Forums > Critique > Serious Critique > Photographer looking for serious critique

Photographer

Ania Volovique

Posts: 19

San Diego, California, US

Hi, I've been shooting for about a year now and trying to learn the craft every day. I want to get some critique and honest feedback on what I'm doing right and what needs to be improved. My passion is portraiture, to make an every day girl/woman feel like a supermodel and bring out her inner beauty. All the subjects in my port are real people, not models and first shoot for all of them.
Thank you in advance,
Ania

Jan 08 13 08:52 am Link

Photographer

WCR3

Posts: 1414

Houston, Texas, US

I think most of the folks you've photographed would be well pleased with the inner beauty you've brought out in your work.

From a technical standpoint, several of the images, e.g. the second and third in the first row and second and third in the second row seem to suffer from flare or fogging of some sort. Were they taken with film or digitally? If the latter you could improve them a bit in post by increasing the contrast. (You could do that even if they were shot on film by scanning them and working on the scanned digital image.)

Keep up the good work.

Jan 09 13 08:25 pm Link

Photographer

Ania Volovique

Posts: 19

San Diego, California, US

Thank you for the feedback. They were shot digitally and processed to give more of a vintage look with less contrast. I like that style but might need to play with it more so it doesn't make the image washed out.

Jan 10 13 11:08 am Link

Photographer

Farenell Photography

Posts: 18832

Albany, New York, US

I think you're off to a ok start. Don't take it the wrong way, Rome wasn't built in a day.

From your port, I feel like your strongest stuff is when you're not actively trying to present people in a certain. Like this one:

A. https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/120914/05/50532532a8cd3_m.jpg

Jan 10 13 11:31 am Link

Photographer

Digital Photo PLUS

Posts: 5503

Lorton, Virginia, US

In my opinion...

The best:

The two picked by the poster above. Both pictures are very good. I like the kiss picture. The face covered with hair is a contrast of a tender moment with the slightly unnerving look of a face covered with hair.

The woman wearing a hat and a veil and the woman on the blanket are OK.

The suck:
The first picture: the background is a freaking mess. The process photography is a process of eliminating unwanted elements from the image. The light is flat, the styling of the clothes poor.

The last picture in the first row: I have no idea what you were trying to do there.

Several pictures have flattened tonal range and muted colors. I like the colors but flat tonal range doesn't do much for me, it makes the images look washed out and not in a good way. Try going full shadows and blacks and clip the high end of the tonal range.

Jan 15 13 08:18 pm Link

Photographer

Ania Volovique

Posts: 19

San Diego, California, US

Thank you very much for the feedback.

Jan 16 13 06:06 am Link

Photographer

Harold Rose

Posts: 2925

Calhoun, Georgia, US

Ania Volovique wrote:
Hi, I've been shooting for about a year now and trying to learn the craft every day. I want to get some critique and honest feedback on what I'm doing right and what needs to be improved. My passion is portraiture, to make an every day girl/woman feel like a supermodel and bring out her inner beauty. All the subjects in my port are real people, not models and first shoot for all of them.
Thank you in advance,
Ania

There are several very important things you should correct:   Most of the photos were very cluttered and buzy.   Composition is very importanty,  you need to study it...  Keep working at it,,  You have a ways to go..

Jan 16 13 06:19 am Link

Photographer

Lee_Photography

Posts: 9863

Minneapolis, Minnesota, US

https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/130107/10/50eb190d0fece_m.jpg
You may like the style you are creating, but it just looks washed out
[The black dress just has lost its snap, looks like too much lens glare]
Composition, too much grass at the bottom

Loose the photo borders

https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/130116/06/50f6b5aa814dc_m.jpg
What is the subject? Photo too busy
Make the background less distracting by blurring it

Jan 16 13 10:36 am Link