Future Miss America? - DPChallenge Forums

02/12/2006 11:33:52 PM · #1

This is my 16 year old daughter, Savanah. Yes, the same one who crashed her car last Thursday. She's going to be participating in a local beauty/scholarship pagent this April and has been trying on dresses...

I shot this series yesterday in prep for her ad-sheets... but...she's decided she doesn't like this dress, she likes a more sparkly one better. Ugh... Teens! So I guess we'll do this all over again with another dress (once its altered). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

BTW - my fav is the close-up of her eyes :D

02/12/2006 11:38:44 PM · #2

Same fave as yours. All her shots are good. Maybe if I go to the US, I can have her as a model....while she's not Miss America yet.

I have nothing to add. I like the tones as well.

I would suggest natural light. Her beauty will radiate more I am sure.

stare_at_the_sun

Canon EOS-10D

02/12/2006 11:42:26 PM · #3

So....uhhhhh.... she have an email address?

Seriously....

:P

02/12/2006 11:44:59 PM · #4

Originally posted by stare_at_the_sun:

So....uhhhhh.... she have an email address?

Seriously....

:P

HA! She's standing here .... and I said NO! :P

02/12/2006 11:46:10 PM · #5

Originally posted by librodo:

Thanks so much, Manny - would love to shoot with you any time, mi studio es tu studio :)

stare_at_the_sun

Canon EOS-10D

02/12/2006 11:55:54 PM · #6

Originally posted by idnic:

Originally posted by stare_at_the_sun:
So....uhhhhh.... she have an email address?

Seriously....

:P

HA! She's standing here .... and I said NO! :P

Haha....I'm a good kid Cindi :P

I just wanted someone to chat to.... ;)

02/12/2006 11:59:47 PM · #7

Originally posted by stare_at_the_sun:

Haha....I'm a good kid Cindi :P

I just wanted someone to chat to.... ;)

I'm sure you are a great guy, caleb. I just loved how she drooled when we looked together at your portfolio (she hadn't seen it) and then I typed that. The eyeroll was priceless! lol She's off to bed now.

eschelar

Canon EOS-7D

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

02/13/2006 12:07:42 AM · #8

I was mostly looking at her eyes and poses and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't really all that thrilled by the pics. There was an overall lack of grace and poise and her emotion seems to be roughly the same in about half the pics if you look at her eyes. Some of them just lacked intensity sufficient to speak a clear emotion, having a 'posed' look. There were things about each that I liked, but I couldn't find a clear favorite.

Photographically, I like the pics you took and your composition choices for the most part, but like Manny said, the lighting could be improved by using natural light. Perhaps even a bit of warming on your studio lights.

My feeling is that the light is too cold because it makes her skin paler and brings out the blues in her skin. I too am blond and my mother always told me to watch out for colors that contrast with blue because they will make the skin look redder and less attractive.

I would recommend that she choose a color of dress that does something for her eyes and is a cool color rather than a warm color. The dress in those pictures has a bit of gold, so it brings out her hair, but as a photographer, you probably know that when you take a picture, you don't focus on the hair.

I would probably do a fair bit of dodging on those gloves too. Long elbow gloves are elegant, but if it's visible that they are made of lesser material, it takes away from the effect significantly. A less reflective material might help in photographs. Dodging will probably be sufficient because this will probably be less of an issue when she is doing her walk/performance.

Her eye makeup is a bit too harsh too. Soft works very well to highlight gentle skin tones in natural blondes.

The second pic down on the left has some good emotion that really matches her outfit, but is very flat on the bright side of the face. I was once told to shoot on the dark side of the face and with your use of shadows, which I felt to be quite good, could have been improved significantly by moving a bit to the left and having her keep her head in the same place, but move her body a bit to the right.

If you do choose a dress that brings out her eyes, remember to gently play a bit with saturation in the blues to make her eyes really 'pop'.

Also, tell her to practice some posing in her mirror and watch her own eyes to see how to pose appropriately and make her posing seem more natural.

I'm not trying to be harsh, just clear.

faidoi

Pentax K10D

02/13/2006 12:17:35 AM · #9

Kinda off topic but what kind of studio set-up do you use?

02/13/2006 12:20:33 AM · #10

Thank you for such a thoughtful and well written critique! I've shot Savanah sooooo often that though she is very easy in front of the camera for me, she does get bored and seem rather flat in shoots, I will watch for that in the reshoot. As is happens, the dress she's decided to use is blue - cool as you suggest - and a perfect match for her pale eyes. The dress has TONS of bling though, sequens and jewels everywhere....I'm a bit concerned about shooting that.

The pagent has a 50s theme, that's why I chose the contrasty look, didn't think to shoot it outdoors, but will try more lighting variations with the blue. These were all shot on black seamless paper with different background light sets. With the blue dress I was thinking of shooting on white - maybe with blue gel on the back light. ....

02/13/2006 12:22:22 AM · #11

Originally posted by faidoi:

Kinda off topic but what kind of studio set-up do you use?

Its advanced a bit since this thread..My Studio but basically its my garage with a few lights and such.

02/13/2006 12:26:01 AM · #12

Wow...this is the essence of the community. Very good comments from Keiran. Very good points, I MUST say. Agree with almost everything that he said. The points he has about colors are very "spot-on". Emotions....kinda difficult to bring out from "models". The fact that she was able to try those poses is a good start. I strongly recommend natural lighting. She will probably be more unaffected outside of the studio.

I wish to share with you this gallery about someone I like to photograph because of her body language and facial expression.

//www.pbase.com/manny_librodo/krystal2

I hope you don't mind my plug.

Originally posted by eschelar:

Message edited by author 2006-02-13 00:28:31.

fotomann_forever

02/13/2006 12:28:37 AM · #13

To be perfectly honest with you and to leave my trademark "sexist" comments behind...

Yes, she is certainly attractive enough to have a good carrer in modeling. Miss America? I dunno, has to do with a lot of factors and luck. But, modeling, definitely yes.

02/13/2006 12:36:00 AM · #14

Heh! I was joking about the Miss America gig - she's 5'2 like me :) Anyway she's more likely to be Ms. President. Honor student since kindergarten - she wants this pagent for the scholarship. She wants ivy league. Truly, a sweet kid trying every angle. The pagent thing works for her a bit 'cause mom can help - and she's cute. :)

Manny, I LOVE the shots you linked, I hope you don't mind my ripping a couple of your poses - I so love the elegance. Savanah will try any pose I suggest, again, she's posed for me since she was born! heheee Thanks so much for the inspiration, suggestions and comments.

02/13/2006 12:40:32 AM · #15

Originally posted by idnic:

Manny, I LOVE the shots you linked, I hope you don't mind my ripping a couple of your poses - I so love the elegance. Savanah will try any pose I suggest, again, she's posed for me since she was born! heheee Thanks so much for the inspiration, suggestions and comments.

No problem...I am glad we are fo any inspiration to you.

02/13/2006 09:00:19 AM · #16

So when will you be in the US to give me some studio pointers, Manny? Could ya hurry, please? lol

02/13/2006 09:06:22 AM · #17

xxx

Message edited by author 2006-02-13 09:07:20.

02/13/2006 09:06:26 AM · #18

Originally posted by idnic:

So when will you be in the US to give me some studio pointers, Manny? Could ya hurry, please? lol

I had never done a portrait in a studio. You have to teach me.:)

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED

02/13/2006 09:08:36 AM · #19

Originally posted by librodo:

I had never done a portrait in a studio. You have to teach me.:)

Seriously? Oh that would be fun! You could help me with posing and I could show you lighting! :) Hurry, book a flight!

Ennil

Nikon D200

02/13/2006 11:43:53 AM · #20

If she doesn't like the dress can I have it? Pretty plizzzz

I love the shots, although in the first ones the lighting is a little bit too harsh, it's still really nice.

02/13/2006 12:14:48 PM · #21

Originally posted by Ennil:

If she doesn't like the dress can I have it? Pretty plizzzz

I love the shots, although in the first ones the lighting is a little bit too harsh, it's still really nice.

lol would send it to you Ennil, but its on loan. It is by far my favorite of the dresses she's tried, but not her fav :(

Thanks, Saj for the in depth critque and very helpful comments. I will keep your advice in mind when I do the re-shoot. :)

eschelar

Canon EOS-7D

02/13/2006 01:57:02 PM · #22

Be careful with that blue gelpack. Remember, keep the light warm for her skin tones, but try not to mix warm and cool lighting. You might get some really weird effects. Just remember that once you are finished with the shoot to play with pushing your saturation in the blues.

If you want her to be more interested, remind her occasionally that Stare_at_the_Sun will be looking later.... ;)

I haven't seen the new dress, but I'm a little worried about the 50's thing and sequins. My sister and I spent a fair bit of time and energy doing the "Swing" thing a few years back and we were pretty up on the different styles. I'm not too sure about sequins for that decade. 20's had a lot of sequins. Of course, I wasn't actually around then... I would probably have a quick look at the movie Back to the future specifically the scenes from the Dance Under the Sea for some pretty decent 1950's costuming. Lots of Chiffon, Pin-up style pointy bra's and cream colors with some pastels as well. Fairly plain materials as well as some slightly 'racier' stuff with just-over-the-knee hemlines and the occasional strapless/spaghetti strap.

Regardless, I feel that the blue will be better than the black/gold one.

The gloves do add a bit of vintage feel. Maybe see if you can find some that are straight white or cream if you can't find anything that is an exact match to the dress. Again, look to the Back to the Future movie for cues here.

Manny, thanks for the support on my post. I was really nervous about overstepping the bounds afforded by my very limited experience in photography. I find hindsight to be a fair bit sharper than 20/20, so I never seem to be able to make these types of observations and decision in my own photography.

02/13/2006 04:37:07 PM · #23

Ooooooh great point, Keiran. I hadn't thought about what a blue gel would do to her pale skin. I will definitely keep that in mind when I shoot. You're quite right that she looks better in warm light. We're taking the blue dress to the seamstress this afternoon to have it altered. I guess the reshoot will probably be next weekend. What 'cha think, shoot on black paper or white - i'm thinking white with the blue dress...

Love the idea of cream gloves, but the sparkle is all silver, so maybe white ones would work better - or silver ones!! :)

Message edited by author 2006-02-13 16:37:45.

eschelar

Canon EOS-7D