My first Model shoot - model Cheb...

[Numfar]

Today was my first shoot with a prospective model looking to build her portfolio. We got an early start and shot for 8+ hours in locations all around the city. I blew through an insane amount of memory, and have nearly 900 RAW files to sort through.

I'm new, so brought too much gear along. Luckily I could leave some of it in the car. The three lenses I used for 98 per cent of my shots were the 85 f1.2, the 70-200 f2.8 IS and the 35 f1.4. Other than the 17-40 for two shots and the 24-105 for convenience in one sequence, I didn't use another lens.

Everything was shot with the 5D.

I have a fair bit of experience shooting automobiles and products, wildlife and scenery, but have always hesitated at doing glamour/fashion work with models. But it turned out to be a great experience, made better by the fact that the model I was working with was, despite being just 18 years old, very professional and extremely patient. So to get to the point, I thought I'd post a few of the shots here, hopefully get some feedback and C&C.























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At the very begining, I found photography simple: Point the camera and push the button. After several weeks of practice, I discovered I could achieve even better results by turning the camera on and removing the lens cap.

 

[Recovering Photo Addict]

Too much PP of her eye whites. Take it way ez there. Her eyes are nice but your PP makes them look un natural and very artificial. Less is more here.

As for the rest, looks good to me...keep it up!

BTW, what lens were you using?

 

[Spotts]

--
http://www.michaelspotts.com [My Pro site]
http://www.theopenlife.com [my enormous personal site]

 

[c65]

and the shot by the door is nice too

the rest doesn't do it for me
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have a nice day

 

[doyle shafer]

Great shots! What focal lenghts did you use, like the best?
--
Doyle

 

[geronimo]

All the shots are nice, especially the B+Ws.

Way too much whitening/fixing of the eyes - almost on the verge of freaky looking. Maybe a bit too much skin fixing as well for shot #1 depending of course on the look you are going for.

 

[MBlackburn]

I quite liked the eyes, bit of an Audrey Tatou look, especially in the oranges and duck pics. Well done.
--
http://www.mikeblackburn.com (EOS 5D, Pentax istDs, and a bunch more )

 

[Michael Todd]

that I found her eyelashes very distracting. Those 3 or 4 lashes that jumped out at me like attacking spiders really bothered me and spoiled otherwise wonderful photos.

You may want to mention something to her, unless this is her gimmick.

--
peace.

 

[SHCR]

8hrs?! (nt)

 

[Numfar]

Too much PP of her eye whites. Take it way ez there.

Thanks for the feedback - I have heard this from other places as well, adn would like some help to clarify. I did whiten the eyes in some of the shots, and I think it may be a function of my non-calibrated monitor, because nothing looks garish on my end, but enough people have commented on it that it must be an issue.

But is it all the shots above or selected ones that are the worst? Given that I can't really tell 'how far is too far' on this monitor, a little guidance here (from anyone) would help a lot.

So which of the above shots are okay, and which are too much? I can probably use the range to give me a good idea of when to stop. =)

B

PS - the 3 lenses i used for 98 per cent of the shots were the 85 f1.2, the 70-200 2.8 and the 35 f1.4. I think I used the 17-40 for 2 or 3 shots, and the 24-105 for a couple - but I everything above was from the three main lenses.

--

At the very begining, I found photography simple: Point the camera and push the button. After several weeks of practice, I discovered I could achieve even better results by turning the camera on and removing the lens cap.

 

[Numfar]

With regard to the whites of the eyes - can those who are seeing the above shots as having way too much whitening done on them comment on this shot as to how it compares to the above - is this amount too much, just right, or not enough?



Thanks guys, this helps a great deal. I can't wait for my Spyder to get here.

--

At the very begining, I found photography simple: Point the camera and push the button. After several weeks of practice, I discovered I could achieve even better results by turning the camera on and removing the lens cap.

 

[NotReallyImportant]

This one seems OK to me, while some others are really quite garish. Another suggestion, if I may - I'd try stopping down just a bit, her left hand is - to me, at least - distractingly out of focus.

 

[NotReallyImportant]

That was really stupid of me, it is her right hand, of course (but on the left in the picture).

 

[Paul Pope]

I've seen a lot of people here put up their "first time model shoots" which are mostly rubbish.
Yours was mostly really good.
She will turn out ok as a model too.
Well done !

--
'Stop it now or you will go blind'

 

[Jim F.]

Today was my first shoot with a prospective model looking to build
her portfolio. ..... So to get to the point, I thought I'd post a few
of the shots here, hopefully get some feedback and C&C.

The first thing I want to say is that it looks like you did a very good job and I really like them.

These are my favorites from the bunch...

Regarding the eyes I too find some things distracting. The first thing I noticed is the unattractive mascara in shots 1-5 (since she's only 18 she puts mascara on like a little girl). She'll learn quicker if you tell her the "glob" effect is unattractive. I think if you want to fix it in PS you can improve these images.

The second thing about the eyes is it looks like you don't understand their shape. The eye is a ball, and hence subject to the same effects of a ball (Tennis ball, basketball, etc.) in light. Yes, human eyes are more complicated because you have the lids and lashes affecting the final lighting, but I'm trying to keep this extremely basic so you understand.

Here's a drawing tutorial that will help you conceive of the eye's shape when doing PP. (I found this after a very quick google search so you can do your own and probably find better examples).

http://www.portrait-artist.org/face/eyes.html

You also can do a quick experiment by placing a tennis ball on a table and lighting it from one side. There are no lids in this example, but you can see how light does not "curve"; it strikes the ball in a straight line and what ever is not in the light is in shadow.

I'm not going into transmitted light, reflected light, highlights in the iris vs. elsewhere, etc. becaue I don't think you need all that. Just understanding the eye's shape and how light affects it should be enough to start.

I hope this helps you. Again, nice job.

Jim

 

[CtDiGi]

I like most of these, some more then others, and I think #4 the best.

I'm split on the issue of the eyes. Overall, I think the white intensity is a lbit high, and could be toned down....depending on the intent.

That being said, one side of me says thats what got my attention at first look, and didn't start to think about it untill reading the other posts. So if getting a second look was the idea, then it's no different then the model on the front of the "Colorplus" box by Pantone ColorVision, Blond with stricking blue eyes, and not natural eye color or intensity, it was added as an effect. It was made to get your attention, and it works in my opinion.

On the other hand, if the intent is to go for a complete natural look, then yes, I would suspect anyone who looks at these things all day would pick up on that if they were looking for basic shots.

But either way, these are nice shots, and the young model I think, does have a certian appeal, so good luck and keep at it, sometimes trying something new or adding something new can be a real inspiration and bring in new passion about the photography. So even if fashion shots are short lived for you, it's worth doing it for a while.

 

[Gary Jean]

Man, I sure wish I could spend 8 hrs with her.

BTW, the eyes look fine on my monitor.
--
Gary
http://garyjean.zenfolio.com/

 

[Axlbg66]

Pic ( I think #6) to be very, very engaging. It looks almost like a great posterl from the 50's.... The rest is really very good. I wished, I could leave some day my day job and get some first time model shots like yours..

--
carpe diem, or just don't ..... but shoot, shoot, shoot

 

[Numfar]

This one seems OK to me, while some others are really quite garish.
Another suggestion, if I may - I'd try stopping down just a bit,
her left hand is - to me, at least - distractingly out of focus.

Yep, I blew the focus on that one. The back of the guard post was kinda grungy, and I had narrowed DoF to get rid of it, and she'd been giving me fairly static poses, but right at the end, she did this little shrug/smile thing, moving out a bit, and I fired first, thought about settings later to try to capture it. Didn't quite work. I didn't include the shot in the original group b/c of that. It does, however, show her eyes quite well, which is why I put it up. There is no work at all done to her eyes in that shot. That's how they are naturally.

I know I over did some of the above shots, but as far as I can reckon, I only did anything to the eyes in 4 of the original images. Those are, I suspect, the ones where the work is too obvious - but even in the ones where I didn't touch her eyes, they were uber white. I will try and tone down the most intense of the bunch, b/c I think it's become clear that on at least some monitors, they don't look right.

Thanks for the feedback, btw. It does all help.
--

At the very begining, I found photography simple: Point the camera and push the button. After several weeks of practice, I discovered I could achieve even better results by turning the camera on and removing the lens cap.

 

[Numfar]

I've seen a lot of people here put up their "first time model
shoots" which are mostly rubbish.
Yours was mostly really good.
She will turn out ok as a model too.
Well done !

Thanks Paul. The thing I was really concentrating on in the shoot was framing the image well in camera. A little while back I became aware that I was framing many of my shots quite loosely, and relying on cropping later.

The one thing I am most happy with in this shoot is that for the most part, I was able to 'see' the shot I wanted in the moment, frame it, and get it darn close. Of course, a number needed some cropping, but many required little or none.

With regard to the model, I really do hope she finds a good career ahead of her. She is mature beyond her age, and quite a nice young woman to boot.

Brent
--

At the very begining, I found photography simple: Point the camera and push the button. After several weeks of practice, I discovered I could achieve even better results by turning the camera on and removing the lens cap.