New to the Forum today!

[mictouch]

Hello all...

I am new at this forum today!

In fact I haven't spent too much time on forums at all. So first of all please excuse my ignorance to many of the acronyms and forum lingo that many of you breathe and sleep with at night. I am not a new photographer, but recently new t shooting people/models for fun. I have a Model Mayhem Page and my wife as well. One of my friends directed me this direction to get help with your expertise on modeling, posing and everything in general when it come to shooting models.

My wife is the Asian girl in most of my posts - so please take it easy on her as well. She is new at modeling and I use her to increase my skills posing models.
So, here it goes... what do you all think of this shot. I don't use strobes. I am a believer in being very mobile with one or two small camera bags. I shot with a Nikon D700 and most of the time a Nikkor 70 - 200mm Lens. I use multiple speedlights when necessary.

Any critiques would be appreciated. I am a man and I can handle criticism as well...

Gary

[hminx]

Hi Gary welcome aboard, greart start, there are others here more qualified to critque this than I, but still I'm looking forward to more of your stuff.

[jetrim]

Welcome to the forums! There are a few members here in particular that spend a fair amount of time shooting models: Gahspidy, GB1, PhilF, and few others who's names aren't coming to me at the moment, all do excellent work, and we're all happy to help as we can.

As far as this shot, it's personal preference but I'd like to see the model fill the frame better. She takes up less than 25% of the image, yet the fact that you've set the aperture to blur out the background suggests that it's not particularly relevant (so why include so much of it?). Lighting and eye contact are good. The pose is rotated more than I'd like to see, but again, personal preference. The only other thing that jumps out at me is attention to small details, which is absolutely critical when shooting models, and is incredibly time consuming to correct in post. Things I'd have addressed before pressing the shutter on this shot are the bikini bow at the back (upper and lower) & the hair across the face. As with anything else, the more you practice it, the better you get, especially when it comes to model direction.

[mictouch]

Thank you all so much for all the kind words and wisdom. Jetrim, I really appreciate all your critiques and you are so right about the little details. Not to make excuses but, It is so much easier in a studio to control hair in the face (which drives me crazy) it is always the photographers favorite shot and there will be three strands of hair across the models face. Even after twenty minutes in Photoshop you can still tell it was there or something was edited out.

I love searching for challenging locations to shoot and it is always a challenge to me to get the lighting spot on with my speedlights, but fun too. I love using strobes for in studio shoots. The controlled lighting is nice but to me being mobile with my speedlights makes a lot more sense than dragging around a huge strobe setup with you everywhere. So, if anyone can critique my lighting in the difficult settings, I would love to hear your thoughts as well...

I also try to find beautiful locations to shoot and I set my aperture and lighting to not only make the model pop but, to show off the beautiful background as well. I am not a big fan of "The Beautiful Bokeh Shots" with my photography because I look for the gorgeous settings to shoot in. I do love to see an image in a flower bed with a wonderful blown out background. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy all sorts of photography and art... For example, I did a group shoot at a mansion in Beverly Hills and I shot my models so people could see the multimillion dollar home. I viewed other photog's work from the shoot and they set their aperture so no one could tell where the hell they were. it could have been a rundown home in East LA as far as you could tell... Ha Ha

Here are a few from my last vacation to Napa Valley...

Gary

[Anbesol]

I agree with what Jet said.

Also - the sky in the first is hot white - I never like a hot-white sky, there should be at least some tonality in it. Though - as jet said, I also would like to see her fill more of the frame. The whites of her eyes look a little red too, I think it should be whitened. The shoreline cutting through her head is not too flattering in my opinion either.

[mictouch]

Hummm, I added five images and only one posted... Sorry "Rookie" here - I'll try again... Gary

[Asmarlak]

The shots are very nice in general. My favorite happen to be the very last one because its well composed as well as its a close up and emphasizes the girl more.
Generally speaking, I don't think you accomplished your objective that you described earlier because the girl is kind of lost in her surroundings. Even in some shots her skin tone is very similar to the color of the brick. Unfortunately that is one of the features of shooting with Nikon unless you run color correction in an editing software.
What I really wish, is to see her dressed in a floor length shear Magenta, Tirquaz, or green gown with the same color very long head scarf. What can I say, its my imagination!!!.

[mictouch]

Asmarlak, this is a public location with people everywhere. it was a challenge to get these shots without other in the frame. We were not allowed to use off camera lighting - so once again it was challenging... I really do appreciate your wisdom and suggestions. Gary

[LeeIs]

hey! welcome to PR. The very last one is my favorite also. Very nicely done. great composition. Nice DOF to separate her from the building and i love the way the building takes up the entire BG.

[GB1]

Welcome Gary, glad you decided to join. The shots look good here. I like the last post of Vivian - it somehow looks like it was shot in China. I would consider cropping a little off the left to see how it looks with her in a different part of the image, really like the DOF on that one.

Nothing more to add on these as I've already critiqued them

GB