Series critique - Graffiti

[ruleofthirds]

Constructive comments welcome epically looking for help with style and setup of great portrait photography. Finally got around to these, they were taken at the end of Oak St. in Vancouver back in Sept.

These were all taken with natural light, ~110mm @ F2.8.

[Iguanasan]

It's a little hard to critique more than one at a time but I'll give it a try.

#1) Looking off camera can make the shot interesting but not if you can't see her eyes. The eyes are where the emotion is and you need to be able to see them to connect with the portrait.

Her right arm is completely missing and her left is elbow is cut off.

#2) Composition is better here as we can see both arms. I think cutting the person off a the knees is a bad idea. Other than that and the fact that I still can't see her eyes I rather like this one.

#3) This one is the most interesting. We've got engagement with the eyes and an interesting expression. Again we're missing body parts which I think are a bit distracting and I have no idea what she's doing with the fence or whatever it is.

#4) Her expression is just plain. She seems to be squinting a bit which darkens her eyes. There's a few blown highlights in her t-shirt. I think your choice of framing in this one, like the others, leaves a little to be desired as well since the arms are chopped off.

Whew! I'm tired now. Maybe someone else can offer some suggestions...

[Fortytwo]

She doesn't look relaxed to me. It all feels a bit forced. Also it's clear it was a bright day. She doesn't open her eyes completely, which is a shame.
Also I'm not sure the busy background is helping your pictures. It's very nice, but it also takes the attention away from the subject. The girl also has no connection to the graffiti. Given the surroundings, the girl might have dressed up a little more punk and urban, to make the connection with the background...

[Mad Aussie]

Serious critique huh? Lets see ...

Interesting choice of background here but it isn't what I would have chosen for shooting this girl. The graffiti screams out a grunge/rebel message but the girl does not. She is lovely but, in most of the shots, doesn't contribute to the background in a compatible way to my eye and vice versa, the background doesn't contribute to her soft look.

Shot 1 - though you did the right thing and made it about her looking at the graffiti itself and I think this one is the only that fits in this background for me. However, the angle you've used seems to make it kind of half hearted for me. I would have preferred her to be facing the wall more on and perhaps shot more along the wall to her.
I think I would have had her fix her hair up a bit for this also. It looks a little ragged and had she been 'done up' a bit more you might have pulled off a 'beauty and the beast' type feel here.


Shot 2 - I find this one a busy shot which does not draw my eye particularly anywhere. The graffiti here is not artistic enough to make it a feature I believe ... the shot should be about her but it's not.

Shot 3 - does a better job of making it about her. Much better job in fact. Unfortunately the pose doesn't work for me because her wrists just look awkward in that shot. Also, again her hair is everywhere. She's a lovely looking girl, I really like her skin tone, but her hair is very distracting shooting off in all those directions.
Having her away from the graffiti has created a better background bokeh ... I think taking this not showing the metal fencing and perhaps her with more emotion on her face, perhaps screwed up in disgust at the graffiti or something, may have worked.

Shot 4 - This one has a nice soft feel about it but it lacks punch in her face. Compare her face and especially the eyes in this shot to shot 3 and you'll see what I mean. If the model is looking at you, or if the eyes are visible to us in any way then they should be sharp and bright in most cases.
Her hair looks better overall but is still distracting and messy on her shoulder. Again this photo shows no reason to have a lovely girl standing in front of ugly graffiti.

It looks like these were shot on an overcast day which is great for reducing shadows but lousy for adding texture so you can get rather flat results sometimes.

Hey Corey, if she is available to you for more practice then go for it. She has a really nice look about here and if you structure your shoot a bit more I think you'll get some great shots with her.

Give some thought as to what you want the photo to say to us.
What should stand out and draw our eye.
What looks like it's distracting in the photo.

Personally, if the photo was about her, I'd be looking for a background with earthy tones for her but I'd keep her away from the background to create that nice isolated look. Using a longer focal length would help there.
More expression from her might help also to draw us into her, as would having her actually doing something. Holding and looking at a big leaf ... cuddling a moose ... something
Her hair is worth making a feature out of also. Tilting her head so it falls away and create a curtain might be worth a shot. Imagine her sitting on the grass with one knee up, arm wrapped around and her head leaning on the arm, hair flowing downward and nice friendly smile towards the camera.

Try looking for portrait shots that appeal to you and try to copy those. By doing so you'll learn to get the feel for the shots and recognize when they are what you are really looking for.

I hope some of that is helpful.

[Iguanasan]

I was wondering why MA and I were so divergent on the background graffiti and then I realized. I spent the last several years watching Rick Mercer do his rants with a graffiti background and so may seem a little more natural to me. Interesting how a person's perspective/background brings so much to bear on an image.

[Bambi]

I have nothing to add that wouldn't be repeating what was said above. My favorite of the batch is her leaning against the wall because she looks so natural.

However, I want to thank Iggy and MA for their comments because it's helping me to learn too. And I want to thank you ROT for posting to help me learn as well.

[ruleofthirds]

However, I want to thank Iggy and MA for their comments because it's helping me to learn too. And I want to thank you ROT for posting to help me learn as well.

Yes, thank you very much for the time and help with these. Portraits and landscapes are both types of photographs but different in many ways.

Thanks G (Iguanasan), 42 and MA, you're right. Now that I look at it her cut off elbow (#1) it is distracting. The background is also distracting, or interesting, depending on how you rate it but again i agree it's not helping in these shots. I knew this... the best photos are the simple ones. One subject, one point of interest, one focus. I have some shots of the building by itself which work. I supposed I should have shots of Shawna by herself. Maybe I’ll go all apple and do a seamless white background.

It was an overcast day and I have many portrait shots on sunny days, the dark shadows in the eyes etc are just bad. I have a reflector, any tips on how to keep light in the models’ eyes without making them squint?

[kat]

Personally I don't mind the background..just have the model fit. Wardrobe would be huge for this image. I think a more high fashion look would of did it!

[Mad Aussie]

I have many portrait shots on sunny days, the dark shadows in the eyes etc are just bad. I have a reflector, any tips on how to keep light in the models’ eyes without making them squint?

A well balanced Fill flash is one way of course. On bright days choose shady areas to shoot with, or, if the light is early or late, use it by angling your subject different ways.
Having your subject in a shady area and then reflecting the light to her body should stop the squinting problem. You may need to give her a few minutes to get used to the light. A subtle white fabric reflector is less harsh on her than a silver foil type one of course.

[photofixer]

yeah i'd say this is fantastic really but ((unless it's just my monitor but i don't think it is)) the color tone is way off maybe a custom white balance could have taken care of that or even some post processing ((it's way too warm))

aside from that i'm even ok with the depth of field but in portraits or modeling you wanna try and make the subject more dominating....