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  • February 7, 2013 at 12:07 am #6308
    winephoto
    Participant

    Hi! My name is Rachel, and I’m new to the forum. I worked as a second shooter for a while and am now taking a break to go to school. One thing about my former boss, was that she never really complimented any of my photos, in fact, she criticized them and not in a constructive way. She never really told me what was wrong with them. So I wanted to share a few images so that everyone could tell me exactly what it is I need to change. As you can see, I like to use natural light as much as possible.  Thank you for taking time to reply! 🙂

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/92961900@N05/

     

    February 7, 2013 at 9:12 am #6309
    cameraclicker
    Participant

    They were all shot with a Nikon D4, so there is not much opportunity to blame the camera, and even less opportunity if you used lenses of comparable quality.

    I like the photos. I think DSC-2727_0618 and DSC_4055 are best, technically. DSC-2727_0618 has a dot (probably a leaf) in the burned out sky, right at the margin, which I would remove, and I might burn the sky and water just a little.  The pose in DSC_4055 seems a bit forced, more confrontational than loving, perhaps.  I think it is the placement of his arms causing that.
    With DSC_9947, DSC_3376 and DSC_9548, I feel there is a haze that might have been eliminated with a lens hood. We are seeing a lot of that hazy “light on front element” look lately. It seems to be popular but I don’t like it.

    I grabbed three of your photos and edited them. Have a look. Let us know what you think.

    This one has some pretty subtle changes that I hope will help.
    DSC_9971

    There was a lot more done to this one, although the logic behind the edit is the same.
    DSC_9947

    Different subject, same logic, however part two was that I was put off by the rusty white chair so I got rid of as much of it as I could.
    DSC_2756_0647

    That served to help with the overall logic behind the edits.  The eye is drawn to bright areas, then to in focus areas. If your subject is darker than other elements, the eye will keep leaving your subject.  The exception to that is high key, where a bright white background disappears.

    February 7, 2013 at 9:49 am #6312
    rouelle
    Participant

    On the pictures 9947 and 9548 the background is brighter than your subject, next time try to use a flash for your indoor shoot, and make it bounce form the ceiling or the wall behind you, it make a huge difference without the amateur flash look. This way your subject will be more lighted and it will allow you to decrease one stop or two from your camera (and allow you to shoot at a lower iso). I like the rusty chair look, it draw attention to the ring, I only saw the small ring on second look thought. You have a nice sense of composition, the flaws comes from a lack of technique. Of course I didn’t see all your picture but from this small sample but I’ll say that your boss was wrong to criticize so much.

     

    February 7, 2013 at 1:22 pm #6314
    winephoto
    Participant

    I added another picture (like 9548) where I did use flash, and while the flash did improve the lighting, I feel that it wasn’t as artistic.  I really liked the shadow on her face in 9548. But I could be wrong.  I liked the rusty chair also. And thank you both! 🙂 I really appreciate your input.

    February 7, 2013 at 1:26 pm #6315
    winephoto
    Participant

    Do you think I should spend more time editing my images? Because like I said, I use natural lighting and I also like to keep my photos as natural as possible when it comes to editing. But maybe I should edit them more than I do?

    February 7, 2013 at 5:23 pm #6323
    cameraclicker
    Participant

    When I shot slides, I had to get it right in the camera.  When I shot print film, darkroom work could be done.  Now I shoot digital, the darkroom work gets done in Photoshop.  Different tools but otherwise a lot like shooting print film, with the advantage that displayed on a monitor, images are illuminated like slides… Best of both worlds.

    It is your vision.  Edit or not to make the pictures look as you wish.  No one really sees the work that goes into a picture, just the final result.

    I like 9546, it does not have the fogginess I found distracting in 9548.   Everyone has their own opinion, I am sure you will find people who rave about the look like that of 9548, just not me.

    February 7, 2013 at 8:59 pm #6329
    Gerbles
    Participant

    Another nitpick- The diamond isn’t in focus in the shot with the rings. That’s arguably the most important part of the shot. And looking at the two boudoir shots, I actually prefer the one without flash. I think you’re right- the flash essentially flattened out the lighting, which made it feel more sterile. I would maybe just use a reflector instead of flash to bring up the shadows just a hair.

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