Annie RS wrote:
Me please? Thank you ahead of time!

Pose: First off...I like the fact that not all of yor poses are the same basic standing up, head over shoulder, hand on hip, etc.  There were two things that I noticed right off the bat about your images.  1 is expressions and two was in my mind some sort of disconnect between the pose and your body.  Let me explain the latter here.  As you noted in your bio, you have this exotic look.  Great lips, nice legs, love the hair just an over all pretty lady.  But when I saw a lot of the images, it seemed like only one of those physical elements popped off the screen.  I wold look at an image and say, damn, great lips or damn nice legs, etc.  But only a couple of the images did I go...damn, that image brings it all together.  It was almost like the focus was on the single body part and other things were forgotten about...sometimes that's the intent...and you can always tell that because the photog chooses a shallow DOF to kinda give teh distant physical parts that soft focus look.  Does that make any sense?  Anyway, I am clicking your images and I run across the one below. 

This image is clean and nice.  the knees bent help bring the legs into the shot, the face on camera shows me the lips, the hair is outstanding and the short belly shirt shows the abs, etc.  Don't misunderstand me, not every shot has to be about showing the body, but when you do, it's nice to have it all come together in one package.  If there was anything about this image I would change, it would be to bring your right hand to the inside of your right thight...the right hand just kinda disappears off frame. 

Expressions: I think thisis good advice for 90% of models here on MM...while you have some variety, I would like to see a bit more.  Might I suggest the following?  Go out and purchase a few magazines…Redbook, Cosmo, FHM, playboy, doesn’t really matter as long as there are women inside displaying a variety of expressions on their face.  I would suggest that you try to mimic their expressions until you are comfortable displaying your own.  Also, I would suggest you create a list of expressions…sad, happy, angry, sinful, distraught, envy, greedy, sexy, lustful, etc.  Tape it to your bathroom mirror and everyday, take 5 minutes and run through that list watching yourself in the mirror.

Hand Placement:  As noted above, try to make sure your hands don't get cut off. Sometimes you can't direclty control this becuse the photog is framing the image, but you can indirectly control it by not putting your hands far away from the body. Does every shot need to have a hand in it?  of coruse not and sometimes it created a little mystery.  you have a pic of you in a tub covered in white water/milk.  If one of your hands had been under the "water/mik" between your legs it would have obvisouly suggested an intimate moment and that kind of hand cut off is OK....so if there's a purpose for the hand to go missing, then cool.

Hair: Great hair, love the curl it as it in...very full head of hair as well.  Your hair is so thick that when it gets wet you need to make sure it doesn't clump together...I would be that if you want to go for the wet hair look, a spray bottle of water to make it damp would work better than simply wetting the hair in the sink/shower.  Adds that shine and wet look without the hair just laying there...plus since the hair is not as wet/heavy, it will still retain the bounce that your hair seems to have.

MU: On you skin tone for photo shoots, I prefer the brighter colors....not lime green or pink or flourescent green.  What I mean is, you are a darker complected woman.  Dark hair, dark eyes, dark sin tone, etc.  so when you wear the dark MU...natural tones, it can get lost in the shot.  I almost always prefer that the MU should compliment the model and not the other way around, but a splash of color works well for you.  The image below makes that point.  Love the blue in the eye area.  Just a little pop to draw attention up.



Over all General Comments (Including Confidence):
Any model who can lay on her back in a bed and be provocative the way you were exudes confidence.  That's not a problem for you...at least not when you are getting photos taken.  Other thing I might suggest...and there's always going to be a debate on this.  So many models AND photogs forget where they came from and forget that 1 year ago, 2 years, 10, or 20 that they also were just starting out.  Take time 1 shoot per month or 1 every 2 months to shoot with someoen new.  Give back to the community that has helped you take some nice shots.  While I understand about needing to "pay your dues" as they say, do a TF shot for a new photog that could benefit greatly from your experience.  That way, he/she can concentrate on taking photos, lighting, framing, etc and not so much worried about posing the model.  Just my two cents.

Hope you find some of this helpful.

JeanD wrote:
I am in !

thank you for your time !

Lights: Hair lights...something I noticed also was that in a couple of the images, the model had dark hair.  the background was dark and the over all image was dark...not dark as in underexposed, but just a dark feel and look...what happened was her hair in part of the image kinda disapears into the backdrop and you lose some detail because of that.



A simpe little desk lamp  can be suspended from the ceiling to give some light on the hair...it's low output will give some light to hair but will not be so over poweinrg as to destroy the otherwise dark theme.

Shadows: I would like to see some more selective shadows in the images.....the over all tone is dark, creepy, natural, etc....but yet there seems to be not a lot of shadow play and that will not only add some dimension to the image, it will also help with the flatness with the lack of physical depth.

Frame:  you frame all over the place.  That's not bad IMO.  I think that you crop/frame in tight on a couple of shots, but in the shots you are taking...these dark and creepy things, it kinda adds to the mystery or the story line behind the image.  So don't have to hold fast to the rule of 3rds and no, it's not wrong to frame someone dead center in an image either.  for example, the shot below, the head is pretty much dead center.  When I first glanced at it, I thought...oh man..dead center...then I looked again and though...Oh, wow...it works.

I think what helps it is that she contrasts enough with the backdrop that it shows some physical depth thus it's not completely flat.

Props: you don't use props in your images....at leat not what I consider props.  there is NOTHNG that says photos must have props in them.  Props should blend in, not stand out and scream look at me.  I have always believed that often times, simple shots (void of props/funky lighting/bubbles, etc) are the best.  The focus should be on the primary subject which is the model.  Props, if used, should simply blend in and support the priamry subject.

General Over all comments:  When I first looked at your port there was one thing that jumped off the page at me.  Depth of the image.  I don't mean "depth" as in...wow man, that's deep...I mean physical depth.  I also have several shots like this on my port so I do it as well....it's one of those personal choice things.  Personally, I prefer that there be some depth behind the model so that the image does not appear 'flat'  Sometimes this happens beause you are shooting against a solid background and  there are no visial clues that show depth...all you literally see in a pic is the model and the wall behind her....when the wall/backdrop is black or a dark color it makes it even more flat.  IF this is not what you were going for, you can "fix" it by adding something in the background....a flower, a chair, a stick, a table, something really...just something that is not sitting next to the model but is farther into the image than she is and something that goes with the over all theme of the shot.  If you are shooting a high fashion shoot for Prada, you don't want to have the prop be a beer keg.  Make sense?
The image below is not as flat as the others.  And again, "flat" is not always/necessarily wrong it's a personal taste thing.



There seems to be a little phsical depth between your subject and the hanging sheet/muslin that you have used.  I am torn a little bit about this next thing.  See in the backdrop where the fold lines are at?  In a good way, it gives the backdrop some texture and makes it not blend so easily, but in a bad way they are fold lines....so I am kinda up in the air on that, just something to think about.

Hope this helps a little bit.

Jocelyn Lu wrote:
Yay! I'll play

Pose: you have the basics down.  I noticed in one shot you had on a pair of dance slippers/shoes.  I assume based on your stance that you are a dance.  Might want to try to interject that into your port.  So many times models will contact a photog and want to shoot, but they have no idea what they want to shoot....I'll get messages...hey want to shoot and I'll say, sure, anyhting specific you want to accomplish...and the general response is 'no not really...anything I guess"....take your likes and your hobbies and your passions and add them to your shoot somehow.  Remember that when you are paying a photog, the photog should shoot what YOU want, not the other way around and when you are doing a TF shoot, then it should be equally benficial....maybe do 4 looks...2 for the photog and 2 for you...my point is, be more active in your choice of what you shoot...don't be afraid to speak up and say, you want to shoot in a dance studio in your dance gear or whatever else your passions are.

Expressions: I believe there were two imagesin your port that you were smiling and the others were straigt faces.  Don't misunderstand, a smile is not the only expression...sexy, sultry, whimsical, joyous, sad, angry, distraught, etc...inject part of your personality into your shots.  I have told many models this below...so you are not alone by any means.
Might I suggest the following?  Go out and purchase a few magazines…Redbook, Cosmo, FHM, playboy, doesn’t really matter as long as there are women inside displaying a variety of expressions on their face.  I would suggest that you try to mimic their expressions until you are comfortable displaying your own.  Also, I would suggest you create a list of expressions…sad, happy, angry, sinful, distraught, envy, greedy, sexy, lustful, etc.  Tape it to your bathroom mirror and everyday, take 5 minutes and run through that list watching yourself in the mirror.

Hand Placement: over all I was pleased.  Often times the hands are the last thing models and photogs remember to deal with.  It's almost like an after thought about what to do with hands.  Often times the hands are stiff and just look akward, but not so with you.

I believe my favorite image of you is below.


hands seem to be in a natural postion, classic pose and it shows off your lines very nicely....womanly curves without being inappropriate for your age.  one thing to watch out for when you lean on an arm....is that when you support your body weight on your arm/hand, the arm will be locked in place and the elbow almost always hyper extends and you get that backward bend at the elbow.  See it?  Also, when you support your weight with your arm in this type of pose, the shoulder will pop up and hide your pretty face.  See how your shoulder seems to be above where it would normally be?  Just take a little weight off of that arm, the shoulder will drop, you can see the face again and the backward bend in the elbow will go away as well. win win win.

Hair: you have hair like mine...it's what I have heard called "Poker straight"....meaning it's STRAIGHT...you have a lot more than I do, but that's another story.  Consider adding a little curl to it...hot curlers work or a curling iron...just something to give it a little bounce and wave.

MU: Ahh...MU.  I'll tell you the same thing I told the person above.  you are somewhat dark complected and have dark eyes.  Every now and then consider injecting some color into the MU you are wearing...it will add some dimension to your face and can dra attenion to your eyes, lips, cheeks, whatever it is you want to draw attention to.  It should not be HEAVY make up...just enough to draw our attention to your natural beauty.  Give it a try.

Hope this helps.


Over all General Comments (Including Confidence):

Joseph Reed Photography wrote:
Hope this helps a little bit.

Thanks again for your time I appreciate the attention you gave to all details.

Cheers

Jean

kitkat21 wrote:
I would really love an honest critique...please count me in

Pose: This is where these thigns become tricky, when dealing with new ports.  Want to be encouraging and at the same time, make some honest and sincere comments.  You have nice lines, a nice over all sleek look.  It's one of those things that you can't really have done for you, it's something you are born with in the DNA.  Small breast, get implants, flat ass, get implants, bad lines...screwed. 

OK...now back on target.  My two fav pics of you are quite different from each other.  the one that I want to talk about is the BW image with you in the window/box area.  it has the most intricate pose as compared to the others.  it's well thought out, the over all pose, from the way I see it, is that you are trying to steady yourself in the window.  I do not know if that was intentional or not, but that's what I see.  Nice interaction with your surroundings as well.  What I mean by that is that when a model poses with a tree, a bush a flower, a park bench, a car, a boat, whatever...generally speaking there should be some contact with that prop...interaction with that prop.  Simply standing next to a car is kidna off, but leaning on the hood or a hand placed on the roof or sitting on the wing of a plane, etc...it all is interaction.  You could have simply stood in front of this window and it would have been a lousy picture...interacting really adds to this image.  Make sense?

Expressions: I have said it before and I'll say it again.
Might I suggest the following?  Go out and purchase a few magazines…Redbook, Cosmo, FHM, playboy, doesn’t really matter as long as there are women inside displaying a variety of expressions on their face.  I would suggest that you try to mimic their expressions until you are comfortable displaying your own.  Also, I would suggest you create a list of expressions…sad, happy, angry, sinful, distraught, envy, greedy, sexy, lustful, etc.  Tape it to your bathroom mirror and everyday, take 5 minutes and run through that list watching yourself in the mirror.

Hand Placement: I am going to nit pick here on the image below...and you may want to roll your eyes and say..WTF is wrong with this guy.

[img]Might I suggest the following?  Go out and purchase a few magazines…Redbook, Cosmo, FHM, playboy, doesn’t really matter as long as there are women inside displaying a variety of expressions on their face.  I would suggest that you try to mimic their expressions until you are comfortable displaying your own.  Also, I would suggest you create a list of expressions…sad, happy, angry, sinful, distraught, envy, greedy, sexy, lustful, etc.  Tape it to your bathroom mirror and everyday, take 5 minutes and run through that list watching yourself in the mirror.[/img]

As I said, the image suggests to be that you are struggling to stay in the window...kinda like you are uneasy in the window.  your left hand is flat against the wall which suggests you are trying to tain leverage to wedge yourself into the window.  Now here is what caught my attention and made me go Hmm...the upper hand...the right hand....it looks like it's just up there real loose...not aiding in the support of you in the window...understand that neither is "wrong"....they just don't go together..if that makes any sense.  yes I know it's a very very very minor thing, but it caught my attention...had I just glanced at the image, I probably would not have seen it, but I took some time and viewed is closely.

In general, I would make an over all suggestion to relax the hands a little bit.  they seem a bit stiff in some of the images.


Hair: love your hair...looks health and full of life.  Great color...not much that really needs said here...everybody has their personal preference on color, cut, style, etc...like the way the hair frames your face/head...personal prerefence would be the curlier hair over the straight hair...think it adds a little "cute" to the shot more than the straight more dramaitc look.

MU: you are somewhat lite complected....when you apply make up, you have to be careful not to go over powering or you end up looing like a clown at the circus.  Sometimes, that's OK if that's the point, but with your skin tone don't over power it...you have a great face and there's no need for a lot of MU to make yourself "Pretty"...I would like to see more color in the lips.

Over all General Comments (Including Confidence): I have shot models that have been "models" for years that are horrible...and have shot models that have been "models" for a week that are outstanding...there's something about confidence that shows when we are taking images.  Body posture, this over all sex appeal, energy, the eyes light up, you seem to have that confidence....

Listed you and....
1 last thing...stick with one eye color!

Leroy Dickson wrote:
Always up for good, honest critique.

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