C&C challenge...

up for comments and criticism is... my entire portfolio.
http://www.maskphoto.com

I just got done editing out the more amateurish shots and tweaking existing shots, re-categorizing my... categories... and other such grueling tasks.

My challenge is this: tell me the worst picture in my portfolio and why it's bad. then tell me the best picture and why it's good.
Just please don't be offensive. I'm looking for constructiveness here.

Bonus question: what one thing would you change about my portfolio?

Let the rending and gnashing of teeth begin!

My favorite (posting links instead of images):

http://www.maskphoto.com/pics/thumbs/editorialthumb/www.maskphoto.com_editorial_bdsmthumb.jpg

Don't like:
http://www.maskphoto.com/pics/titles/title_.gif

I like the first one because I find the perspective very interesting and sexy. I don't like the other one, mainly because the head position of the man doesn't make any sense. It looks liike she is having an intimate moment and he could care less, and I don't think that was the point of the shot.

As for the rest of the gallery, I'm not a fan of captions. But I think there are some good shots in there. The glamour gallery doesn't make sense. I don't think most people think of glamour and nudity as going hand-in-hand and the nudity seems to dominate. Perhaps you should have a glamour gallery separate from the nudes and partial nudes. Just a thought.

scooterapd said:

My favorite (posting links instead of images):

http://www.maskphoto.com/pics/thumbs/editorialthumb/www.maskphoto.com_editorial_bdsmthumb.jpg

Don't like:
http://www.maskphoto.com/pics/titles/title_.gif

I like the first one because I find the perspective very
interesting and sexy. I don't like the other one, mainly because
the head position of the man doesn't make any sense. It looks
liike she is having an intimate moment and he could care less, and
I don't think that was the point of the shot.

As for the rest of the gallery, I'm not a fan of captions. But I
think there are some good shots in there. The glamour gallery
doesn't make sense. I don't think most people think of glamour and
nudity as going hand-in-hand and the nudity seems to dominate.
Perhaps you should have a glamour gallery separate from the nudes
and partial nudes. Just a thought.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts.

the one you don't like, I chose because he was looking away. he was glancing up at the art director at the time, but I thought that it lent an interesting air of detachment. I'll agree that it would be more flattering and endearing if he was gazing at her, but i think it's more interesting this way.

re: the captions, I struggled with this for awhile. I added them a year ago because search engines like text and I wanted as much "relevant" text on the site as possible, because google looks favorably on that. Now that only half the images have captions (i added that many this time around), I'm debating keeping them. one argument is that images should stand on their own and not need explanation.

re: the nudes, I have 4 books on glamour lighting and they all have significant nudity in the example images. I gather that the difference between glamour and porn is that in glamour, the model is owning her nudity and presenting a strong image, while in pr0n, she's just there to be hot. I tried to choose images where the nudity helped the image, rather than ones where the nudity defined the image.

I also used to have a warning page to alert viewers that they were entering a non-work-safe environment. I'm considering bringing that back.

jugglervr said:

Thanks for your thoughts.
the one you don't like, I chose because he was looking away. he was
glancing up at the art director at the time, but I thought that it
lent an interesting air of detachment. I'll agree that it would be
more flattering and endearing if he was gazing at her, but i think
it's more interesting this way.

Click to expand...

I guess I just don't feel it. For him to look detached, he should look like he's thinking about something else. He just looks like he's modeling for the camera.

jugglervr said:

re: the captions, I struggled with this for awhile. I added them a
year ago because search engines like text and I wanted as much
"relevant" text on the site as possible, because google looks
favorably on that. Now that only half the images have captions (i
added that many this time around), I'm debating keeping them. one
argument is that images should stand on their own and not need
explanation.

re: the nudes, I have 4 books on glamour lighting and they all have
significant nudity in the example images. I gather that the
difference between glamour and porn is that in glamour, the model
is owning her nudity and presenting a strong image, while in pr0n,
she's just there to be hot. I tried to choose images where the
nudity helped the image, rather than ones where the nudity defined
the image.

I also used to have a warning page to alert viewers that they were
entering a non-work-safe environment. I'm considering bringing that
back.

Click to expand...

I don't know if you need a warning, although I guess that would be helpful for those viewing at work. I just think you should separate them for the sake of uniformity.

-Darren

Many lovely photos but I gotta agree that the captions do nothing for the overall appeal of the site.

I would suggest editing pictures and the interface for a specific screen size.

No matter if its flash or html, when images bounce around in size, I think it distracts from the feel of the site.

jugglervr said:

tell me the worst picture in my portfolio and
why it's bad. then tell me the best picture and why it's good.

Click to expand...

In my opinion:
The best is:



Great light, good composition, spontaneity, expression.
I think the area above the head is unnecessary and can be cropped.

But, apart the highlights, the best could be this:



Again, simplicity is the formula.
Both photos may looks better with a little post-processing.

The worst:



There are tons of things, but nothing attractive in this pic. Overexposed and underexposed at the same time. Bad composition, confused.

jugglervr said:

Bonus question: what one thing would you change about my portfolio?

Click to expand...

Overall, discard the pics where the composition and light is not working.

Suggested crop, removing the unwanted areas, for best composition:



Also, needs more post-processing to enhance sharpness and maybe colors and tones.

Don't like:

http://www.maskphoto.com/picture.htm?type=headshots&pic=1

This goes beyond high-key lighting into completely blown-out territory, and I don't think it is flattering to the model or the image, especially with the unnaturally dark background in contrast.

Do like all your Product shots. I think they are well-executed and seem to call attention to the product, but not in a glaringly obvious manner. In my opinion, they are greatly superior to everything else on your site.

Doug

the images are constrained to 800px at their widest point.
Do you mean that they should ALL be 800px wide?

I guess i'm optimized for 1024x768 because it all fits at that res, but at 800x600, some scrolling is required.

I thought about stating that somewhere on the site but thought it might look tacky.

k, thanks. captions gone.

ah, heh. yeah, the construction yard pic has been on the chopping block for awhile. it was officially my first HDR image, but the machinery is pretty mushy.

it's looking grim for the construction yard!

re: sharpening and tone of Alissa, it's already sharpened and curves-boosted and 12 other things done to it. i fear that any more would break it. I think my lens was just acting mushy that day; all the shots of her are a little not quite sharp. maybe my shutter speed was at the threshold and I didn't notice.

thanks!

D Knisely said:

Don't like:

http://www.maskphoto.com/picture.htm?type=headshots&pic=1

Click to expand...

aww. the theme was 40s hollywood glamour. I had channel-mixed a good b/w image, but then I decided to see what it looked like as an overlay on the original and liked the blow-outs. She doesn't care for it much either, but my wife loves it. so far the vote is 2-2, with the tie going to keeping it. if someone else hates it, i guess i'll have to reprocess.

while I really !! like your rock/waves on the oregon coast, I chose this one as your best:

http://www.maskphoto.com/picture.htm?type=portrait&pic=4

the light is great, the shot has a clear composition. the model does seem a bit in competition with the pillars, because they are so bright. Right now you've got her as the 4th pillar. If the focus is "portrait" maybe give your model more of the image space??? imho

weighing in on captions: I vote no on the quotes and sentences, but favor a simple consistent non-subjective information format like "location/time of day"

My "critical comment" would just be this: to me (and maybe only to me) your senior gallery doesn't give off the look/feel I associate with seniors. This gallery looks a lot like models (and their model-y look) posing as seniors.

but hey, at least you have a website, philosophy and galleries! (I'm still trying to have one designed).

First thing I noticed is the glamour gallery and how fake the first bondage scene looks. This type of photo is a genre in itself. You might need to study some bondage guides to get ideas about how ropes are tied for that-- the ropes can be art in themselves.

I like your style and creativity, seems like you might be cramming too much info onto the main page though. I'd narrow down your categories a little and maybe combine a couple of them. I know there are many schools of thought on this, but a lot of people these days want a specialist for a photographer, not one who does everything. But you know your market better than me, so it may work for you.

I also found the captions a little distracting.

--
Pete Springer
http://www.petespringer.com