Dan Dozer wrote:
Hi Joel,

Getting into this late - not sure if you are still looking at this but i would be honored if you would give me your thoughts.  I've been wanting to take one of your workshops for a long time but haven't had the right opportunity yet. BTW - all of my images are my favorites and I would need to run into my burning house to save them because I'm a film/darkroom guy.  Hope this link works - if not, just pick one of mine to comment on.

Dan

https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/1 … 13bad5.jpg

Dan,

Nice to meet you - and I'd love to have you on one of our Lake Powell workshops.  They are a rare opportunity to spend 8 days fully immersed in creativity with no outside distractions, phenomenal locations (I'm partial, but it's still my favorite place on earth) beautiful models and a curriculum that's designed for acceleration and creative transformation.

To your image, I do feel you have stronger images than this one, though it's a good image.  It's interesting in a graphic sense, and her eyes and hands are very strong, though I find the background to be a little distracting as it's almost a silhouette with fill light, and the bright white competes for attention visually.  The other challenge is that it feels centered simply because of the similar amounts of space from the subject to the edges.  One way to improve it would be to crop down the top edge to the mid point of her forehead, which then converts the white space around her to more interesting negative space shapes, similar to the ones under her armpits. I would also crop the bottom up a little, as the empty space doesn't currently add anything to the image.  Hope that helps.

Joel

PS - while it's easy to say "I love all my images", I think it's an important skill for a photographer to be a critical editor of their own work.  I like a lot of my images as well, but I know which ones are best, and which ones fall short, even when narrowed down from tens of thousands over the past 20 years (I shot a lot of it on 4x5 film) to 120 or so images that I display.  Ansel said that 12 images in a year is a good crop, and his understudy, John Sexton, said the best editing tool in the darkroom is the trash can.  You do have a lot of nice images, and this isn't to suggest you don't, rather it's just something to consider as a way to further challenge yourself, to develop the skill to know which images, and perhaps even which image is best.  It's hard to do, but worthwhile. It took me around 15 years to become a ruthless editor of my work.

Neuimagery wrote:
I think I would have to save this one

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44091198

Neuman,

That is perhaps the strongest image in your portfolio.  Nicely done!

I think the image works as is, as it's crafted well when you shot it, and in post.  It depends a little on where you want attention to be drawn.  The way it's cropped now, I feel the attention ends up being on the breasts for the most part.  If you cropped the left edge in closer to the halo, it would shift attention closer to the extremities: her face, hands and feet, and in that capacity I feel it could lead the eye around the image longer, which is always a desirable quality.

But I also don't mind it as it is, as it has 'breathing room', like the space in a song between the notes.  Hope that helps.

~Joel

Eros Fine Art Photo wrote:
Hard to pick, but I'd say this one...

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/26235152 (18+)

(If you're still responding to these)

Ed,

It's a beautiful image.  The light is beautiful, the road leads the eye into the scene, and the two subjects contrast well against each other.

I would have liked to see a smidge more room on the top edge, above the tree, as it's a little tight. This can often be achieved in post through content aware fill.  I would definitely bring up the bottom edge a little to get rid of the out of focus texture, which doesn't add anything to the image in my opinion.  Lastly, if you did crop in the left edge, it would give more emphasis to her left hand, which has a beautiful gesture, and would give more counterpoint or balance between her and the tree.  Hope that helps.

Spicy Peach Photography wrote:
I'm game.

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44421894

David,

What works well about this image is that you have her off to one side, which make it read more dynamically, the tones are pleasant, and the strand of hair frames her nicely.

For my own personal preference, there are a lot of distractions which compete for attention, such as her tattoo, nail polish, the door catch and the door knob to her right. The tattoo is probably the largest distraction, as it's close proximity to her face (which is the strongest feature in the image) and takes up about as much space in the image.  If it were me, I would work when the image is made to minimize or eliminate distractions when possible, and at least to remove things like the door knob and catch in post.  Another thing that would make this image stronger is to crop down the top edge closer to where her black hair starts. This will get rid of the distracting background on the top edge, give better balance to the wood floor in the background, and change the distance from the edges of the frame to the subject, the reason for which I mention in my earlier critiques in this thread.  I'd also crop in the right edge slightly just enough to loose the sliver of dark wall in the lower right corner.  Hope that helps.

Marissa_Ph1 wrote:
Here's mine:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/43650111

Marissa,

Very strong body of work!  It looks like you gleaned a lot as a model to develop your seasoned photographic eye.

This image is very strong.  The composition makes bold choices, and they work.  The only way I can see to make it stronger is to crop down the top edge to the top of her hair, which then creates more interesting negative shapes in the top corners, and it frames her face nicely via her hair as a design object with this cropping.

Keep up the great work!

Prime Shot Photography wrote:
This one please...

Nice image.  Feels very relaxed, and the colors are not distracting, which can often be the case. 

To make it stronger, my recommendations would be to crop down the top edge to the mid point of her forehead.  It will seem counter-intuitive at first, but the way it is, the hand at the bottom competes to much with her face (the focal point), and when you crop down it gives more emphasis to the eyes, and gives her face more visual dominance in the image. I would also bring in the left edge just a little, and if possible, reduce the light (burn layer) and contrast on her lower hand, which would be challenging as it's in very bright light comparatively.  I'd also recommend adding a vignette around her to knock down the bright highlights in the background, or you could do that manually also through a burn layer.  Lastly I would bring the bottom edge up just enough that you don't see the end of her pinky finger shadow.  Hope that helps.

Joel Belmont wrote:

Marissa,

Very strong body of work!  It looks like you gleaned a lot as a model to develop your seasoned photographic eye.

This image is very strong.  The composition makes bold choices, and they work.  The only way I can see to make it stronger is to crop down the top edge to the top of her hair, which then creates more interesting negative shapes in the top corners, and it frames her face nicely via her hair as a design object with this cropping.

Keep up the great work!

Thank you so much. I wasn't expecting such a good review.
🙏🙏

Joel Belmont wrote:

David,

What works well about this image is that you have her off to one side, which make it read more dynamically, the tones are pleasant, and the strand of hair frames her nicely.

For my own personal preference, there are a lot of distractions which compete for attention, such as her tattoo, nail polish, the door catch and the door knob to her right. The tattoo is probably the largest distraction, as it's close proximity to her face (which is the strongest feature in the image) and takes up about as much space in the image.  If it were me, I would work when the image is made to minimize or eliminate distractions when possible, and at least to remove things like the door knob and catch in post.  Another thing that would make this image stronger is to crop down the top edge closer to where her black hair starts. This will get rid of the distracting background on the top edge, give better balance to the wood floor in the background, and change the distance from the edges of the frame to the subject, the reason for which I mention in my earlier critiques in this thread.  I'd also crop in the right edge slightly just enough to loose the sliver of dark wall in the lower right corner.  Hope that helps.

Thanks so much for the input.  I did some editing and recropped the image (cropping seems to be a weakness on my end).  It makes for a much more appealing image.  The new images is here, https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44460755 ,   in case you have a chance to give it a view.  Thanks again.

Joel Belmont wrote:

Nice image.  Feels very relaxed, and the colors are not distracting, which can often be the case. 

To make it stronger, my recommendations would be to crop down the top edge to the mid point of her forehead.  It will seem counter-intuitive at first, but the way it is, the hand at the bottom competes to much with her face (the focal point), and when you crop down it gives more emphasis to the eyes, and gives her face more visual dominance in the image. I would also bring in the left edge just a little, and if possible, reduce the light (burn layer) and contrast on her lower hand, which would be challenging as it's in very bright light comparatively.  I'd also recommend adding a vignette around her to knock down the bright highlights in the background, or you could do that manually also through a burn layer.  Lastly I would bring the bottom edge up just enough that you don't see the end of her pinky finger shadow.  Hope that helps.

Thank you. Hadn't considered any of that but I'm going to try it.

Joel Belmont wrote:

Dan,

Nice to meet you - and I'd love to have you on one of our Lake Powell workshops.  They are a rare opportunity to spend 8 days fully immersed in creativity with no outside distractions, phenomenal locations (I'm partial, but it's still my favorite place on earth) beautiful models and a curriculum that's designed for acceleration and creative transformation.

To your image, I do feel you have stronger images than this one, though it's a good image.  It's interesting in a graphic sense, and her eyes and hands are very strong, though I find the background to be a little distracting as it's almost a silhouette with fill light, and the bright white competes for attention visually.  The other challenge is that it feels centered simply because of the similar amounts of space from the subject to the edges.  One way to improve it would be to crop down the top edge to the mid point of her forehead, which then converts the white space around her to more interesting negative space shapes, similar to the ones under her armpits. I would also crop the bottom up a little, as the empty space doesn't currently add anything to the image.  Hope that helps.

Joel

PS - while it's easy to say "I love all my images", I think it's an important skill for a photographer to be a critical editor of their own work.  I like a lot of my images as well, but I know which ones are best, and which ones fall short, even when narrowed down from tens of thousands over the past 20 years (I shot a lot of it on 4x5 film) to 120 or so images that I display.  Ansel said that 12 images in a year is a good crop, and his understudy, John Sexton, said the best editing tool in the darkroom is the trash can.  You do have a lot of nice images, and this isn't to suggest you don't, rather it's just something to consider as a way to further challenge yourself, to develop the skill to know which images, and perhaps even which image is best.  It's hard to do, but worthwhile. It took me around 15 years to become a ruthless editor of my work.

Thanks Joel - I very much appreciate your suggestions, and I'll keep thinking about Lake Powell.  Not sure these days how my 8 x 10 will match up with all the digital shooters you probably get, but since you are film shooter yourself, I'm sure you will be able to help me.

Dan Dozer wrote:
Thanks Joel - I very much appreciate your suggestions, and I'll keep thinking about Lake Powell.  Not sure these days how my 8 x 10 will match up with all the digital shooters you probably get, but since you are film shooter yourself, I'm sure you will be able to help me.

I always enjoy having film shooters on the trip.  One of the best qualities is that you already slow down your process, which gives you more time to see, which usually results in stronger images.  Slowing down is much harder for digital shooters as they can make hundreds of images without blinking an eye, though I have thought about giving them a 1GB memory card to get them to work with less images in an afternoon, kind of like the assignment of yore where you had one roll of film to shoot...

A good place to start, if you are interested in the curriculum, is our Dynamic Nude Masterclass, which was shot on location at Lake Powell, and is about to launch.  It's not the same as being there, but it's also 1/10th of the cost, and has more transformative content, assignments and live sessions with me, than we are able to fit into a week on the lake.  It's shaping up to be nothing less than phenomenal. 

~Joel

Harlequins Mask wrote:
If you're still feeling kind enough to throw some critique around...this is the one I'd be certain to save if the place were on fire!

https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/1 … 82c49c.jpg  18+

...and...if I can be so rude...I'd grab at this one on the way out the door if I could.

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/41084994  18+

Cheers!

Andrew,

That's a pretty stark difference in images.  I almost always gravitate towards images similar to the first one you posted. It's very strong, simple, and powerful (trees).  Honestly I wouldn't change anything, except either bring down the top edge to lose the white piece of sky up high, or use a clone stamp to get rid of it that way.  Beautiful image.  The other one doesn't speak to me as much, but that's just me.  Nice work!

This one is also beautiful: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/41084968

It strengthens the composition if you bring the bottom edge up just above her knees, and also brings out more harmony in the background.

Joel Belmont wrote:
That's a pretty stark difference in images.  I almost always gravitate towards images similar to the first one you posted. It's very strong, simple, and powerful (trees).  Honestly I wouldn't change anything, except either bring down the top edge to lose the white piece of sky up high, or use a clone stamp to get rid of it that way.  Beautiful image.  The other one doesn't speak to me as much, but that's just me.  Nice work!

This one is also beautiful: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/41084968

It strengthens the composition if you bring the bottom edge up just above her knees, and also brings out more harmony in the background.

The feedback is very much appreciated. Thank you indeed!

Rik Williams wrote:
If you're still at it Joel my Avi please
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44035034

Rik,

Not much to suggest here... it's a pretty solid composition.  Only thing I would have liked to have seen differently is to shift her out of center to the left, so there's more edge on the right and less on the left, which would make the eye move around the frame longer.  Also while it works as it is, as a general rule I recommend avoiding cropping at joints, in this case it's close to the elbows.

Nice image... love the shallow DOF.

rxz wrote:
Unfortunately your workshops and my availability/health haven't coincided.  Here's one of my Idaho images.

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/40228812

Beautiful image.  Infrared? 

Only changes I would suggest is to bring the top edge down closer to the little cloud on the right, and bring the bottom edge up just above the lowest set of leaves on the flower in the foreground.  This will give more interplay or synergy between the model and the cloud/sky.

Hope that helps.

Joel Belmont wrote:

Beautiful image.  Infrared? 

Only changes I would suggest is to bring the top edge down closer to the little cloud on the right, and bring the bottom edge up just above the lowest set of leaves on the flower in the foreground.  This will give more interplay or synergy between the model and the cloud/sky.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for your comments.
Yes, a digital IR image with a Fuji S3 IRUV camera I still enjoy using.  I miss IR film, but not the chemicals for processing and printing.  I've been spoiled with Photoshop.
As for the composition, I didn't want to crop the top of the tall pine or the 2 sunlit weeds at the bottom.

Joel Belmont wrote:

Rik,

Not much to suggest here... it's a pretty solid composition.  Only thing I would have liked to have seen differently is to shift her out of center to the left, so there's more edge on the right and less on the left, which would make the eye move around the frame longer.  Also while it works as it is, as a general rule I recommend avoiding cropping at joints, in this case it's close to the elbows.

Nice image... love the shallow DOF.

Cheers Joel
Thank you, ...and yeah it's kinda hard to go wrong with centre frame composition, I probably should have asked for an opinion on this instead
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44185839
I understand if you don't have time to look it over, all the same thank you for your critique

Rik Williams wrote:
Cheers Joel
Thank you, ...and yeah it's kinda hard to go wrong with centre frame composition, I probably should have asked for an opinion on this instead
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44185839
I understand if you don't have time to look it over, all the same thank you for your critique

If you crop the top edge down to just below the top of the lamp shade, it draws much more emphasis to her pointe/shoes.

Joel Belmont wrote:

If you crop the top edge down to just below the top of the lamp shade, it draws much more emphasis to her pointe/shoes.

Thanks very much Joel,
All the best with your workshops, I'd love to come along perhaps next time I'm in the States

monamimindy wrote:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44500734

Thank you for the opportunity. My aim is fashion editorial.

It’s easier to show a recommended crop than try to explain it on this image. Since she’s in the middle, I would try to offset her one way or the other.

I find it more compelling to have less black background and more white, to contrast against her more. Also it’s good if you can vary the space from her to each edge in progressively larger dimension, similar to the ‘golden mean’.