Senior shoot in Deep Ellum

[james.d53]

I've been enjoying this forum for about a year now and decided to put some images up for critique.

Your comments are most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

James

P.S. Please forgive me if I didn't post these correctly since I'm a newbie to posting on this forum.

[arich]

My first knee-jerk reaction is that I would ease up on the processing on the eyes, the first image especially as her face is underexposed but her eyes are almost radioactive.

[SergeiR]

- eyes are way overdone
- shooting from shoulder levels is increasing appearance of her lower jaw, making it square and unnattractive.
- one in corner got one arm cut off and other one is blurred out but sticking around - why?

[JustAnotherGinger]

I agree with the eyes...got a Stargate flashback. I would suggest using reflectors and some fill light with flash.

[duronboy]

Yeah, she looks like a beautiful goa'uld in the first shot. And, her mouth is doing something weird. I can almost see teeth in the top image.

The vignette on the bottom left is a bit much. Vignettes should be subtle. When they're not, it looks silly. This is by far not the worst vignette I've seen, however. One thing you can do is if you're going to vignette this much, do it on a separate layer so you can erase it off her face and hair a little bit.

There's a part of her right arm in the bottom right picture that's brighter than her face. That's distracting.

Also, not sure why the location is in the title. Having been to Deep Ellum many times, I don't see how your images share enough about the location to warrant it's mention. When you shoot wide-open like that, the location doesn't matter. Not that there's anything wrong with shooting wide-open, but that's my take.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by WhiteWolfPhoto

I agree with the eyes...got a Stargate flashback. I would suggest using reflectors and some fill light with flash.

Stargate. YES.

[james.d53]

Thank you all for your honest criticism. I agree that the eyes in the 1st and 2nd look alien. These were presets in Lightroom that I know I won't attempt to use. You all confirmed this. There is no eye enhancement on the third one. Wanted to see the response and I got what I thought I would get.

The second image that has the vignetting, and is something that I'm not comfortable with. It was also a vignetting preset and I even backed it off a bit. Thanks Duronboy for the tip.

Her right arm on the bottom picture is her skin tone. I don't know how to correct that. The picture was shot in the shade. There was a white wall on the other side of the parking lot that was acting like a huge reflector.

Oh, and her lip did that and I knew it, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

This project was all about shooting with available light. There were five senior high models and nine photographers.

Thanks again for educating me on the proper posting, title etiquette.

There is one more thing that you all could help me with. How do I tag each photo?

I am learning and needed though criticism.

P.S. Here is a re-posting of the images with some corrections.

[Kirk]

Wow, nice! Those are much better. I like them without all the processing.
It just goes to show that just because Lightroom and Photoshop and everything else has all those fun plugins and presets and filters, it doesn't mean you have to use them.

[james.d53]

Originally Posted by duronboy

One thing you can do is if you're going to vignette this much, do it on a separate layer so you can erase it off her face and hair a little bit.

I've been practicing layers and will take that into consideration.

Thank you.

[james.d53]

Originally Posted by SergeiR

- eyes are way overdone
- shooting from shoulder levels is increasing appearance of her lower jaw, making it square and unnattractive.
- one in corner got one arm cut off and other one is blurred out but sticking around - why?

1. I totally agree with the eyes.
2. Thanks for the shooting tip.
3. I am guessing that this just bothers you, but it didn't bother my mentor, who is a well published photographer. I will send this image to him to get a second opinion. Is there a rule on this somewhere?

I do appreciate your constructive criticism as I am working hard at improving every day.

[james.d53]

Originally Posted by Kirk

Wow, nice! Those are much better. I like them without all the processing.
It just goes to show that just because Lightroom and Photoshop and everything else has all those fun plugins and presets and filters, it doesn't mean you have to use them.

Yes, you you are right. I am learning under fire by the toughest critics of all (other photographers).

Thanks for your compliment.

[zasey]

the re-edits are much better :)

[james.d53]

Originally Posted by zasey

the re-edits are much better :)

Thanks.

[Fireball]

Agree, the re-edits are beautiful. I'm sure she's a very happy senior with these.

[james.d53]

Thanks Charrie.