First model shoot

[arunak]

These are few photos from my first model shoot on Saturday. I was nervous becasue I did not know what to expect the first time. Please provide me with your valuble CC.

I used D2Xmode 1 on Nikon D300. Lenses 85mm f/1.8 and 18-200mm VR. For some I used the on-camera flash, for some I used gold reflector.

Many thanks.

Aruna.

http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392115945_c4Lfe-A-LB
http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392118080_w7JsJ-A-LB
http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392115313_P66ZG-A-LB
http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392116637_AmLM9-A-LB
http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392116900_cPNLb-A-LB
http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392117321_YfL2H-A-LB
http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392117767_ZST2m-A-LB

The rest of the photos are in here:
http://www.arunaphotography.com/gallery/6212272_7x9eh#392117860_wfuXz

[ladytx]

Nice work. I went through the gallery and you have some really nice photos in there. Nice model (be thankful she smiles for your camera ... lol). Love the red coat. Like the environment and many of the poses. The photos seem to me to need some PS tweaking though such as sharpening, etc. Again, beautiful work.

[arunak]

I haven't done an PS work except for converting from RAW to jpg. These days I am kind of afraid of PS that I will screwup and make the photos artificial. The resizing software has softened the photos when compared with the originals, but I will try your advice, many thanks.


Nice work. I went through the gallery and you have some really nice photos in there. Nice model (be thankful she smiles for your camera ... lol). Love the red coat. Like the environment and many of the poses. The photos seem to me to need some PS tweaking though such as sharpening, etc. Again, beautiful work.

[ladytx]

I haven't done an PS work except for converting from RAW to jpg. These days I am kind of afraid of PS that I will screwup and make the photos artificial. The resizing software has softened the photos when compared with the originals, but I will try your advice, many thanks.


When you are working in Photoshop always duplicate your photo so you are not working on the original and work on layers that way you can dial down the opacity or turn it off altogether is you don't like the results. I can screen capture a photo and show you what I am referring to if you like.

I have a problem with the photos being softer when they appear here in the forum than when I am viewing them on my computer.

[arunak]

Sure, you can do that, I would like to lean how much I can improve these photos with PS.

Yeah I never work with the original, and I used to do heavy PS when I was shooting with my D100, but now I have become lazy and leave it as is. I have tried many techniques, and my problem is when I PS, I don't know when to stop and then screw it up, eventually.

In my monitor the full res photo look very sharp, but here it is a bit soft, I agree with you.

Thanks.

When you are working in Photoshop always duplicate your photo so you are not working on the original and work on layers that way you can dial down the opacity or turn it off altogether is you don't like the results. I can screen capture a photo and show you what I am referring to if you like.

I have a problem with the photos being softer when they appear here in the forum than when I am viewing them on my computer.

[ladytx]

I tried to not do too much but just give the photo a little lift. I oversharpened a little hoping it would show well after uploading. I increased the saturation a bit, increased red for the jacket and black. I lightened a bit. I sharpened the eyes on their own layer.

Before:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m46/ladytx/dgrin/Image1.jpg



After:

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m46/ladytx/dgrin/Image1copy-1.jpg

[gavin]

Some nice images in there. Well done however most of them seem to be a tad bit soft or "out of focus"

[Qarik]

I like the composition in most. They do appear a tad soft and noisy. They definitely need a littlte PP love because they lack pop.

[arunak]

I wonder if it was the D2XMode 1 I was using. When I uploaded it to my camera, the sharpness was set to so low. I did not mess with it, but was wondering if that is the reason for this softness?


I like the composition in most. They do appear a tad soft and noisy. They definitely need a littlte PP love because they lack pop.

[arunak]

Thanks ladytx! I see the improvement. I will try this on my originals and see.

I tried to not do too much but just give the photo a little lift. I oversharpened a little hoping it would show well after uploading. I increased the saturation a bit, increased red for the jacket and black. I lightened a bit. I sharpened the eyes on their own layer.

Before:

After:

[Nikolai]

Just a kwikie:

:thumb nice variety of locations, outfits, poses and expressions
:thumb nice low angle on standing up poses
:rolleyes most if not all images look very soft and somewhat dirty (maybe because you were using your 85/1.8 wide open and misfocused :scratch )
:rolleyes composition is virtually non-existent: dead centers, cut off head and limbs, acres of negative space :dunno
:rolleyes on-camera flash is not what you want to use when shooting a model, except when you're in a tight spot, have absolutely no other alternative and you're using it as fill only. I understand all Nikon speedlites are remotable by definition, so you could simply hold it in your hand off the camera.HTH

[zweiblumen]

Arunak,

Others have already done a better job that I can of critiquing portrait shots. For those of us that are lazy, embedding the photos in your post instead of making links to them would be great! You don't even have to attach them like you did for the one. Schmoo wrote a great tute here (http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1083138) with details.

HTH

-Trav

[arunak]

Thank You very much. All of this has been very helpful. With the critique I received I have further deleted my photos, (cut limbs, dead-centers, unused pointless space, etc).

Still I am not sure of "cut off points" for portraiture, so that the "limbs" are not missed in the portraiture.


Arunak,

Others have already done a better job that I can of critiquing portrait shots. For those of us that are lazy, embedding the photos in your post instead of making links to them would be great! You don't even have to attach them like you did for the one. Schmoo wrote a great tute here (http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1083138) with details.

HTH

-Trav

[kombizz]

like the last shot with better focussing

[Scott_Quier]

Also just a quick look

:rolleyesWatch your backgrounds. In many, you have bright and/or very hot areas that draw attention away from your model (see #2 for example)
:rolleyesWatch the intensity of your backlighting (see #5) - the hair is completely blown
:thumb#7 is very nice. I like the composition and the blurred background. I'm not sure I like the cut off hand. The cut off hair - no big deal.
:rolleyesWatch your centering. #14 would be so much better if you had shifted your camera view just >< that much to the left. See also #15, 33, 34, 35, 38 - 41.
:rolleyesWatch the focus of your reflector (see #20 - 24) - you need to light her up, no the fence rail.
:rolleyesOn-camera flash killed #38 - 41. Do you see the side shadow your model is casting on the background? Solution - get that flash off-camera so the shadow that is cast is either more pleasing and/or out view of the camera.
:thumbI really like the variety of locations, outfits, poses, etc. I really like the red coat = it seems that color works quite well for your model. The warmer colors also worked well in your natural backgrounds. Against the "man-made" ones, I wonder how a cooler color outfit would work out?
I would love to know the EXIF of some of these. Some of them seem a bit more than just a bit grainy and that may be a function of the compression you have applied or it could be a camera settings issue.