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so i started doing pictures less than a year ago and have been trying to figure stuff out by myself. i'd love if anyone can look at my pix and tell me their honest opinion. i've asked friends/family and all they ever say is it's nice. what do i need to do to improve? i'd love to make this my fulltime job (of course along with my MUA gig) and any criticism (good or bad) would help alot... and hey, if you think I suck don't feel bad about telling me. tootles and thanks! Jul 11 05 11:29 pm Link Your pics are nice but your makeup is a little overboard. And here's a tip for you. Try to keep a little white on both sides of their eyes. Paul Jul 12 05 12:40 am Link Generaly nice work for someone without any formal edu. You are seeing the light, I just cant tell from your portfolio if you can make it on demand... but that kind of thing comes with practice. One year is not all that long, and things ARE looking pretty good. Two things strike me as being fundamental to the learning process- 1- Figure out what you have to do (in your studio, as oposed to hypotheticaly..) to get the absolutely softest gradations in tone. Remember what you did. Be able to produce it again. I wouldnt stress the sharp contrast, cause its so easy to get (although not easy to use, necessarialy) 2- there is a general conscensus (dangerous terms, almost mutually exclusive if you ask me) that in a B&W image, SOMETHING should be pure white, or nearly so. Idealy, its something that you want people to look at. Really, what Im getting at is that the B&W shot looks "flat" in that there is not enough tonal range between the lightest value and the darkest value. Caveat- there is no universaly accepted rule on any artform... yet, when you get the tonal range just right, the image will be more interesting to the eye, look more 3D.. etc.... (then, if you got the lighting correct in the first place, the area of highest contrast will draw the attention of the viewer dirrectly to where you want it in the picture.) Dont let my nitpicking discourage you, after only one year, youre showing decent work. Jul 12 05 02:05 am Link I think you're doing great for someone who's been shooting for only about a year, you just need to be aware of limitations of the equipment you use (for example, on the avatar shot that Parisa is currently using, the autofocus didn't focus on her eyes, instead it focused on the strands of hair in front of her), so you just needed to switch to manual focus. It seems you're doing a great job of improvising by using some available light sources, in some of your shots it looked as though you were using an open garage door, those shots turned out very well. You might want to also consider taking a class in studio lighting to learn how to use artificial light sources. You'll also need to decide what type of photography you'd like to specialize in, be it fashion, glamour, portraiture, retro, etc. and then try to tailor your portfolio in that direction. Good luck! Jul 12 05 02:23 am Link It looks like an MUA's portfolio. Show off the photography, not the makeup. Jul 12 05 02:35 am Link Posted by EG Photography: That shot should not have even been released to the model... but it was so I'll just have to live with it. I was having a hard time focusing on anything because she kept moving so much to check her shirt and fiddle with her hair. That was actually a picture of her adjusting her top and I said her name so she looked up and I clicked. Yeah, excuses, excuses but atleast I didn't say it's "art" and therefore intentional. Jul 12 05 06:42 pm Link Posted by XtremeArtists: I AM A MUA!! I find it hilarious because my only photog friend was telling me that I need to focus more on shots that showcase my makeup skills and now I hear it's too much makeup shots! Little bit of background: I started as a MUA and had such a hard time finding a babysitter that I tried my hand at pictures just to eliminate another person to schedule the shoot around. So, the question of the day is "should I focus on makeup or pictures?" Jul 12 05 06:45 pm Link so my main complaint is when shooting beauty work, you need to use models that have the face for it- no offense but it's the damn truth. also with beauty you need to learn photoshop, or find someone to do it for you, and do it well. ooh, on shot four with the yellow lipstick, clean up the hands! say no to dirty nails! and just for fun try to go outside the studio, or give it the appearance of such...no harm in experimenting right? in the black and white shot try to cheat the eyes next time, bring them around more towards the camera, she looks cross-eyed.ciao. Jul 13 05 02:05 am Link Posted by majoy: I think it is great that you know both - being a MUA and a photographer. My best advice though would be for you to decide in which field you wish to excel, and stay with it. Now it helps to know a little of something else. Let's be practical though - you aren't going to have many successful sessions if you are the MUA & Photographer. You would spend way too much session time doing both tasks. Jul 13 05 05:06 am Link |
