Sara (1. Desaturated)

Hello all. Some of you (actually very few of you will recall

similar photographs submitted for Critques of the same model. Well

I photoshopped these images and am resubmitting the new and Improved

results)

 

PLEASE GIVE ME A REASON WHY YOU RATE MY PICTURES!!!!!!

 

I need to learn and it does not help if you simply give it a "below

average" rating and leave no explination on how I can improve!

 

Thank you.

 

-JG

The upper left corner is too bright and distracting. The model's best features are the eyes, lips and hair, so tighter cropping might be better. Eliminate more of the background (it really doesn't serve a purpose) and eliminate the model's midsection and lower. Draw more attention to the face!

OK, I will comment. I think the model is beautiful (her expression as well. I also like the desaturation choice alot.

 

 

I think three things could make this portrait (of a senior, I'm guessing?) even better.

1. It's a bit overexposed on the left upper corner. If you would have stepped a bit to the left and shot more toward the trees, the exposure would've come out perfectly.

2. I would've liked to see her hands in her pockets in this. Just a rule that I learned paying my dues in a studio.

3. This is just nit-picky, but her pose is pretty normal for photo.net. I don't know if you've noticed, but most of these photographers are much more interested in the art of photography vs. the career. I am not one of those people, but to get really high ratings here, you'll need to do some crazy, artsy stuff.

 

I don't rely on high ratings. Most of the time it's a roller coaster ride and you can't figure out why some people have rated 3/3 and others have rated 7/7 on the same image. It's too frustrating, so instead, I ask people for their honest opinions and then grow from it, which is what I think you're trying to do. If so, bravo.

Thank you for your comments. I know it is a bit overexposed because I was frantically shooting before the sun went behind the horizon (this was taken with about 10 minutes of shootable light left, in that time I managed to get 150 photos).

 

This is not for senior photographs. This is for my pleasure of taking pictures of people (because in Wisconsin during the winter there are no flowers to shoot).

 

I agree with what is submitted to Photo.net -- it tends to be more artsy with various lighting and highlighting and hours of manipulating in photoshop. Well sorry to say it but I am a nonconformist: I do not buy this kind of clothing because it is the "in" thing to do, I do not watch this show because it is a "must-see." I refuse to follow the crowd. Don't get me wrong, I would like to have more photo toys to experiment and play with, but I see it that as a student my pockets are quite shallow. Besides majority of these people are professionals. I just have a camera, lens, flash, and a reflector.

 

For the model: There has to be a cut-off (no pun intended) for the frame. If I were to show her hands and pelivs area, there would be critics that I should have included her knees, well then there are individuals who would prefer to see all of her legs and some ground. The fine line of what to include and what to cut out is clearly subjective. I think that this best suits this pose. I shot some full-length pictures and then some uppers.

 

Thank you once again for your commentary.

 

-JG

 

p.s. I also dislike the rating system here, it would be better if there would be a required commentary for the rating given. That would weed out the "first-impression" ratinging-spammers would cycle through the forums in minutes giving out 3's (or any number for that matter) without telling why. It doesn't help the photographer, it only frustrates the photographer even more.

I don't mean to come across as know-it-all, but it seems as though you don't really like critiques either. Taking constructive criticism is one of the best ways you can grow as a photographer.

 

PS The thing about including the hands is not really just an opinion. Check any beginner's photography manual or any photography school and they'd tell you the same thing. Every rule is made to be broken, but this was not a successful crop. Sorry.