5r and red lipstick

The last one works best for me. It's quirky and comedic. There's a tension in the others between the serious facial expression and the exaggerated contrast between the blanched facial tones, black clothing and hair versus the seriously red (#ff0000) lips. The red lips say "comedic" and the facial expressions and stark black-and-white tones say "extremely serious". I don't think the tension works to your advantage. That's just one person's opinion.

The last image does work well.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/flint-hill

I agree. They're fun and that red color is seriously killer, but it's too bright and uniform when in contrast to the subtle and varied blacks and whites in the rest of the photo. It almost looks like they were painted on in post, like they couldn't possibly be part of the rest of the face.




And while I agree that there is a comedic/surreal angle you could explore, my impression of what you were going for would be better served by a softer, more subtle tone.

For me the reds are way to saturated.

Also I think the lighting in the scene is not very flattering for the model. It throws very ugly shadows from natural imperfections in her face.

I think a shot like this should emphasize femininity and the romantic/seductive qualities of a woman. Therefore the lighting should also emphasize that in my view.

Not for me. Does not look red, but rather orange and just strange.

Almost looks like the beginning stages of a Joker make up and I don't think that is what you were going for.



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Novice photobug, proud NEX-3 owner
http://davesnex-3photos.blogspot.com/

The reds do seem quite orange. I do not like the selective color effect ever used, but I think in this case it detracts far too much from what otherwise might have been nice photos in regular color. Something even seems off if I cover up the lips and just look at the woman's face in black and white.

Nice idea but I'm afraid I find the execution horrible.

Now, if the lips were a credible color (versus a 100% saturated primary red) it could work quite well. But currently it looks like someone just painted on the red, and badly.

Give it another shot and just try to make the lips a more reasonable/believable color.

Wait, this thread isn't about a dogs... :-|

In all seriousness, maybe it has to do with that particular shade of red lipstick? Reds appear normal on my 5R...