Sassy hot

well so far one person has rated this photo, a 1 on aesthetics and 2

on originality...

 

feel free to jump on the band wagon... but please have the courtesy

to explain why it's so bad, isn't it just obnoxious and useless to

just bash and run?

 

this is the critique forum folks... from the dictionary...

 

critique

 

cri·tique [kri tk ] noun (plural cri·tiques)

 

1. review of somebody's work: a written or broadcast assessment of

something, usually a creative work, with comments on its good and bad

qualities. Also called criticism

 

2. See criticism n.3

 

transitive verb (past cri·tiqued, past participle cri·tiqued, present

participle cri·tiqu·ing, 3rd person present singular cri·tiques)

give review of: to discuss or comment on something, for example, an

artist's work or a political policy, giving an assessment of its good

and bad features

 

the rules of this forum really need to be changed, no ratings without

being in conjunction with commentary, yes people can still leave a

blank or one word comment if they want, but at least then the rating

is tied to a name, that way there is some pressure to explain one's

thinking and also it allows the one being critiqued a possible chance

to gage what the voters opinion should mean to him/her based on

seeing how they rate other photos and even what their own work looks

like... i really like that idea, there should be a record of all the

persons votes on other pictures then you can see if your hearing from

someone who likes velvet elvi and dogs playing poker, or if they have

some sort of taste that you can discern... this way it's like an

opera singer reading a review of themselves written by a 14 year old

brittany spears fan, but not being told that's the case... or

brittany being reviewed by the ny times opera critic for that

matter...

The composition is fine, the model is fine. I like the tilt of the head and the cheeky glint in her eye. I'm not overfussed with that thing in her mouth though, and it appears to be seriously out of focus.

-----ditto Geraldine --but on the thumbnail, the 'candy' resembles a glass syringe (nurses don't hold them like that anymore!!)

I'll have to go along with Geraldine and Richard. The photo itself is fine and I rather like it but the thing in her mouth leaving would improve the photo immensely for me.

Geraldine said it all. Great expression but spoilt by the thing in her mouth. Has potential. 5/5

I liked the other version of this that I saw the other day...where one of the model's eyes was open and the other shut. It had a tension that was interesting.

This is out of focus in the wrong way -- just enough to look like a mistake, not enough to look intentional. Dump this, keep the other.

Also - critiques here (and on every other site on the net I have visited) are a very mixed bag. At least people said something -- I had over 400 people look at one image -- only 1 commented and only 3 left ratings -- which leaves me wondering, well, what did the other 396+ think? Ratings are ok I guess --- I don't really understand the ratings system and so avoid using it -- I think I'd be too tempted to give all photos either a 1 or a 10 --- but written comments show that at least they looked and took time to respond.

The focus of this picture is really distracting- Overall it looks better as a thumbnail- except that one can't see what is in her mouth. I like the winking version better as well- the contrast of the blue sky and the fact that it is in focus help a lot

It's been my experience that when someone says "Hello, hurt me!" they are going to get pissed if you really do. I got so exhausted talking the last person I criticized into putting down the gun, so to speak, via frenzied email exchange, that I decided to pass on any further requests for "honest criticism". But since you went to so much trouble, here goes...

This sucks to beat hell. I can't imagine what you are trying to accomplish. It's just plain silly, and unfocused to boot. It looks like you are afraid of producing anything serious, and so are using silliness to hide behind--like, "hey, I was just clowning around." You have a knack for lighting, and have access to attractive models, so quit the mickey-f*ckin'-mousin' around and quit wasting yours, and everyone else's time. And after that long dissertation on the meaning of critique, if you try to cop one of those "I just take pictures for myself" attitudes, you will lose all credibility in the Critique Forum. All the above is what I don't like. Now for the advice phase. If you have a creative block, maybe you should hire a professional model and tell her to just run through some standard routines, and just fire away, concentrating on your technique. And last, the encouragement. If you think I am being a real hole, I can assure you that I would not have wasted this much time on a chumpy snapshot of somebody's house ape or patio panther. I hate to see wasted talent. Oh, and I thought the Elvis plural was pretty clever.

i'm glad i'm getting a few responses here, thank you all

 

let me explain the thing in her mouth, i gave an explanation of the purpose of this shoot in my critique request on the other picture that some of you have referred to, i'll recap here.

 

i was shooting to enter a contest with the theme "a model with water," the thing in her mouth was a piece of ice, which was my twist on the water theme, a made a little slab of ice with the letter blocks inside and the idea was for it to be held in her teeth facing forward so you could read "hot," at this point the ice had melted to where maria couldn't hold it that way anymore, so she stuck it in sideways like that, and i just kept shooting and loved what she was doing expression wise.

 

one obvious problem is that the ice doesn't really read as ice unless you know it's ice or have some clue like the voters in the contest did, if i had entered this shot i would have hoped that they could figure out it was ice given the theme of the contest, though i'm sure i would have lost some votes to people who didn't get it or didn't like that it wasn't apparent enough, and unfortunately in the shots where the ice was in her mouth closer to how i intended (like the black and white one in my portfolio) i think it's even harder to tell that it's ice... if i could have gotten a tiny light in her mouth somehow to backlight the ice i would have done that! haha

 

the other obvious problem is the focus, i love motion blur or even some shots simply out of focus or with selective focus. in this case there is either some subject or camera movement or just missed focus or some combination, it was unintentional, but i still like it best of the similar ones due to the feel and mood of it, i think the blur adds a little action and life to it but i realize i'm in the minority on that, i guess later i'll post a couple similars that are sharp and some people like better, but to me don't have the same spark

 

it's funny, just this morning i saw a picture in citizen k, a french fashion mag, and it was kind of similar, with the model looking left out of the frame and absolutely nothing was in focus, it was more pronounced which probably helps, it was gorgeous though, way better than mine

scott,

 

i hope you take the following in the spirit of discussion/debate as opposed to the kinds of reactions you are exhausted by... so....

 

i might or might not get pissed at somebody's review or critique depending on how and what they say, but i definitely get pissed off at people who just give numeric ratings (and shitty numeric ratings at that), and offer no explanation... THAT is waste of everyone's time if you ask me, and it strikes me as chicken shit as well. you on the other hand, stand behind what you say, and more power to you for that, i much prefer to hear what you have to say and understand where you're coming from in your opinion rather than just see the numbers

 

i already gave some of my own opinions on this photo and answered parts of what i was trying to accomplish in my comments above, (which i wrote and posted before seeing your post) but i'll respond to a few things you said as well.

 

first of all, i in no way feel i have a creative block, quite the opposite, i have way more ideas than i have money or opportunity to explore (getting a good digital camera, hopefully soon, will help with the money problem) whether it worked or not, i felt the ice and the letters were quite creative as a way to solve the problem and not be run of the mill, and i used several variations on the theme, as well as a few other completely different themes, some worked and some didn't and some came out unintentionally sort of pornographic and i probably won't post them here even though they are very successful in some ways.

the fact is we ran out of time way before we could get all of my planned set ups accomplished

 

i'm sorry you felt this was a waste of your time, frankly i'm a little confused by your comments. it seems to me that the fact that i wrote what i did about wanting comments and the fact that i'm submitting these pictures for critique means that opinions of others do matter to me on one or more levels. and i find it somewhat offensive for you to warn me not to take an attitude that you have no reason or evidence to assume i'll take. anyway, yes of course i shoot for myself, but i also like to see how others perceive my work, and being human i like it when they appreciated it. i also have no qualms about trying to explain how i see it or how it affects me or what i was thinking,or to discuss criticism that i don't understand or disagree with, and if people see that as argumentative or not appreciative of the critiques, well, that's not where i'm coming from

 

as for it being silly, i don't know if you will still feel that way or not after you read what the context and intent of the shoot was. but in any event it wasn't meant to be silly, even though some of the individual shots (from a different set up which i haven't posted) were meant to be silly in some respects, the exercise as a whole wasn't meant to be silly at all, the goals were to create work for my portfolio and possibly maria's (shoots with her portfolio as the main focus are forthcoming) as well as to do well in the contest. overall i happy with how it turned out, even though some of the things didn't go as well as they could have, the shot i entered (winking shot) took 2nd place in the contest and finished ahead of shots by several working fashion shooters with much more experience than i have. it also got high praise from many of the best shooters and models on the site in question, as well as from an agency owner, a couple of bookers and a stylist. on top of this maria wants a few shots in her book and i'll be able to use a few in mine (btw, maria is a beginning professional model, and if confusion with her local agent can be worked out she'll be working with ford models of ny this summer) i don't mean for this to sound like i'm saying "so there, who needs your opinion!," it's just my response to the "silliness" aspect of your comments. now on the other hand you might, or others might, find the entire notion of aspiring to do some fashion photography as silly, if so, then i can't argue that, and even largely agree, yet i'm attracted to it and it's one of the things i want to do and i hope to do some cool and good things with it

 

as for my dissertation on the critique forum, well, i won't apologize for the length, obviously i have a penchant for lengthy posts, if it takes me a certain number of words to get my thoughts across, so be it. and my complaint is certainly valid, it's incredible how many times you see 20, 30, or 40 ratings on a photo but only 1, 2, or 3 comments, it's a problem on almost every single photo that ever gets any ratings at all and it's very frustrating, and not just on my photos, i mean on everybody's

 

anyway, thanks again for taking the time and for your thoughts and advice and for seeing something in my work worth taking the trouble over

 

phew... that was long wasn't it? oh well...

 

ps, i can't take credit for the plural of elvis, i've seen that elsewhere and copped it

 

pps, i just looked at your folders, lots of very nice stuff!

Aaron,

 

I usually don't rate photos, since I haven't had any of my own photos uploaded for others to check out. Fair is fair, right? Now that I have uploaded at least one of my own, I feel as though I am partially justified in rating others' work.

 

First off, I agree with you wholeheartedly re: ratings and no commentary. I find photo.net to be a wonderful learning opportunity for all of us... however, if we are only told that our work sucks, how can we possibly improve? Fortunately for me, I have started conversing with a couple of critics of my photo, which has helped me to evolve my thinking and realize how I might have messed up... and what I can do in the future to make a better shot/print.

 

Anyway, on to your shot... this particular photo really captured my eye, despite the peculiar "thing" in her mouth. After you explained it in context, I can better understand what you were after, and I can "see" the ice better as well. Unfortunately, the ice did get lost in the translation... but I really appreciate the idea! I am extremely impressed by your use of color and lighting, and after viewing your folders, I have come to the conclusion that you are a true artist. You definitely have an eye for color, which seems to always jump out at me in your shots. Absolutely vivid, and wonderfully executed.

 

I wish I could see color as brilliantly as you do. I cannot wait to see more of your work!

Aaron.

its a great pic. Blur and all. I dont know why people think you need a perfect focus in every shot. In fact i just went to an exhibition in the sydney museum of contemporary art where a lot of the shots were way out of focus - however with the funky cropping and colour the focus wasnt a real issue. same here. all your shots are very cool and it buggers me why they have rated so poorly. this girl is also a babe which helps a lot.