I almost like this shot. How do I improve it?

[Dman65]

I almost like this shot. I like the pose and the appearance of the body, but it is missing something beyond that. I was trying something totally different with this. I have been doing a lot of surrounding the model with lights lately but on this image (which was thrown together pretty quickly. She needed some images of her hands and while we were in the studio and I saw this outfit I had to shoot it as well) it is just a white background that I was intentionally letting go grey. I had a Photoflex large softbox and a 60" umbrella for lighting and that was it.
No need to be gentle or nice. As always, I am just trying to develop some skill.

[Dunlap]

Nice Image,

I would make the kicker light stronger and make sure you have detail in her hair. Her right hand looks smashed and the whites of her eyes look to bright (photoshop?)

I don't mean to be harsh but just my thoughts

george

[Dman65]

Thanks for the comments George. They weren't harsh at all and I would not have minded if they were. No one ever learned anything by having a bunch of people pat them on the back and saying "great job" when the job wasn't great.

[Photomart]

I like that you've asked the question "How do I improve it?" rather than "Do you like this?" I too believe that compliments are nice, but constructive critiques and suggestions help you grow. Keep in mind that this is what I would do ... others will always have different opinion.

My 2¢ --
I like the overall lighting, but would agree with the previous comments that it could use a little more "kick." If you added some kick with your light, the whites of her eyes wouldn't stand out as looking too Photoshoped - either than or tone down the eye whitening a bit.. Also, I like that you tried to capture the feel of the dress in her makeup, but in my opinion, you were too timid. Bold stripes on her face (matching the dress) might have really made an interesting statement. Finally, I might crop in a little tighter.

Hope you don't mind, but I took 10 minutes and played around with your image to see what I could do. Here what I did -- crop the image tighter, boost the contrast to pump up the colors, then copy a small piece of her dress and expanded it to make the background more interesting. I finished the image by putting a small drop shadow to add some realizm be\tween her and the background.. I don't know if you think this improves your image, but it's what I would do with 10 minutes of Photoshop time.

[apinman]

I agree a kicker light turned up a notch so it doesnt look flat. Great pose and model. Also just a suggestion show more of the right leg maybe pull skirt back a bit. Nice diagonals.

[terrace]

why not just add a vignette?....if done right, would draw focus to the subject more. rather than looking at the background and the subject together like wallpaper. Great job on the posing...interesting outfit and make-up going on in this, too. =)

[Dman65]

Originally Posted by Photomart

I like that you've asked the question "How do I improve it?" rather than "Do you like this?" I too believe that compliments are nice, but constructive critiques and suggestions help you grow. Keep in mind that this is what I would do ... others will always have different opinion.

My 2¢ --
I like the overall lighting, but would agree with the previous comments that it could use a little more "kick." If you added some kick with your light, the whites of her eyes wouldn't stand out as looking too Photoshoped - either than or tone down the eye whitening a bit.. Also, I like that you tried to capture the feel of the dress in her makeup, but in my opinion, you were too timid. Bold stripes on her face (matching the dress) might have really made an interesting statement. Finally, I might crop in a little tighter.

Hope you don't mind, but I took 10 minutes and played around with your image to see what I could do. Here what I did -- crop the image tighter, boost the contrast to pump up the colors, then copy a small piece of her dress and expanded it to make the background more interesting. I finished the image by putting a small drop shadow to add some realizm be\tween her and the background.. I don't know if you think this improves your image, but it's what I would do with 10 minutes of Photoshop time.

Hello Marty,

Thanks for the input. I really like what you did with the bakground here. That is pretty cool.

[Dman65]

Originally Posted by apinman

I agree a kicker light turned up a notch so it doesnt look flat. Great pose and model. Also just a suggestion show more of the right leg maybe pull skirt back a bit. Nice diagonals.

Thnaks for the input. I think we are going to re-shoot this dress in the near future so I will keep that in mind. She didn't have shoes to go with it that day so I had to cut her off at the knees.

[Dman65]

Originally Posted by terrace

why not just add a vignette?....if done right, would draw focus to the subject more. rather than looking at the background and the subject together like wallpaper. Great job on the posing...interesting outfit and make-up going on in this, too. =)

Thnaks for the comments Terrace. Always appreciated.