mjartphotography wrote:
You've already done me...!!  But I do have a new lingerie folder (Rhiannon) you could mull over for a few seconds.   Cheers!!

This is kind of interesting to me.  I saw my previous review of your port, and it was very complimentary of your work.  Then I opened the B&W folder of Rhiannon, and I didn't like any of it.  Part of it may be your b&w conversion, but most of it is probably due to the straight-on shot that just doesn't work for me at all -- the pose is fine, but she just doesn't seem to have "it" there.  Or maybe it's the lighting?  I don't like the pose on the second shot.  And one thing I don't like about the first and second shot is that I usually start on the side of the hair part.  Doesn't mean I don't shoot from the side you shot, but I always start on the other side.  Of course, sometimes the hair part is really high and it makes the forehead look enormous, and then I go to your side.

But then I go to the color portfolio and the first shot there is this killer contemplative look from the side I would shoot on.   Nice, soft lighting, and I love that orange/yellow band you added in post-processing.  This is just a killer shot, every model should want to look this good.

This straight-on shot just doesn't work for me: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35066520.  Just looks like she's meditating... badly.

This shot -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35066514 -- and this shot -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35066501 -- are just solid, just love 'em!  What's interesting about that first shot I just mentioned is that you didn't add a hairlight for her gorgeous red hair, which puts all the focus on her expression and her body.  I think it works really well, but I wonder if it would have even been better with a hairlight.

Great job.  Thanks for coming back!

Konjo Kalonji wrote:
please and thanks!

I read your profile and I come out of it not knowing anything about you.  Who are you?  What's your vision?  What's your ambition?  What do you really want to do?  I think you have a pretty distinct voice in your portfolio, but models will want to know you better, too. 

You have four studio shots in your port, all with exquisite low key lighting.  It's good enough that I think I can get really nitpicky with you.  In this shot -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35080492 -- just like to see two little things changed.  Look at that little triangle of light on her upper right cheek.  Is that supposed to be there?  I'm thinking no, so I'd want to clean it up in post.  And do you see how the end of her nose is getting so much more light.  Gotta control that.

On this one -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34996357 -- I think you used a blue gel just for the sake of using a blue gel, which is never a good reason.  The lighting is so good on her face, then I'm distracted by the harsh back lighting that is blue.  Blue should set a mood, not be distracting. 

Those two shots are still outstanding, just two things I would change on this.  This one is exquisite as well.  https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/32204086

This is your other strong shot in your port: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34720905.  And this one is interesting: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/30122909

I like this one, too, despite the flat lighting: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34166043

These: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35080525 https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/30067006 https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/29569487 all look like snapshots to me.  I know, that third one is supposed to be a clever levitation shot, but it just feels out of place for me.  I glanced at it, was getting ready to bail on it, when I noticed the levitation.  But it just didn't make sense to me.

So there you go.  You've got lots of good stuff going on.  Keep it up!

Charles StJames wrote:
Yes please, very interested....

Charles, you are what you are.  I read your prosaic profile description, then checked out your port and it was exactly in line with what you wrote. I think you like to experiment with the light in its relationship with the form of the female human body.  And that's pretty cool.

I don't really have much to offer you, in that I don't really think you need any help.  You have one shot of a woman facing away from the camera, and I think that's the only mistake I see in your port.  If she turned her head slightly so we can see her nose, then the shot works, as you did in another similar shot.

Great job, keep doing what you're doing.

Nellsiegirl wrote:
I am open to anyones judgement of my port.. I am just really starting to get more serious and am a little older than most of you gorgeous young ladies so some critique and tips would go a long way with me.  Thanks in advance.. :-D

I wouldn't worry about your being older than some of the other models on MM.  You look gorgeous, you're young, you have energy, you have spirit, and you look great.  But that doesn't really come across at all in your port.  Unfortunately, a lot of your shots are just snapshots. 

I love this look -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/32316435 -- but the quality of the shot is from a phone.

I love the concept here -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35021253 -- but the photographer didn't handle the direct light as well as it could be, and you don't look quite as comfortable (I know how hard it is to balance yourself there) as I'd like to see you.

This is a good shot -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/32316444 -- but it's all about the body painting and doesn't really highlight you.  It's a keeper, but it can't be the best pic in your port.  Yet right now, it is.

So my suggestion to you is to keep getting out there and doing more shoots.  Try and get hooked up with the best photographers in your area.  You can only look as good as your photographer makes you look.  The photog has to be good.

Ron McKinney wrote:
It must be the New Year thing, so many ports completely redone in January.  Anyway, it's good that these ports are being updated with fresh material.

So... it seems pretty obvious that you have this niche thing going on -- and it's a great way of branding yourself.  But it's also very limiting.  So I'm kinda curious how this works, not being familiar with your work.  Is this all that you do, are these strips?  Or do you do regular single image portraits as well?  And if so, on the latter, why not include some of those?  But again, like I said, this is a great branding concept.

Your lighting is very subdued, a touch on the low key side, and yet very clearly intentional and in most cases, just superb.  It's kinda funny cuz you do this low key stuff so magnificently, and then -- pow! -- hit us up with the white background, full lighting, some illustration, and it looks just as good.


Your posing throughout your port is extremely strong as well. 

The only strips that bother me are these -- https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35067305 and https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35067298.  She's wet or oiled up, and you know how reflective that stuff can be when using lights.  The blown highlights from that combo ruin it for me.  You may want to consider cloning out the highlights or reworking your lighting ratios/direction for shots of models who are wet.  Just my opinion.

Great stuff!

Thanks Ron!

Pauline Yee wrote:
I would like to know how I can improve and your analyses seem very thought out and detailed.

          Thanks.

Hi Pauline,

I like your profile description.  It's very inviting, you seem easy to work with, and based on that alone, I'd want to work with you.

As for the port, here's the deal: you're only going to look as good as your photographers can make you look.  Your photographers aren't terrible, but I don't think they're consistently bringing out your best.   For example, this shot is stellar: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35090142 but the shot just before it, your face is in shadow and that doesn't make any sense -- but it's the same photographer.  Same guy shot this Venus de Milo pose https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34806563 and it looks great, but I hate that you're missing arms. 

You've got an interesting look going on here, love what you're doing with your legs: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34984640  But the shot should be about you, and that huge plant or whatever is completing with you and this should be shot at a very shallow depth of field so the background is lost in lovely bokeh.

This is a nice editorial look, too: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34706466

So you asked what you can do to improve your port, and my suggestion is to shoot with some talented photographers and continue to build your port.  Good luck!

Marlene Potfer wrote:
If you're still going, I'd like to hear your thoughts..

What the heck is a Gatekeeper?  Sounds like fun!   :-)

I like your profile description.  It's very clear, I know what to expect if I want to work with you, and I'd be eager to work with you.

I love this conceptual series: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34630412  The art direction, makeup, lighting, and you were all masterful.

Your first row of images is really interesting.  They're from the same photographer and it's probably the same shoot.  The first and fourth shot in that row just lack the light to make you pop.  I like what's going on in the shots, just hate the light.  The middle two images work well.

The third row is just gorgeous.  Look, I'm a guy, and this shot should be illegal, it's so tantalizing: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33855395

I'm sure other people love it, and I'm sure it was fun to shoot, but I don't really care for the Avatar series.  My biggest issue is that Avatar was shot so exquisitely, and this is darker, edgier, different, using a concept so familiar. 

In the last few rows, your images are pretty much okay but not spectacular.  This one is very good: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33677712.  But take a look at this one, and notice the white of your eyes compared to the color of your skin.  It's just weird: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/9798784

Anyway, you're awesome and you should come to Chicago so we can do a photoshoot and play "Gatekeeper".    :-)

photosbyBrit wrote:
Can you look at mine?

Hey Brit,

Come back to Chicago, and bring some of that Nevada warmth and blue skies with you!  Okay, to begin with, work on your profile description.  I don't get much out of it, don't really have a sense of who you are as a photographer.  This comment: "I really enjoy photography and try doing it as much as possible." indicates to me that you lack experience and you don't really shoot that often.  You're much better off wording it in a way that makes you look sought after as a photographer, yet open to working with models building their port.

As for your port, holistically I see two distinct styles of shooting: tight head shots, and environmental portraits.  Of your head shots, 3 are looking at the camera, 3 are looking away, and 1 is straining to look back over her shoulder at the camera.  The 3 looking at the camera work.  The others don't, the 3 looking off-camera are simply looking too far off-camera, one is just a profile.  Remember, this is just me.  Someone else might love them like that.  Shots are all even lighting.

All three shots of this model have distracting blown highlights: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33633175.  Honestly, I don't think blown highlights in itself ruin a pic, but when it's this much, it ruins it for me.

This shot has a lot of promise, your only shot with a shallow DOF, but it's just too hot:  https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33633153.  This is a good shot, too, but the blown hightlights blow it.  This is Taylor Swift, right?   :-)

I like this environmental shot, the deeper DOF works here.  https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35076334  The models, however, are not interacting as if they are in the same shot.  It's like you're shooting separate shots of them.  They need to connect in some way.  Also, the lighting on them is dead.  They're the subjects, the light on them needs to pop.

Same with here, no pop, no connection: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35076239

She seems to be in the middle of doing something, or saying something.  We shoot at the peak of a movement, or capturing the peak of an emotion.  Her position is pushing her stomach out, which is not flattering: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33633191

Pretty awesome location here, but again catching the model in the middle of doing something instead of the end of doing something: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35075842.  Tones are very muted, doesn't really work for me here.  That waterfall, if shot at 1/10 sec shutter speed, would be gorgeous.

So keep working at it, you definitely have something inside you that is inspiring you to go for this, and a few tweaks will make a huge difference.  Question your post-processing as well, a lot of times that will make all the difference.  Good luck!

Holly Summers wrote:
Im down...  if youd like... 

Hi Holly, yes, I'd like very much.

I like your profile description, you're very clear about how you work and I'd want to work with you.  Then I check out your port and immediately see that you're gorgeous, you have a wonderful body, you're clearly very comfortable with yourself as you stated, and it looks like you're willing to try these different looks.

If I had the time, I'd drive to Pittsburgh to do a shoot with you!

Overall, your pictures are good but not great.  I'm not talking about you, this is about the photography itself.  Sometimes, it's the technical aspects of the photo -- I'm not saying they're bad, just not great -- and sometimes I think the direction you're given, or not given, is not flattering.

This shot, for example, your makeup is pristine.  You look ravishing here.  But your posture is questioning.  A photographer should have looked at this and said, No, this isn't working.  You have so much to offer here, and it's a swing and a miss (baseball reference since you're at a baseball field): https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/30430992

Lighting is very flat here, and I don't see this as a sexy pout: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34640005

This is not to say you don't have good shots, look at this one: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/30771802.  I love this look, you look so tan, you just look amazing here. 

But I kept thinking, we need a Maxim style shot here, and I found it here:  https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/30479949.  This is just a tantalizing killer image.   This one does it for me as well: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33614860

Oh man, you have so much potential.  This one is just such a hot concept and you brought it, but the lighting is just so far off that it ruins it:  https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/30431082

This is a super cool image: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/29137316

So you've got a lot going for you, but I don't think you needed me to tell you that.  If you ever come to Chicago, please let me know!

Pauline Yee wrote:
Thanks for the great feedback Ron!

So glad to do it.  Let me know when you get some new pics up!

Holly Summers wrote:
Thank you!  Very informative and I appreciate the input.  I'll be making a few changes and I will def let ya know if I find myself in the midwest.

Cool!  I'd love to do a shoot with you!