.) And why take that shot for a port anyway? Any time a model isn't taking up at least 50% of the pixels in a port shot there has to be a very good reason in terms of showing capability for the model. Showing that the model can sit on a box isn't one. Showing that you can use a basic framing device is even less of one. Port shots have to focus ruthlessly on making the case for the model. If you want to show he can sit on things, sit him on the floor and make him 80% of the image.
The first shot is the best, but the rubbery perspective swollen raised hand is distracting. And as a port shot wouldn't it made more sense to shoot portrait orientation and crop closer? You're selling the model, not the thing he's leaning on or your photography. I'd suggest this should be been portrait and cropped to show his complete cuff on the left and the first couple of fingers on camera right. You'd have had about 2.5x more model in the shot and the only cost would been lost Grey Stuff, so why not?
The colour shots.. you have problems with your skin tones. Mostly much too washed out but there are always patches of painful looking raw pink - eg the hand on the forehead is mostly blown with painful looking spots on the edges of shadows. You really need to pull back.
Sorry to be so negative... but you've obviously got an eye for a shot and you're shooting with good models. There's no reason you can't fix these problems in your next shoot - you can direct and compose a shot, everything else is easier. (That's if you agree that they *are* problems!)
Actually, forget the raised hand:
David Mawson!
Thank you so much for your lengthy and thoughtful feedback!
The retouching part I agree with you whose heartedly as I know I'm lacking there and still learning the curves.
Composition and orientation wise I have to disagree. This is a completely subjective matter.
Since these were shots for my own portfolio not the model's I've allowed myself some creative liberty otherwise not permitted on a commissioned job. I'm an editorial shooter by nature and love telling a story with my portraits. So incorporating a sense of place is appealing my eye. Framing as you must know is a creative tool and is an extension of ones vision and it shouldn't be constrained by rigid rules and preconceived concept and set visions.
Nonetheless, I truly appreciate your feedback as it gives me an idea of whats expected in the real world of fashion photography.
Take care!
Bill
Firstly, looking at the shots on your profile, it's obvious that you normally have skintones and exposure under control! I'm guessing this was especially nasty mixed light?
>> Composition and orientation wise I have to disagree. This is a completely subjective matter.
I appreciate your open mindness - and you have talent, that shows - but re. the above.. No. Not for a model's port.
Every shot you take for a port should be an attempt at a comp card shot. Which means a head shot has to show adequate face detail when printed at a quarter of A5. Most cards don't contain ANY landscape shots.
The other thing I've heard people say about landscape shots in a port is that when people are going through literally dozens of the things, they simply don't bother re-orienting a physical portfolio to look at a landscape format shot - they're likely to be ignored, especially on the first pass where the ports are winnowed down to a reasonable number.
>> Since these were shots for my own portfolio not the model's I've allowed myself some creative liberty otherwise not permitted on a commissioned job. I'm an editorial shooter by nature and love telling a story with my portraits.
Oh - that changes everything. Point taken!
Looking at your shots, I have a feeling you'd get on well with a leaf shutter camera like a Fuji X100F. You're obviously very light-oriented and the high synch speed would let give you a lot more control when mixing flash. You'd also get exposure preview and focus points all over the frame. You'd only have 35mm and 50mm (50mm needs an adapter) but those seems to be your focal lengths. Might be worth trying, together with a portable soft box or a saber strip? And I think the Fuji film simulations would suit you. Otoh, whatever you're doing at the moment obviously works very well!