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07/08/2004 01:39:21 AM · #1 |
Here are some shots from the session Wednesday afternoon. Man is it already 1:30 EST?!!?? Holy junk.
I only edited a few. We shot something like 800 and here are the ones I liked. I tested out a friend's 85mm f/1.8 during this shoot as he's wanting to move it and I'm thinking about taking it off his hands.
Thanks for any comments/critiques. I tried the custom white balance trick but I'm not sure I got it (and I seem to be rambling on).
Again, thanks for you comments,
Kev
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07/08/2004 03:36:31 AM · #2 |
| She's gorgeous! Very beautiful skin and very natural look. A great find :) |
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07/08/2004 03:49:57 AM · #3 |
Great work as usual, Kevin! My favorites are #2 and 3. I guess I prefer the urban look vs the others. Lighting looks good to me but I don't shoot models yet. Before I babble too much, I'll stop. Keep up the great work!
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07/08/2004 08:50:53 AM · #4 |
Sure looks like professional quality work ;)
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07/08/2004 09:21:29 AM · #5 |
| Left a comment #7. She sure is a find. Don't delete any of the 800 you took. They might be worth something some day. The wb looks much better. For her/your portfolio, try to lighten up her teeth a bit(just a suggestion). I think these are the best that you've shown so far. |
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07/08/2004 09:45:47 AM · #6 |
why dont you just shoot in RAW format then you dont have to worry about that white balance:p
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07/08/2004 10:10:59 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Nazgul:
why dont you just shoot in RAW format then you dont have to worry about that white balance:p |
Time and space. Wow, that sounded like a sci-fi answer. I like to take a lot of photos because with . . . hmmm . . . good(?) models they change their expressions often and work their head and body to help me get little nuances of expression in a shot. RAW is fine for the first 9 shots and then I have to wait while the buffer clears. Also, I'd end up taking about 350-400 shots per session if we shot RAW. Right now I'm learning about posing and working with models. Volume is my friend. I'm not even advanced into managing the light of a photoshoot. I shoot and shoot and shoot and as I get home and look through 800 frames that took about 3-4 hours I can see patterns in how I looked at the model and realize that certain things I tried (laying down on the ground to shoot up at her with the sun directly behind and the camera on ISO 100) didn't work so I know to try something slightly different next time. Someday I'll get to the point where I can produce a very high quality of work that closely resembles what I set out to produce and it won't take me 10 or 20 or even 200 frames to do it. Someday I'll be more familiar with my equipment and that odd element called "lighting" and I'll produce shots that someone with money is going to want to pay me for so I can retire from writing programs and take photos for ads or whatever. Right now, I need as many frames as I can fit into a session just so when I get back I can see my tendancies and remember what I did right or what I did wrong. At least that's my approach to it.
Often I wonder if other people learn a skill like this faster. Hand me a book, I can read it and tell you all kinds of things that other people may have overlooked. Hand me a physical device, show me how to use it and darned if I don't end up forgetting exactly what order to do some of the stuff in. I feel like a slow learner and I'm whelmed (if not overwhelmed) sometimes by the eye other people seem to exhibit. My work so far has seen the biggest advances in positive review based on 2 things: attractive models and expensive equipment. At least that seems to be where I see the most comments regarding things that look better to the viewers.
Kev
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07/08/2004 10:17:12 AM · #8 |
Well the models and the equipment are somwhat valueable and might be easy to come up with something stunning by just that, but when you add good composition and great post processing to it you get something truely amazing.
good luck
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07/08/2004 10:40:03 AM · #9 |
You are improving on the shots you show. When you have learned to better control all the factors that you can, it all comes down to how the model reacts to the camera. If you know everything you should do to get an outstanding shot and the model is too stiff or uncomfortable looking, or if there isn't a good feeling between model/photographer the picture isn't going to be good. A lot of your models have been more attractive than this one, but there wasn't any emotion in the pictures. This one has that "look". She looks like she enjoys being in front of the camera but is unaware of it also.
Maybe great fashion photographers are just so-so with the techniques but are outstanding at picking out the right models and setting up the shoot? And from what I've read, many photographers take rolls and rolls of shots during a session. And many will only work with specific models.
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07/08/2004 11:05:16 AM · #10 |
From my experience working with really good portrait photographers, they spend a lot of upfront time, before the model gets there, getting the whole camera out of the equation.
That is, they'll have the light metered, the camera set up, the lenses selected etc - so that as soon as the model is there, it is all about the intereaction between the photographer and the subject - not the photographer and the camera. When I've shot portraits I try hard to emulate that - working with the subject and not fiddling with the camera.
The other part of that is to try and maintain eye contact - a tripod really helps with that - so that they are working with the photographer, not the camera - this helps more with less experienced subjects too.
I've also heard a few cases of people who use RAW shooting with two bodies for just the reason that Kevin mentions - shoot and fill a buffer, then swap to the next camera and so on.
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07/08/2004 11:42:05 AM · #11 |
| Thanks a lot Kevin. Your thread inspired me to go order an 85mm f1.8 late last night! Sheesh...;) |
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07/08/2004 12:09:54 PM · #12 |
Hi Kevin,
My two cents worth on RAW. I shoot action shots all the time, mostly dogs running and jumping into the water. I would say that I Shoot 75% RAW. Because the environement can changes very fast outdoors (cloud, bright sun etc) I like to be able to change the exposure. In Raw you can adjust the white balance and the exposure (+/- 2 stop) in a snap. I rather have a feel for the pose or the shot than playing the STATS game. More is not better, smarter is better.
BTW: Nice shots you have made, the WB could have been better on some of the shots. I would keep her number for other shoots
Fred |
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07/08/2004 01:33:53 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
That is, they'll have the light metered, the camera set up, the lenses selected etc - so that as soon as the model is there, it is all about the intereaction between the photographer and the subject - not the photographer and the camera. When I've shot portraits I try hard to emulate that - working with the subject and not fiddling with the camera.
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I can see how that would be beneficial but is that for environmental setups or more studio work? I check my equipment before I get on location to be sure I don't have the ISO or drive set incorrectly and I clean each lens before I meet the models. After a shoot my bag and van look like a clothes bomb exploded and there were lenses thrown in for good measure. I have to clean up, repack and drop clothes off at the dry cleaners.
Originally posted by Gordon:
The other part of that is to try and maintain eye contact - a tripod really helps with that - so that they are working with the photographer, not the camera - this helps more with less experienced subjects too.
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This seems to be the one thing I have going for me. My photos don't seem too inspirational now but I often hear from the model, a chaperone or the parent just how much the models enjoy working with me and how much at ease they felt. Yay. I have something working. They feel like they're part of the process and like we connected (which I generally do, too). Once I develop some understanding of basic model directing, poses and lighting I think I will be able to help less experienced models. Right now it can feel like the blind leading the blind but I just bull through and we end up getting some decent photos out of the time.
Originally posted by Gordon:
I've also heard a few cases of people who use RAW shooting with two bodies for just the reason that Kevin mentions - shoot and fill a buffer, then swap to the next camera and so on. |
Now that is something that I'd like to do but again I run into the money issue. I still need the basics like a light meter and some type of portable storage device to clear images off the cards during a shoot. I'm not going to whine too much; I'm just saying that this would be a nice addition.
Frankly my involvement with DPC is based on getting feedback regarding portrait work I do and being inspired by the awesome shots others take here. I just don't feel like I produce the type of artistic expression that others see and seem to have developed a knack for capturing and sharing. It amazes me how so many of you seem to have an eye for stuff. I'm hoping that if I stay after the portrait stuff and learn from the feedback and comments I get then one day I'll just wake up and walk out the door and I'll see something "inspirational" and be able to reproduce that same view for others to see and enjoy. Ursula (who exchanged critiques with me several months ago) take shots of landscapes or cityscapes that amaze me. I know that I must have seen the same sun go down over some of the same hills or lakes or trees and I feel like I must have been blind because she displays the same views but suddenly I finally see what she saw from the beginning. There are many others of you that impress and inspire me so for now I'll just keep on plugging away on the shutter release and seeing what I did that other people like and what I did that I like.
Kev
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07/08/2004 02:05:26 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by KevinRiggs:
I can see how that would be beneficial but is that for environmental setups or more studio work? I check my equipment before I get on location to be sure I don't have the ISO or drive set incorrectly and I clean each lens before I meet the models. After a shoot my bag and van look like a clothes bomb exploded and there were lenses thrown in for good measure. I have to clean up, repack and drop clothes off at the dry cleaners.
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all their work is outdoor,
natural light with flash/ reflectors etc, photographing in nature.
Originally posted by Gordon:
I've also heard a few cases of people who use RAW shooting with two bodies for just the reason that Kevin mentions - shoot and fill a buffer, then swap to the next camera and so on. |
Originally posted by KevinRiggs:
Now that is something that I'd like to do but again I run into the money issue. I still need the basics like a light meter and some type of portable storage device to clear images off the cards during a shoot. I'm not going to whine too much; I'm just saying that this would be a nice addition.
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Yup - certainly cost is a big issue in this sort of approach!
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