Garry k wrote:
- I dont think your Black and White Photo of the Model on the Train Tracks is up to the same level as the rest of your Work

Yes, agreed, this image does not fit with the rest of the pictures.

Thank you!

Camera Buff wrote:
Your photography conveys ideas in a very artistic, visual, and creative way.

Thank you very much!!!

my son lives in Brisbane )

GSG Photography Studio wrote:
I would suggest staying away from cliché photography it cheapens your work, the train track has been sooooooooo over done, the desert chair thing as well.

Awesome! Thank you!!!

Does anybody else think that desert chair is a cliché?

Felix Balitski wrote:
Also guys let me know if you’d like me to critique you back, but only if you are ready to endure excruciatingly painful reality. I don’t think I am able to do a “bubble gum” MM style critique like “this is good and this is not” but I will try

Yes please

But not for my work here which is more of a historic record of my development as a photgrapher

But for my work on IG ( link in Bio )

Thanks

Felix Balitski wrote:
Does anybody else think that desert chair is a cliché?

Most critiques in this Forum are delivered by experienced professional photographers and artists, so most often it is usually the case they are very aware of the cliché photos.

As an amateur, IMHO I would think that photographing a desert chair (or train tracks) for the sake of it - is not an achievement in itself. And unless something inspirational is included, it is a cliché.   

However, if a desert chair (or train tracks) is used to set the scene, but is not the scene, then I don’t think it is cliché.

A well taken image of an attractive model well posed on a desert chair is no more cliché than the many images I see of models posed on motorcycles, cars, etc.

BTW: I hope your son enjoys living in Brisbane. It is only a 3 hour drive south of my city of Maryborough. IMO Brisbane is situated between a couple of the best (surfing) coastlines in Australia (Gold Coast to its South and the Sunshine Coast to the North).

Garry k wrote:
Yes please

But not for my work here which is more of a historic record of my development as a photographer

But for my work on IG ( link in Bio )

Thanks

Ok, but this is going to be painful, sorry.
Your instagram is really bad. There is almost everything wrong about it. But most importantly, you just need better pictures. With millions of pictures posted everyday, people are simply overwhelmed with gorgeous, sexy and flashy images pouring  like a rain. It’s hard to get someone’s attention unless they know you personally, or actually like your pictures.
Now that said, here is what I think you should do:
1. Change avatar. Use that profile pictures of the brunette looking up. Or another one that's more attractive than what you have now.
2. Clean up, your instagram, archive all the pictures that are weak. Leave only the very best. This is the hardest part for all of us photographers. You need to sit down with a good photographer (photo editor, retoucher etc) and have him or her select your pictures for you. Most of the photographers can not do this themselves. Even Annie Leibovitz can’t do it herself. Almost no one can. Have to have someone you trust do it for you. Pay them, buy them coffee, whatever it takes.
3. Lose the multi image theme, just post single pictures. This is too old and only works for someone with great images and thought out campaign, otherwise it looks like someone who has nothing to show is trying too hard.
4. After you’ve done all that and your instagram is clean and has only best pictures, get more followers. Pay someone, pay for advertising, get apps, get into closed photography groups where they like and comment on each other, find what works for you, but get more followers. You can’t have instagram with 300 followers, it makes you look bad for potential clients.
5. Next shoot more, have someone select from new pictures for you, have someone do retouching and color for you and post regularly. There are inexpensive retouchers in Ukraine that will make your pictures look better. And keep always working on more followers, always. Be active, engage, like and comment other people. You've commented 30 thousand times here, WOW!!!!!! like and comment photographers on instagram instead. They will comment back. Do ALL of the above. This may take a year or so, but eventually you'll get decent looking instagram. It's a lot of work, I know. If you have the resources pay someone to do this for you. Top photographers have trained personnel or assistants working on social media. 
Hope this helps.
Good luck!

P.S. I went through your pictures, your best pictures actually have been selected for you. The ones that have over 10 likes are your best.

Felix Balitski wrote:
Does anybody else think that desert chair is a cliché?

I don't really care whether a subject is considered a cliché as long as the photo can stand on its own merits -- and I think yours does --  but why perpetuate IG's censorship encroachment?

I like most of your images, although it feels the Crawford portraits are solely there for name-dropping, and are not nearly as strong. I've always loved that shot of Minh-Ly, by the way.

Garry k wrote:
I am going to give some heavy thought to your feedback regarding the quality of my photos and their display .

You are welcome! I hope my comments help.
Avatar I meant on IG, not here. Avatar here I though was good.
Yes, think about all this, and remember most important thing is the likability and quality of your images. Thats the bottom line. All the rest is secondary. 
IG has become a primary tool for models, photographers, MUA and other artists. This is the most important presence you should have.
Good luck to you!

Wandering Eyebubble wrote:

I don't really care whether a subject is considered a cliché as long as the photo can stand on its own merits -- and I think yours does --  but why perpetuate IG's censorship encroachment?

I like most of your images, although it feels the Crawford portraits are solely there for name-dropping, and are not nearly as strong. I've always loved that shot of Minh-Ly, by the way.

Agree 100% with everything you said, about cliché, Crawford and shot of Minh-Ly. I like that shot myself, but I also feel that it diverts from the rest of the portfolio. 

Thank you for your comments!

Felix Balitski wrote:
Hey guys,

I am in the process of rebranding towards fashion and beauty. Take a look at my work and let me know if you have any input on how to better transition.

much appreciated!

I'd learn the basics of model photography and why you shoot an image. Fashion is different for its more of mood and not model features but you need to understand the basics first. What is the goal of a model image?

The main image  should be professional. No pro model wears a bra and no pro shoots them . Photoshop the nipples when the model is just play modeling but never have a model make you and your work look like you the photographer is just playing around too. So demanding excellence of oneself first is huge, I'd remove the harsh neck shadows just a bit.

Glamour is about features, energy, personality, to "ability to sell" and mood. Fashion is mood and using the whole body to set a mood that takes more experience of both the model and photographer. Hope that helps.

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/38505167

Beautiful fashion type image, gorgeous outside the models hand that is distracting in a major way and the harsh shadows on her shoulder need to be brought down a bit, But this is what you want. But need to cut down on all the hand shots, lack of neck from copying others who don't know not to shoot a shoulder and bring chin to shoulder. It's poor posing at any and all levels and you see it on magazines and ANTM just because they don't know better. Shoot features, don't lose them, have nice posing, Fashion tends to have lots of full body shots so pose the feet and  don't have both feet posed the same way unless it's working when you "eyeball" it. But the image link i added here is real close to what you want to rock and the DOF is big for fashion where it's a call for glamour. DOF worked perfect here.

Felix Balitski wrote:

You are welcome! I hope my comments help.
Avatar I meant on IG, not here. Avatar here I though was good.
Yes, think about all this, and remember most important thing is the likability and quality of your images. Thats the bottom line. All the rest is secondary. 
IG has become a primary tool for models, photographers, MUA and other artists. This is the most important presence you should have.
Good luck to you!

Some Further thoughts on the Mater of IG Followers

I know a Few Fashion Models who have a significant number of IG Followers ( including one with over 500k )

but as One Model recently said :  95% of models followers are creeps from 3rd world countries asking for "bobs and vageen". So I'm not sure if that's the higher quality following you're after"

So If a prospective Model were to look at my IG I am sort of assuming that She could be more interested in the quality of my work than the numbers of Followers that i have

Soon after i joined IG ( and had less than 100 followers ) I reached out to a prominant Model in my part of the world and was able to score a shoot with her basically because she liked my work

Garry k wrote:
So If a prospective Model were to look at my IG I am sort of assuming that She could be more interested in the quality of my work than the numbers of Followers that i have

Both actually. Both quality of work than the numbers of Followers matter. Especially if your goal is to get more top models. Models need followers much more then photographers do, now-days they are sometimes being hired often based on the number of followers they have. It's just an unfortunate reality.

Felix Balitski wrote:
Both actually. Both quality of work than the numbers of Followers matter. Especially if your goal is to get more top models. Models need followers much more then photographers do, now-days they are sometimes being hired often based on the number of followers they have. It's just an unfortunate reality.

Do follower counts really matter?

Canon Drops Photographer for Not Having Enough Followers: Time to Up Your Instagram Game!
https://fstoppers.com/business/canon-dr … ame-333531

‘Instagram Models’ Now Need At Least 10,000 Followers to Land Legit Modeling Gigs
https://nextshark.com/instagram-models- … and-a-gig/