High Rise Model, Pix 2 (Warning, implied nudity)

[GB1]

Which ?

- Gb

[Dylan8i]

her arms look the most relaxed in the bottom one, but hers eyes are dark and left one is covered. middle one also has dark eyes but not quit as covered. id go with the third though.

[GB1]

Yes, I like the bottom one best too, but also feel that her left eye being covered up like that is wanting. Glad you didn't noticed my cloning out of the wall socket on the left

G

[caleb]

Not photo related, but I think in your other post you touched on having photographers more experienced with directing models shooting with you. What specifically did you learn from them?

[jetrim]

Third shot, no question.

[Anbesol]

She looks to be a great model, very relaxed and comfortable in all 3 shots (and clearly very naturally endowed of course). I however am not a big fan of the covering of the breasts with arms, when it is apparently or seemingly deliberate something about it seems like lukewarm modesty. I think the second one her arm looks most innocently covering her breasts. I actually like the second one best. Though her hair looks best in 3, I can see why everybody else is picking 3. I also like her legs best in 1, they all have some advantages. But my vote is 2

[GB1]

Thks guys. Anbesol, I must agree! Seems each has its strong pts, and each has flaws. I think there is good isolation in each, and that the colors and model work well together. My biggest beef with most of them is that they don't seem natural; with 1 and 3 she just seems a little tense. 2 is better in that respect but she isn't looking at the camera and also seems to be laughing, giving it an 'unpolished' feeling.

One thing I am learning with these model shoots: to get a really super shot, many things have to come together; model, arrangement, lighting .. Can't have flaws, or each least obvious ones.

Caleb - Good question. I will try to answer:

Seems that there is just a lot of work in setting these things up, photography things of course... but other things too. You have to get the studio, arrange the times, find a model, negotiate a price, the date/time details, consider and possibly find a make up artist (MUA) as we did here, etc, etc.

Then we get to the photography part.

When posing and shooting models w/ strobe lights, whether it be in a traditional studio or not, you really need at least two lights. Many good portraiture / model photographers also use additional lights - hair lights, backlights, etc - to get a snazzy, creative effect and/or increase detail, but due to the owner being apprehensive on us bringing up too much stuff and scarring the floor, we stuck with two. An exception was this shot where we only used one: the flatness looks OK in my opin.

Then you have to think up poses/scenes. It's best to scope out the place first, and/or have a list of ideas beforehand. Timing's important too - we got some nice sunset shots on one of the balconies (yet-to-be-posted by me, as I need to do a little PP to elim some tripod reflections in them).

You need to help actually pose the model. This one was quite experienced and knew the little things it takes to get great shots, but many beginning ones do not. What to do with their hands, how to dip their shoulders, and so on.

Then, after all this, you can do your photography. I used an f-stop of about 6.7 and shutter of around 125 - 200th of sec. Angles, focal lengths, filters ..

I am still learning all these things of course, being mostly a landscape photographer. I find the biggest challenge is learning to create a scene, instead of simply capturing one.

Thanks too, Jet.

G

[jetrim]

Not photo related, but I think in your other post you touched on having photographers more experienced with directing models shooting with you. What specifically did you learn from them?

Caleb,
This really is an excellent question. Greg and I seem to be roughly at the same place in the learning curve here, and we sometimes trade PMs about these shoots as he and I are doing the same types of things on different coasts. If I get time this week, I'll write up something to post in the Studio Photography forum (seems like the most appropriate place) about what goes into these sessions. I can tell you it's FAR more work than it appears to be, and that Greg touched on 2 key areas that have been very challenging for me:

*Then you have to think up poses/scenes.
*You need to help actually pose the model.

To be any good, you need to know the technical part inside out - without having to think about it, then you have to push your creativity farther than you thought you could, all while maintaining an aire if confidence - models, much like dogs, can smell fear and apprehension a mile away, and it will show in every shot.

[caleb]

We could start a thread or emails? I took a class last week and struggled hard. I was really disappointed in the teacher/chosen model because direction was not touched on at all (or not as much as I would have liked) and the model was not very experienced. On that note, I've done 2/13 photoshoots for a local fundraising calendar and inexperienced young people seem to do a better job. It could also be that I'm more in my element/not intimidated to be direct. (Different when I'm on the wrong end of a large age gap imo) ----EDIT, I figured out why. America's Next Top Model marathons. sigh, I'll keep pretending I'm doing something right though

My notes so far of "what I would do next time" is steadily growing I made a checklist at this point since it seems nearly impossible to remember everything to look for, so hopefully between writing it down and glancing at it every now and then, I'll get the hang of it.

[GB1]

Guys,

I'm all for emails or starting a specific thread. After looking around at all the forums, I guess Studio and Lighting may be a good spot ...? (The shoots aren't all in studios however.) (EDIT) PM me for my email btw, and Jim and I are friends on Facebook also.

Caleb, I feel for ya (!!) and know exactly what you mean about being a beginner in these situations and working with models that require a mentor.

And it's not only having the knowledge, and skill, but it's also a people game - you have to know how to talk with the models and work with each's individual personality. I am starting to converge on an approach: great preparation so to be ahead of of the game, quick evaluation of the scene and model so to see what their strong and weak points are (the photographer's job is to emphasize the great attributes of the model and minimize the weak ones), and then .. just playing it cool and not talking too much. I throw that in because photography is a visual media and once we get everything set up, it's best to let the poses, energy, athletic grace, etc speak for itself.

Everything Jet says is true btw... You definitely want to portray a relaxed and confident feeling around the model, for nobody likes a spazer.

Let me know what you guys want to do, if you want to start a new thread in ...?

G

[caleb]

Yeah let's start a new thread so there's public information. http://forums.photographyreview.com/...214#post389214 I'll run through my photos and post a few and what I learned/questions I had.

I dunno if you'd want to edit your email to prevent spam from webcrawlers, just throwing it out there

[GB1]

Got the email suggestion