That butt crack looks drawn in. :p

no its a hardware issue.

Yeah, dude... clean out your cpu fan, seriously.

You have a police officer present when you were playing with your guns justin? Second one looks better, I don't like the blurry second gun in the first shot.

No cuz they are air guns. But I could get my friend who is an auxillary constable I guess... you think I should in the future?

yay......damn i missed my grad photo haha

Justin, everytime you post new pics, I feel like I would do you a disservice if I critiqued you in the same way, because you've been improving so drastically in these past 6 months.

So everytime you post new pics, I try to avoid the things that you've been critiqued on in the past, because I know you incorporate all critiques that you receive within your growth, and if there is an imperfection that I notice, I know you've already considered it, and perhaps there is a reason that you've ignored it.

With your most recent images you've displayed that you are fully cognizant of the technical, and compositional aspects of photography. Everything is done strategically, and everything is done well (i.e. lighting is ideal, DOF is perfect, colors and contrast are spot on...etc). So having said that, I think you are now at a level that you can be critiqued purely on a conceptual level. So from now on, everything I say will be purely subjective, and you'll have to take it with a grain of salt, as it's not definitive in any way....merely a different perspective.

Your two recent images work because you have a hot fucking model posing with a gun. That's a #1 seller right there. In addition, her outfit is well thought out, and fits the overall concept of mimicking GI Jane. Finally, you've done a great job in contrasting her background in such a way that the two background colors provide an ideal reference point to her character. The green and the orange, particularly in the second image, provide a very appealing gradation of colors that make the overall composition quite seductive. However, the images have a few deficits.
The concept ultimately fails because you did not give enough thought to the background, as you did to the foreground. Although color-wise, the two fit, conceptually, the foreground and the background do not complement one-another. As it stands, it's just a well crafted snap-shot in a park. For the images to truly exemplify the look you were going for, you would have to recreate, or at least, re-situate her in an environment that complements her physical expressions and literal intentions. What I mean is, when you know of the genre of photography you will be conducting, don't sell yourself short by just randomly picking an environment that generally fits the idea you're composing. Instead, really get out there and scout for a location that would--on it's own--sell the image even without the model! Ultimately what you want is a frame that has multiple complementing elements in the foreground and background that EACH equally represent the idea you are selling.

Just to give you an example, when Dennis and I were shooting Nikki Gertsch early this year, we each scouted for weeks for an ideal location. I confess Dennis did a better job than I did, because he went a step further and found the location BEFORE finding all the right outfits for Nikki. Ultimately, his images worked, because he worked BACKWARDS in composing his shots (i.e. he chose the location, then the girl, then the outfits, then the jewlery, then the MUA, etc etc...).

So yes, your images are great, and your growth tremendous; but as a next step in your development, you should start paying attention to the environments that you are creating, and present concepts, instead of pictures.


Cheers,
~S

Thanks for the insight Salar. I wish I had the time to really hunt for the location. Unfortunately I was told at 11:37pm the evening before that we were shooting at 9am that morning. To top it all off I arrived at the shoot to find out that the original model was well... not well fitted for the shoot (This is the nicest way I could put it). So Bonnie made an emergency call to the model pictured in this shoot and we had an outfit that fitted her. While waiting for the makeup to be done I went scouring through Stanley Park trying to find the right spot. I couldn't find the "perfect spot". So I chose the best spot to compliment my equipment brought out for this shoot.

To be honest, I wish I had conceptualized this shoot before. I was struggling to find the right place but alas, as you noticed... the background isn't quite fitting for the subject. I will keep that in my head for future shoots.

I really do appreciate you taking the time to write such a lengthy critique. Although I really try to keep in mind previous critiques the occasional reminders of things are helpful. I take in everything and really try to engrain it in my head like a habit.

mine is in 3 weeks @ custodio. hoo rah.

Up in Valemount, BC for work this week... shot a few pics on the way up. Haven't done a lot of editing to them, just some quick tweaking in Picasa:

http://picasaweb.google.com/soundy106/ValemountTrip

(IE won't give me a direct link to the actual pictures)

Another photographer I know has police officers with him when he's shooting his models with guns (pistols/rifles).

You and your model may know the gun is fake but others, including officers, do not.

http://www3.telus.net/Kwazy/Group/IMG_8625-copy.jpg

Boys..will be boys. HAHA!

ditto on what salar said. technically your shots hit the mark quite well, but there's still something missing that helps to seperate your work from what it is, to what it should be.

perhaps as salar noted, the fault happens in your pre-conception of the shoot. pulling all the elements together is never easy. i personally wouldnt have shot that girl, in that wardrobe there. in that specific setting i'm simply not enticed. it leads me thinking "why is she posing in some pretty park with the sunsetting?" imo the model doesnt comform into her setting, yet at the same time there's not enough contrast or juxtaposition.

but perhaps it's not even that. maybe it's the moment in the models expression that ur capturing. alison is just soo fuckin sexy, but her dynamics in facial expressions still needs practice.

i dunno what im talking about...

what kind of boys do you hang out with:blueguy:

my point exactly lol

holy mother nice shots guys, ok i will hide my work first and re-evaluate myself before i start posting again.

just having some fun =p

http://www3.telus.net/Kwazy/Group/IMG_8532-copy.jpg

My cpu aint overheating, I think my hardrive isabout to go bye bye or my psu Is about to go bye bye... I tested the ram.

two pictures from a recent portrait session,

i think i finally has some confidence in pretty skin tones now that i have learnt to use the kobuta's action--kevin's cross processing action

it helps making the picture look good:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...k/_MG_7420.jpg


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...k/_MG_7505.jpg

Looks quite overexposed.
Where've you gone? Haven't seen you post in a while.

Laurence,

Photos are over exposed a bit probably about 2/3 stops for the subject and about 1.5 stops for the background.

For the first photo:
Pros:
- Nice catchlight in her eyes.
- Nice use of the sun as a kicker light to give her rim lighting.

Constructive Criticism:
- I would suggest bringing the reflector used to light her up to her side a bit. This would create a soft shadow on the near cheek and make her face look slightly less puffy. If you notice on the bottom of her jaw (nearest to camera) it sticks out. A shadow in that area would decrease it's visibility.
- My other suggestion would be to create a slight break in her elbow to give some nice compositional lines through the photograph.

Second Photo:
Pros:
- I like her expression.
- The light is soft and has a good direction to it
Constructive Criticism:
- The base cement blocks are distracting. I would suggest cloning them out or cropping tighter.
- Typically I try not to point soles of shoes to the front of the camera it makes feet look fat and large
- Get the model to push her shoulder blades together. This will create a nicer posture instead of the slouch.

Hope this helps!

First

wow... all of these pix are so swt so nice... sort of wish i had a DSLR ... but so expensive i'm using a Nikon old school 35mm SLR that my dad has... but no scanner >.< so heres a couple of pix from my phone... i like photos... but not a pro ... what do u guys think?

http://www.$$$$$$$$$.com/jimmy/picture00332.jpg
http://www.$$$$$$$$$.com/jimmy/picture00336.jpg

sorry they're kinda small but they're takin w/ my Sharp 903 =P ...

dude that's pretty freakin awesome for a phone!!!

Wow she's hot.