Fashion? images - Critique requested

[paulinefisher]

Precious.jpg (210.41 KiB) Viewed 7615 times

Tasha.jpg (217.71 KiB) Viewed 7615 times

Lauren.jpg (194.54 KiB) Viewed 7615 times

I had the opportunity to take part in a shoot with numerous other photographers a few weeks ago. Most of them were experienced in using off camera flash. I used only on camera flashgun and struggled quite alot with the exposure. Here are four images which have only had minimal adjustments of a try it and see variety. Any comments would be very much appreciated. Thanks for looking

[Theo Dibbits]

Pauline

I am not sure why but folk appear to be a little shy giving feedback.
So here is my 2 pennies worth.

I really like number 1. All I would do is reduce the reflection on the model's forehead a little.

Not keen on number 2. Its the elbow sticking in my face that puts me off.

For me everything on number 3 is good except that the pose makes the bottom half of the model looking very "broad".
The fact that the model is wearing dark trousers does not help.

Looks like you had some nice models and an interesting location.

Theo

[Paul Jones]

Fashion?

I used only on camera flashgun and struggled quite alot with the exposure. Here are four images which have only had minimal adjustments of a try it and see variety. Any comments would be very much appreciated.

Hi Pauline

It's good to see people trying new things and the more you do, the more skills you'll pick up.

I really don't see 'fashion' in any of the photos. Instead, I would class them as portraits. They're not bad, though the girls seem a tad nervous or inexperienced in them.

I can appreciate the difficulties you might have been under in a typical group-shoot situation, so you did the right thing by trying to master your exposures and gain a bit of practice.

If you want to browse through some fashion images you could have a look at - http://calikartel.com/ (warning - some nudity).

Keep on practicing...

[Paul Jones]

I am not sure why but folk appear to be a little shy giving feedback.

The majority of people on web forums are afraid of saying anything that might be misconstrued, upset or offend someone.
It would be great to get this forum buzzing with lots of feedback and critique.
We're all friends at ADAPS, aren't we...?

[kevinlowe]

The reason I'm a little shy at giving feedback is that I'm very unsure of my abilities, so worry that I'll look a bit silly.

However, Paul's correct and a lively buzzing forum would be great, and I expect would encourage more people to ask for some criticism. So, as I see it...

Number one is my favourite. I agree that if you could darken down the reflection that might help, but I like the pose and the model's expression - looks the most 'experienced' of the models in my opinion. Number two looks a little bit fuzzy to me, and I agree that the elbow is off putting. My least favourite of the three. Number three for me is good, but I'd have liked a bit more contrast between the top half of the model and the background, or alternatively less contrast. What I mean is, the light top half and the dark top half for me are fighting against each other.

I think it's great that you're out there trying these new things, and I hope to be doing the same. It gets a bit addictive.

[mancunian61]

Hi Pauline,

As you know photo technique is not my area of expertise but I can give you feedback on what I think generally of the photos:

Precious - I like the look of her face and the blue background, but perhaps there is too much leopard clothing

Tasha - I don't like the big pink elbow and the image itself doesn't seem very sharp - was it enlarged alot?

Lauren - I like the simple background and the colours - perhaps you could crop the image into landscape with the cut off just above her head to just where her elbow and knee meet?

Precious 2 - I like the pose and the full figure - again could the image be cropped tighter to exclude the pipes on the far left

I hope this feedback is ok and not too critical - I'm no expert but can give my opinion on what I like and don't like about the images

Great work Pauline - carry on.

Best wishes

Ann

[John]

Excellent, great to see people starting to join in a bit more.

Pauline, the pictures of Precious are by far the best IMHO. Very nicely done. The other two models look a little heavy, or over-processed if you like, and maybe not particularly at ease. But Precious shines out and you've definitely done her justice.

[paulinefisher]

Thanks to you all for the helpful comments, I must admit I prefer the images of Precious out of the four posted.

Theo - what is the simplest way to tone down the highlight on the forehead please?

Paul - I followed your link but I am still none the wiser as to what constitutes a fashion image, I would have thought that a reasonable amount of clothing was required by definition to be classed as fashion Please could you explain?

Kevin - Thanks for giving it a go, maybe I will be brave enough to comment the next time an image is posted for critique and don't forget you are coming along on the next shoot in September.

Ann - I agree about the print clothing (bit of a clash with the background there) and also agree about Tasha (yes it was a heavy crop and not very sharp ) Got to disagree about the crop for Lauren though and also I like all of the pipework in the background. I actually thought it looked quite cool and trendy

John - I too prefer the images of Precious she was a little star, she just moved from pose to pose without much direction being needed.

Thanks again.

[Paul Jones]

Paul - I followed your link but I am still none the wiser as to what constitutes a fashion image, I would have thought that a reasonable amount of clothing was required by definition to be classed as fashion Please could you explain?

Fashion photography isn't my thing. I'm rubbish at it.

But the term 'fashion' is often mis-used for any photo of someone wearing clothes. The point I was trying to make (badly) was just that 'fashion' is a whole genre in itself and there's more to just having clothes on, as the link to Calikartel shows.

You can further break fashion photography down into sub-genres such as editiorial fashion, commercial fashion, lifestyle fashion, etc. Not all of them need to involve clothes or focus on the clothes, instead they can convey a narrative or a feeling. Pick up any copy of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, etc to see different forms of fashion photography.

I'm sorry for taking your thread off-track.

[paulinefisher]

Paul,

Please don't apologise, anything that generates discussion and hopefully helps to expand ones knowledge is fine in my book. I really don't think I have a creative bone in my body but that really is a whole new thread

Pauline