[emf]

No artist exists in a bubble, all art is either inspired by something previous or a reaction against something previous. Every single artist, photographer, musician whatever, is standing on the shoulders of everyone that ever came before him or her.

To take an existing idea and make it your own is what art is all about.

It’s debated if Picasso actually said it or not but Steve Jobs certainly did, and that is:

“bad artists copy; great artists steal” which is a very interesting quote indeed.

 

[emf]

To have a specific gallery entitled ‘young girls’ is so creepy.

[emf]

I’m not sure you’re ready to start charging yet.

One thing I would recommend is to learn more about posing, as some of the poses of the pregnant lady are a bit unflattering. Even though she’s pregnant so she’s big, the way she has been posed and the angle she’s been shot from accentuate her size, not just her bump but things like double chins etc. . A few directions from you as to how to pose properly would have made for much more flattering images, this is a good tutorial on posing;

Also i think the skin is over smoothed in places. Especially on the man, which is unnecessary imo.

You’re really lucky in that you’re both doing it together as you can practise things like posing on each other, when I want to practice maternity posing I have to get my husband to stick a cushion up his jumper lol!

[emf]

Well, I’m only a learner myself, but a couple of things I notice are:

In the window one were the older girl is holding the baby, the light is too strong and consequently bleaching out the whole top of the babies head. Having nets/voiles on the window to diffuse/scrim the light and/or shooting at another time of the day when the light source isn’t so direct and harsh etc. Monitor the light throughout to see when the best time of day to shoot at that location is.

With the burger, and this may sound finickity but I think the presentation of the tuna (?) lets down the image, in particular the way the mayo(?) is ‘blobbed’ on the top. It would look so much nicer if the zig zags were more sweeping and fluid (I hope that makes sense). I appreciate that this may have just been your meal, but generally food photography requires a higher level of precision and the way the food is ‘styled’ and composed is very important to this. There are some really nice food photography groups on flickr, which I think will be useful for you to check out.  Also I think it needs more light on the right hand side of the frame.

I agree with Nesgran about putting the images in categories too, at the moment it seems a bit disorganised.

I really do like the image of the baby in the stripy top and dad(?), that’s lovely.

 

 

 

[emf]

thanks guys! Ok have said yes. I will post the results when done for critique so you all can tell me if it’s cliched or not. Many thanks 🙂

[emf]

wow, can’t believe I wrote ‘where’ instead of ‘wear’ – please ignore that.

[emf]

hahaha! Oh boy!

[emf]

haha – that last one is so bad, I think it goes full circle and kinda becomes good again…albeit in a hilarious way, which I’m guessing probably wasn’t the intention of the creator, but still!

[emf]

The worst thing about that guy is that he teaches and charges £400 for a one to one – WTAF!!

[emf]

Just pick up an old SLR in a charity shop. I picked up a Pentax MX with a 50/1.7 lens for £15 the other day, new batteries for a couple of quid and a roll of Kodak BW400CN or Ilford 400 XP2 that goes through the standard lab C41 process. It is worth a try to see what “real” B&W can do. Total outlay around £30 and you get 36 prints from it. I’m not a big fan of digital black and white conversions as they never seem to really have to punch that film B&W does but each to their own.

Are there other B&W cameras other than the Leica? Anyway, to get B&W to work you need a lot of contrast naturally in the picture, it is easier with people than with landscapes. To get more punch in the phots try fiddling with the white balance before converting to black and white, you can get it ridiculously off and get the conversions to look better. In the olden days you’d use green filters for example to help with skin tones and orange filters to get clouds to appear. Experiment! Some extra grain might even help set the mood.

That’s a really good idea – I will try that, thanks. As for film, I sort of inherited quite a few film cameras, including a leica. But I must admit, the convenience of digital suits me at the moment (with 2 small children and no childcare yet). I would like to go back to it when I have more time though.

[emf]

I love b+w cc, but I’ve never heard of a camera specifically for b+w. That’s very interesting – though at the moment, I still need to get to grips with my own camera. is there a way to get the effect of that idea in raw, like lens corrections etc.

[emf]

I agree with Nesgran especially about your b+w conversions. For b+w, more dramatic, directional lighting generally works better, to create a greater tonal range and therefore give your subject depth and form. In your b+w’s the lighting is fairly flat and any contrast you had came from the colours – when the colour has gone, there’s no contrast and hence the image is too flat.

Another couple of things I noticed are.

I would spend more time editing the newborn images, not the birth ones maybe as I guess these are more of a documentative nature. But there are other NB’s with very red eyelids and crusty skin. I know this is the reality but as a mum I would prefer my NB pics to be edited a bit more. I think most would appreciate the same.

Watch for distractions in the b/g, it’s easy not to always notice what’s going on behind your subject, in the whole frame etc. But try to get into the habit of doing so. Or edit out distractions in post. For example, in one there is some distracting branches coming out of a girl, in the maternity waterfall one, the subject has a vine cutting right through her head etc.

You also have a couple of shots where the expression is off, eyes closed etc. Though in general I thought you had nice expressions and eye contact, which indicates you have a good rapport with your clients and can get them to relax, which I’m learning is no meat feat, so well done for that. But I’d delete the ones with eyes closed etc.

In another shot there are reflections in the guys glasses.

There are also badly focused photos. And ones where the colours seem off.

I would have a cull and only leave your best images, and I’d echo the above, please stay away from traintracks – not only is it tacky but so dangerous. Not just for yourself and your clients but youngsters and wannabes could  see your images and try to imitate.  A couple of people got killed really recently doing this.

 

 

 

[emf]

The before and after’s are really cool in themselves – it would be cool to do a whole series – you could travel around the world without leaving your home! 🙂

[emf]

Actually on taking another look, the shadows on your neck look strange. Initially I thought you had comped your whole body but is it just your head?

[emf]

Thanks CC, that tutorial was great!

[Author]

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