Irene 2
by AmiYuy

Comment:

Originally posted by SJCarter: A little forced (expression), but otherwise, phenomenal shot! The angle and composition are great. The color & lighting are also good. It looks like the wind was a little strong (making some of her hair strands go astray), but I think this is a definite keeper for the portfolio (along with #1). Very nice model - not too ethnic & not too wholesome... It may sound strange & perhaps a bit bigotted (but believe me, it's not meant that way), but I think this model has a universal appeal that is very hard to come by these days. Use her as much as possible for both of your benefit! Great series... I enjoyed looking at them and I can tell you enjoyed taking the shots (which I believe is more than 1/2 of the battle when it comes to "sellable" shots). Nice job!

Thanks for taking the time to comment on and critique them all! ^_^

I always try to have fun in shoots, cause if I'm not I don't end up with good results. ^_^ Another reason I brought my friend Amy. Lol. Thanks again!

Irene
by AmiYuy

Comment:

Originally posted by SJCarter: Smile really appears forced in this shot - not the best of the bunch, but still worthwhile because it has a lot of good qualities - the composition and cropping are excellent. I just think that the model's expression detracts from anything you could probably do to improve this shot. (Sorry, just my HUMBLE OPINION.)

Hm, I can definately tell that this wasn't a "natural" smile, but I don't think it looks too forced...but yeah, definately not a "genuine" smile. ^^;;

Natural Smile
by AmiYuy

Comment:

Originally posted by SJCarter: WOW! What a great smile! Your model really knows how to work her expressions for the camera. It appears very genuine and wholesome. It's a little washed out in B/W (not sure what color would be like), but I think you could remedy that by turning up the contrast a bit - perhaps even adding a layer of gaussian blur at about 75% transparency. (Just a new trick that I learned recently that adds a LOT to photos - sorry if it seems elementary, but I'm not very facile with MS Digital Image Suite yet.)

This one is where I actually had my friend Amy making faces to make Irene laugh to get the nice smile. ^_^ I really like the capturing their natural expression if I can. I did want to play with the Contrast some more, in both color and B&W, but a) I loose detail in several places (i.e. hair & teeth) b) the highlights became really bright (especially her teeth) and c) once again, I'm chicken. Heh, I'm really conservative generally when it comes to contrast so that showed in this one I guess. I've come to kind of like the tone in this one though... In color I can mess with the contrast more without worrying as much...

Hey
by AmiYuy

Comment:

Originally posted by SJCarter: GREAT shot! I love the colors, the angle, and the lighting. Really a unique and engaging image. Hats off to you for coming up with a truly unique view on a beautiful model. She seems to like the camera, so if I were you, I'd try to work with her again. My only negative comment would be that perhaps you could turn up the contrast (not sure that's what I really mean) or something to make it less washed-out in appearance. Honestly, it's difficult to make suggestions on this one - it's really unique & quite attractive.

Thanks! I think she really does enjoy being before the camera, and she has already asked me for another shoot later in the year. ^_^

Yeah, I would have played with the contrast more if not for the worry about the highlights. Also, because she's Chinese, her skintone made it hard to play with the colors and lighting in post. I probably could go a bit more with this one, but I'm chicken. ^_^

Thanks again!

Leaves of Change
by Zap228

Comment:
Nice and crisp, but boring. I like the contrast of the blue and gold, but there needs to be a focus point because right now it's just a bunch of leaves on a branch. Perhaps try cropping it to a certain area of the photo or even retaking it to get more depth of field to make the background less distracting.

Tribute to Man Ray
by wlevy

Comment:
Good crop, but the over-contrasting really confused me as to what this image was of. I tried to look at the title for help, but I have no idea who "Man Ray" is, so I'm lost as to what this is other than an over-contrasted picture of a statue. Perhaps not overdoing the contrast would help.

Back to School
by AmiYuy

Comment:
So, am I right in guessing that it didn't do very well because I over-contrasted it? (Well and the other issues that I already knew and tried to fix, but couldn't.)

Thanks!

Le Petit Chaperon Rouge
by AmiYuy

Comment:
Thanks everyone!

I'll be going back to play with the lighting and such later. I agree with you and the brightness of the woods and her cloak really didn't make me happy, but it came down to the wire with editing so I just couldn't do anymore...

The Saint Regis Resort - Dana Point, California
by AmiYuy

Comment:
You may be right about the rotation. *shrugs* I honestly don't know why I submitted this or why it scored this high (other than my personal best, it is by far my highest score in the past 2 months)...

Thank you for the comments.

Unstable
by Tranquil

Comment:
I'll comment. ^_^

I love the lighting and the saturation, awesome, it really draws you to the eyes. Composition and cropping is fabulous except that the hair shoing in the upper left corner was a bit distracting. *shrugs* mayve it's just me. Wow...I really like this...the bright contrast and DOF really makes this shot...