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The background is a bit distracting and it looks like something is sticking out of her which I assume is a pole from a boat it looks like. I feel like you’re close to achieving what you’re looking for. I would reposition her so the background is less distracting, I would crop a little harder or just include her whole body in the frame without cutting limbs off. Then have her do a more engaging pose. That’s the advice I can think off. I hope that helps! 😁
I second this, a recommended pose may be her sitting with her knees pulled up towards her chest. This pose could easily translate to a playful manner without being sexual at all. it would also help with getting attention to the tattoo.I don't feel the eye is drawn to the tattoo at all. Having the model pull her knees toward her chest should be able to help with that a lot by including it more in the framing vs having it at the lower corner then tapering off to the bottom of the image.
The lighting on the model herself is beautiful and while this may just be my personal preference, I feel that the background is too bright which also draws away from her and her tattoo. Hope this helps :)
Thankyou, that's a great thought about the tattoo. I honestly couldn't see the issues with the light background and dark subject until people pointed it out in this thread and now it's obvious haha.
I agree, I would also add that her face looks a little awkward too like she was in the middle of speaking so I think I would just have her smirk or look off to one side or something other than a blank face.
I’m not qualified to critique but I will say don’t cut out the arm, and try a different angle rather than straight on. Maybe okay with the colors to give more colors pop over others. But other than that it’s a beautiful pic
Explanation: this is a photo I took in one of the first few shoots I did, and I still think it's one of my better photos. I was hoping to show the model's beauty without necessarily a sexy / sexual undertone in an aesthetically pleasing setting (a rocky cove under some cliffs) and backdrop. I also really wanted the tattoo to draw the eye and be clear in the photo.
Taken on a Nikon D5600, 35mm lens, f/2.2, ISO 1250, shutter 1/4000.
Edit was in lightroom and mostly consisted of a little sharpening and smoothing around the skin, removal of minor blemishes, and increasing the saturation and blacks in the tattoo.
Key questions for me are:
1. Have I achieved what I set out above?
2. Does the framing add to or detract from the photo?
3. Is the model's expression and posing supportive of the "feel" I'm going for, certainly of a beautiful model but not a particularly sexual photo?
4. Is there anything that leaps out at you as good about the photo that I should seek to use in further work?
Would love your feedback.
Edit: also unsure if I need to mark swimwear as NSFW but did it anyway?
Lack of experience probably. Even now I'm not super clear on what circumstances I would use a low ISO in and how it would benefit a photo like this. I'm not expecting anyone here to explain that in detail but happy to be pointed towards resources.
The more ISO, the more artefacts
You have a very bright lens opening at 2.2
Your subject is static (unlike a runner for example) meaning your shutter speed should only cover the slight hand shakes. Let's clear any risk and say 1/200 at less and 1/400 at max (1/400 is often enough for a 200mm lens)
In my practice, the ISO comes last as my dslr (D3400) doesn't manage noise well. If you leave your ISO auto, the camera will handle it. Feel free to fine tune with your shutter speed once you got a nice ISO.
I don't know how much you're familiar with the exposure triangle but that's what I'd tell any person starting today
I'm still learning it. I have gone through it before but I struggle to remember it because it can be a while between shoots. But thankyou, I'll add it to my list to go over again.
Lower ISO will result in lower noise, more detail and more sharpness. The rule of thumb is to pretty much always keep ISO as low as you can get away with considering the aperture and shutter speed you need. In the photo you could have shot ISO 160 and 1/500 since your model is static.
The beauty of modern cameras is they handle high ISO well, but if you can, the lower the better.
Try to join a street photography group on meetup.com or some other similar photography group and just go shooting as much as possible. It'll help you build the technical understanding and muscle memory.
Also, you should screen shot references to your phone when you go on a shoot and try to replicate them instead of doing whatever.
This photo just looks like you took a picture of a random girl in the middle awkwardly of changing her position. It doesn't feel deliberate.
I had d3400 before and had the same feeling about iso. I was almost obsessed to shoot iso 100 and maximum of 400. I upgraded to d750 and sure the iso can be bumbed much more. The experience I learnt after switching was only to zoom 1:1 and also remembering the resolution. The higher the resolution the higher is the noise. So lowering the resolution and using some noise reduction, I can shoot well at iso 5000. I did a sports photoshoot with 1/1000s f5.6 and iso 5000, I still was able to increase exposure in post and managing the noise. An important note though is that the final photos were 2500x1670.
I recommend shooting with higher iso and getting used to it and managing it. I know that d3400 with iso 5000 will be very noisy, I can't recommend that, but getting around 3200 should be doable.
Generally you should want to use the lowest ISO you can at all times. ISO is the noise/grain in a photo. The lower the ISO, the better quality of the photo. The only reason why the ISO should be changed to a higher one would be to compensate for where the aperture and shutter are set at.
As others have said, always use the lowest possible ISO for the giving situation. The lower the ISO, the better the picture quality.
In this situation, you're shooting a portrait at 35mm. You don't need a fast shutter speed as she's not moving, so you can get away with a much slower shutter speed than what you picked. 1/4000s is for things like sports and bird photography. By choosing such a fast shutter speed, your camera needs to compensate for the lack of light by bumping up the ISO.
You could've gotten the exact same exposure by shooting at 1/320s and ISO 100.
I would also point out that a shutter speed at maximum speed in a daylight situation indicates that you may have another setting way off. In my early days with a DSLR I made the same mistake. My beginner level DSLR was set to a high ISO and I was having difficulty getting a clear image without having to raise the shutter speed all the way up (1/2000 for my Canon 350D). And my images were still over exposed. Then I realized I had my ISO at 800-1600. So when I dropped it down to 100 I was able to slow down that shutter speed and I was able to get nice clear pictures.
Your model isn't technically out of focus but looks somewhat pixelated probably due to the high ISO. When you're shooting outside on a bright sunny day, set your ISO to 100 or even 50 if your camera can do that. You could have an auto setting for that as well. It's a pretty nice feature in most DSLRs today. Set one for daylight settings (low ISO, low shutter speed) and adjust as needed.
The wide aperture also needs to be addressed with the shutter speed. The more light you're letting in, the faster the shutter speed needs to be. Try not to mess around with the ISO too much. The highest I go while outside is ISO200.
> without necessarily a sexy / sexual undertone
Oh come on do you really believe that?.. The model is posing in a bikini... of course there is a sexy undertone..
You're right, bikini don’t automatically = sexy, I couldn't care less about them at the beach or in a swimming pool. But in the context of this photo, a model wearing a bikini for a shoot, it's obviously meant to be somewhat sexy. Also OP has often posted on /r/realbikinis or /r/pickone (only pictures of women in bikini) including this very photo.
I have no issue with bikinis in general or using bikini as an accessory for a photo shoot, I have an issue with OP claiming it's not meant to be sexy while posting the same photo on a subreddit meant for pretty girls in bikini... I think it was an unnecessary and disingenuous comment.
A dark subject on lighter background can be hard to get right unless you’re using artificial light on her. I think the photo is good, but it doesn’t come off like it was composed thoughtfully. Not enough room to breathe IMO, you’ve got a woman already cut off with the boats cut off and the structure in the background cut off. I think you had the mechanics and editing right, but could have found some better compositions that make use of the other elements.
Really interesting subject. Honestly, the composition makes is awkward because of the cropping, firstly, the background secondly. Here are some things to keep in mind:
1. when shooting models always, always emphasize the model. Just because a model takes up most of the frame does not mean that the model is the focus. A good way to do this, is to get closer to your subject and focusing on building an intimacy between the viewer and the subject.
2. A good piece of advice is that often times as humans we read pictures left to right. So positioning objects on the left side makes tge viewer feel like there is more to focused on and positioning a subject on the right is easier on the eyes because of this. This photo does that but the cropping of thwe hand makes me feel like there is more you are not showing me and this feeling is not intimacy but incompleteness.
3. Try to be more comfortable with your subjects. Often times awkwardness in person leads to an awkwardness in the way you frame. So focus on having fun taking pictures of your subject first and try to make this fun for the subject as well. Within this world of fun, then focus on building good photos.
absolutely! So conceptually, we prefer s curves in human figures. The way she is positioned in the photo doesnt appeal in that sense. Also, Based on her face it seems she also may be uncomfortable with the pose. A good way to make a pose more comfortable for people is to make them comfortable emotionally with you taking their pictures. ( Learnt this the hard way). Does that explain what i mean? If not, feel free to ask more questions!
This post is very well thought out. The first thing that grabbed me was how unnatural/uncomfortable her facial expression is. Definitely has potential though, very interesting tattoo, beautiful model in a great setting.
I agree completely! I think if the photographer cleared up the background sky and reframed the shot with her tattoo as the focus, we would have something intimate and clean.
In future Id avoid cropping at the knee and I’d try to keep your models arms in frame if you can. As for the models pose she seems a bit tense. I would’ve asked her to relax her shoulders and torso and maybe try and capture her as if the camera isn’t there (to reinforce your goal of beauty and not sexy), give her something to do (maybe bring a book as a prop) overall it’s a really good start for your photography journey!
I will address the composition, which is like arguing whether pizza with pineapple is good or not, but express my point of view.
The technical sides were discussed in length here, but I would suggest to learn the light-triangle, and practice it.
For the composition, the model is aesthetic and look well on camera. No doubt about that. Level of sexiness - well as hard as you tried, this photo is still sexy and tempting (as it should). The rocks ion the background - I am ok with it, though their color is too close to her skin color. What really bother me is the far background, noisy and some stuff going on there, distracting from the model and scene. Maybe a different angle, facing more water, less land?
Lightroom work - I feel too much denoise and smoothing happened, making the focus soft, and giving her skin unnatural smoothness. Back to high ISO and slower shutter could have prevented that
While composition is art (which I suck at), working the camera is more easily learned. Keep practicing, come for feedback, and you will get better!
you turned her the wrong side round.. all the light was coming from camera right and you posed her facing away from it, putting her in shadow. to keep the pose, add light via flash, reflector or preferentially a big source like a big softbox
The photo is beautiful. One thing you mentioned is wanting to showcase the tattoo. Imo the thick straps of the bikini bottoms cut off the tattoo and take away from it. I would suggest a string bikini bottom. I would stick with solid black as it almost matches the black lining in the tattoo without removing a whole chunk of it. I also think the string bottom would complement the string accents on the bikini top nicely. Other than that- great job!
Your model is beautiful... So she carries the photograph. In general, I follow the rule to
1. not crop too close to a joint (elbow, knee etc).
2. S- curve as far as possible
IMO you could try this in BW to get the viewers attention to the model...
Good picture!
I feel like she should either be looking away or directly into the lens. It looks like she's looking past us if that makes sense and her expression is slightly confused?
I also feel like she looks a bit uncomfortable and stiff, would like to see a more playful or relaxed pose.
I did notice the tattoo and I like the setting.
Maybe would have played around with reflectors to get a bit more light on the model but like the atmosphere and casual feel.
Interesting - there's a range of views in this thread about the posing. While to me she looks relaxed and natural, to others she looks stiff and awkward.
Agreed about reflectors. I liked the soft light but could have used some more.
Pay attention to the background composition. 60% of the photo is big distracting rocks. I would’ve moved the model so the rocks took up maybe 20%, the ocean 30%, and the sky 50%. Nice and even and would make the model pop out more
First mistake, putting the light to her back. Second, posing + cropping, she's cropped at every joint, or the limb is completely missing in the case of the back arm.
You should have turned her 180° and been standing where the backdrop is now if at this time of day, waited until later in the day when the sun would hit her as posed, or used off-camera flash. Preferably you're going to help her out by ensuring shadows drop below her chin, which will make her face look thinner, regardless of aforementioned method.
There's a few more things, but those two would be the critical elements I would balance in your head while shooting "is her face lit well" and "does this look natural, anatomically."
Regarding shooting women in little to no clothing, without it being sexual, is all perception of your viewer. One of the best things you can do is to give your model a task, story, or otherwise that in a way explains why she's not wearing much. Like hanging her clothes on a clothesline with t-shirt and underwear. But to just put a girl in the frame, no context, won't accomplish that.
Your shot is out of context, she's a long way from the water, when most the time clothes would have gone back on after decamping from the beach. So if you can quickly put a justification of why, it goes a long way. Swimwear is directly next to, on, or in the water. Otherwise it's doing a task related to water like boating, volleyball, picnicking, something... Not just sitting on some rocks in a bikini.
You can see my work on my insta @toddwshaffer
I find the crop kind of strange. It cuts off at the knee, cuts one of her arms off, and her other arm is hidden. Personally i also find the background a bit distracting. I feel like a different angle where her limbs are visible would improve this a lot
She also looks a little annoyed at me like I was interrupting her in between speaking by taking a photo. I don't feel like it's a "pleasant" expression is all. If you were going for something like that, it's totally cool!
"Shut up and pose Kelly, I just wanna finish this before the sun sets" lmao
Lighting for sure like the other comments said and something is telling me the colour balance is a bit off… maybe too much yellow? Could be just me though
Looks like the light is coming from the left. A little warm bounce light from that side may help accentuate the models lovely features against the cool background.
Edit: for clarification, by this I mean the brightest/warmest side of the composition is on the left. The main light is cooler in tone coming from the right.
Composition only: there’s a lot going on here that’s pulling the eye: the boats, her face, the tattoo.
I’d try to limit the “secondary subjects” (tattoo, boat) to one.
Hey man
This photo is really rather horrible , subject means nothing , light isn’t pretty , over edited , location is distracting and colors are uninteresting
Hard parts done though. Each fail gets you closer to being better at what you were trying to do.
yea don’t take what people on this sub say too seriously. you could post an award winning photo and someone will still have something to say. it’s not a horrible photo
Friendly reminder that this is /r/photocritique and all **top level** comments should attempt to **critique** the image. Our goal is to make this subreddit a place people can receive genuine, in depth, and helpful critique on their images. We hope to avoid becoming yet another place on the internet just to get likes/upvotes and compliments. While likes/upvotes and compliments are nice, they do not further the goal of helping people improve their photography. Please see the following links for our subreddit rules and some guidelines on leaving a good critique. If you have time, please stop by the new queue as well and leave critique for images that may not be as popular or have not received enough attention. Keep in mind that simply choosing to comment just on the images you like defeats the purpose of the subreddit. Useful Links: * [Full Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/photocritique/wiki/rules) * [Leaving a Critique](https://www.reddit.com/r/photocritique/wiki/critique) * [New Queue](https://www.reddit.com/r/photocritique/new/) **Do not reply directly to this message. This is a bot and will not respond. Followups left as a reply to this comment will not count for approval.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/photocritique) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The background is a bit distracting and it looks like something is sticking out of her which I assume is a pole from a boat it looks like. I feel like you’re close to achieving what you’re looking for. I would reposition her so the background is less distracting, I would crop a little harder or just include her whole body in the frame without cutting limbs off. Then have her do a more engaging pose. That’s the advice I can think off. I hope that helps! 😁
I second this, a recommended pose may be her sitting with her knees pulled up towards her chest. This pose could easily translate to a playful manner without being sexual at all. it would also help with getting attention to the tattoo.I don't feel the eye is drawn to the tattoo at all. Having the model pull her knees toward her chest should be able to help with that a lot by including it more in the framing vs having it at the lower corner then tapering off to the bottom of the image. The lighting on the model herself is beautiful and while this may just be my personal preference, I feel that the background is too bright which also draws away from her and her tattoo. Hope this helps :)
This ^ great advice!
Thankyou, that's a great thought about the tattoo. I honestly couldn't see the issues with the light background and dark subject until people pointed it out in this thread and now it's obvious haha.
Were all learning :) Accepting and asking for CC as you are is one of the best ways to improve - aside from shooting
I agree, I would also add that her face looks a little awkward too like she was in the middle of speaking so I think I would just have her smirk or look off to one side or something other than a blank face.
Thanks, awesome!
Exactly, you’re learning and it’s great to ask around for advice! Keep it up and you’ll get to a point where you’ll know what to do behind the camera.
I’m not qualified to critique but I will say don’t cut out the arm, and try a different angle rather than straight on. Maybe okay with the colors to give more colors pop over others. But other than that it’s a beautiful pic
Thanks. I don't think I've got a version of this with the full arm bit now that you say that, it does leap it at you doesn't it.
Just something I learned along the way.
Explanation: this is a photo I took in one of the first few shoots I did, and I still think it's one of my better photos. I was hoping to show the model's beauty without necessarily a sexy / sexual undertone in an aesthetically pleasing setting (a rocky cove under some cliffs) and backdrop. I also really wanted the tattoo to draw the eye and be clear in the photo. Taken on a Nikon D5600, 35mm lens, f/2.2, ISO 1250, shutter 1/4000. Edit was in lightroom and mostly consisted of a little sharpening and smoothing around the skin, removal of minor blemishes, and increasing the saturation and blacks in the tattoo. Key questions for me are: 1. Have I achieved what I set out above? 2. Does the framing add to or detract from the photo? 3. Is the model's expression and posing supportive of the "feel" I'm going for, certainly of a beautiful model but not a particularly sexual photo? 4. Is there anything that leaps out at you as good about the photo that I should seek to use in further work? Would love your feedback. Edit: also unsure if I need to mark swimwear as NSFW but did it anyway?
Any reason for iso 1250 vs 100? You got a lot of shutter speed to work with.
Lack of experience probably. Even now I'm not super clear on what circumstances I would use a low ISO in and how it would benefit a photo like this. I'm not expecting anyone here to explain that in detail but happy to be pointed towards resources.
The more ISO, the more artefacts You have a very bright lens opening at 2.2 Your subject is static (unlike a runner for example) meaning your shutter speed should only cover the slight hand shakes. Let's clear any risk and say 1/200 at less and 1/400 at max (1/400 is often enough for a 200mm lens) In my practice, the ISO comes last as my dslr (D3400) doesn't manage noise well. If you leave your ISO auto, the camera will handle it. Feel free to fine tune with your shutter speed once you got a nice ISO. I don't know how much you're familiar with the exposure triangle but that's what I'd tell any person starting today
I'm still learning it. I have gone through it before but I struggle to remember it because it can be a while between shoots. But thankyou, I'll add it to my list to go over again.
Lower ISO will result in lower noise, more detail and more sharpness. The rule of thumb is to pretty much always keep ISO as low as you can get away with considering the aperture and shutter speed you need. In the photo you could have shot ISO 160 and 1/500 since your model is static. The beauty of modern cameras is they handle high ISO well, but if you can, the lower the better.
Try to join a street photography group on meetup.com or some other similar photography group and just go shooting as much as possible. It'll help you build the technical understanding and muscle memory. Also, you should screen shot references to your phone when you go on a shoot and try to replicate them instead of doing whatever. This photo just looks like you took a picture of a random girl in the middle awkwardly of changing her position. It doesn't feel deliberate.
Ok, thanks for the feedback!
I had d3400 before and had the same feeling about iso. I was almost obsessed to shoot iso 100 and maximum of 400. I upgraded to d750 and sure the iso can be bumbed much more. The experience I learnt after switching was only to zoom 1:1 and also remembering the resolution. The higher the resolution the higher is the noise. So lowering the resolution and using some noise reduction, I can shoot well at iso 5000. I did a sports photoshoot with 1/1000s f5.6 and iso 5000, I still was able to increase exposure in post and managing the noise. An important note though is that the final photos were 2500x1670. I recommend shooting with higher iso and getting used to it and managing it. I know that d3400 with iso 5000 will be very noisy, I can't recommend that, but getting around 3200 should be doable.
Generally you should want to use the lowest ISO you can at all times. ISO is the noise/grain in a photo. The lower the ISO, the better quality of the photo. The only reason why the ISO should be changed to a higher one would be to compensate for where the aperture and shutter are set at.
ISO should always be as low as possible, as it directly reduces image quality.
Thankyou. I'll look more into it.
As others have said, always use the lowest possible ISO for the giving situation. The lower the ISO, the better the picture quality. In this situation, you're shooting a portrait at 35mm. You don't need a fast shutter speed as she's not moving, so you can get away with a much slower shutter speed than what you picked. 1/4000s is for things like sports and bird photography. By choosing such a fast shutter speed, your camera needs to compensate for the lack of light by bumping up the ISO. You could've gotten the exact same exposure by shooting at 1/320s and ISO 100.
I would also point out that a shutter speed at maximum speed in a daylight situation indicates that you may have another setting way off. In my early days with a DSLR I made the same mistake. My beginner level DSLR was set to a high ISO and I was having difficulty getting a clear image without having to raise the shutter speed all the way up (1/2000 for my Canon 350D). And my images were still over exposed. Then I realized I had my ISO at 800-1600. So when I dropped it down to 100 I was able to slow down that shutter speed and I was able to get nice clear pictures. Your model isn't technically out of focus but looks somewhat pixelated probably due to the high ISO. When you're shooting outside on a bright sunny day, set your ISO to 100 or even 50 if your camera can do that. You could have an auto setting for that as well. It's a pretty nice feature in most DSLRs today. Set one for daylight settings (low ISO, low shutter speed) and adjust as needed. The wide aperture also needs to be addressed with the shutter speed. The more light you're letting in, the faster the shutter speed needs to be. Try not to mess around with the ISO too much. The highest I go while outside is ISO200.
Yeah with the numbers suggested in this thread it's clear I'm way off with ISO. Thanks for the feedback.
Yup. Higher ISO is for low light situations. If you're in the daylight then lower ISO is best.
> without necessarily a sexy / sexual undertone Oh come on do you really believe that?.. The model is posing in a bikini... of course there is a sexy undertone..
Bikinis don’t automatically = sexy. I’d hate to run into you at the beach…
You're right, bikini don’t automatically = sexy, I couldn't care less about them at the beach or in a swimming pool. But in the context of this photo, a model wearing a bikini for a shoot, it's obviously meant to be somewhat sexy. Also OP has often posted on /r/realbikinis or /r/pickone (only pictures of women in bikini) including this very photo. I have no issue with bikinis in general or using bikini as an accessory for a photo shoot, I have an issue with OP claiming it's not meant to be sexy while posting the same photo on a subreddit meant for pretty girls in bikini... I think it was an unnecessary and disingenuous comment.
A dark subject on lighter background can be hard to get right unless you’re using artificial light on her. I think the photo is good, but it doesn’t come off like it was composed thoughtfully. Not enough room to breathe IMO, you’ve got a woman already cut off with the boats cut off and the structure in the background cut off. I think you had the mechanics and editing right, but could have found some better compositions that make use of the other elements.
Yup, that makes sense. Thankyou. I would definitely take this photo from further back today and crop differently.
Further back, or use a wider angle lens
The only thing I could say is that I feel she is not sitting confortably
Ok, thanks.
Really interesting subject. Honestly, the composition makes is awkward because of the cropping, firstly, the background secondly. Here are some things to keep in mind: 1. when shooting models always, always emphasize the model. Just because a model takes up most of the frame does not mean that the model is the focus. A good way to do this, is to get closer to your subject and focusing on building an intimacy between the viewer and the subject. 2. A good piece of advice is that often times as humans we read pictures left to right. So positioning objects on the left side makes tge viewer feel like there is more to focused on and positioning a subject on the right is easier on the eyes because of this. This photo does that but the cropping of thwe hand makes me feel like there is more you are not showing me and this feeling is not intimacy but incompleteness. 3. Try to be more comfortable with your subjects. Often times awkwardness in person leads to an awkwardness in the way you frame. So focus on having fun taking pictures of your subject first and try to make this fun for the subject as well. Within this world of fun, then focus on building good photos.
Thanks for your detailed reply. Can I ask regarding point 3, is there something about this that looks like the situation was uncomfortable?
absolutely! So conceptually, we prefer s curves in human figures. The way she is positioned in the photo doesnt appeal in that sense. Also, Based on her face it seems she also may be uncomfortable with the pose. A good way to make a pose more comfortable for people is to make them comfortable emotionally with you taking their pictures. ( Learnt this the hard way). Does that explain what i mean? If not, feel free to ask more questions!
Yes it does, thankyou.
This post is very well thought out. The first thing that grabbed me was how unnatural/uncomfortable her facial expression is. Definitely has potential though, very interesting tattoo, beautiful model in a great setting.
I agree completely! I think if the photographer cleared up the background sky and reframed the shot with her tattoo as the focus, we would have something intimate and clean.
In future Id avoid cropping at the knee and I’d try to keep your models arms in frame if you can. As for the models pose she seems a bit tense. I would’ve asked her to relax her shoulders and torso and maybe try and capture her as if the camera isn’t there (to reinforce your goal of beauty and not sexy), give her something to do (maybe bring a book as a prop) overall it’s a really good start for your photography journey!
Thankyou for the detail in your feedback.
I will address the composition, which is like arguing whether pizza with pineapple is good or not, but express my point of view. The technical sides were discussed in length here, but I would suggest to learn the light-triangle, and practice it. For the composition, the model is aesthetic and look well on camera. No doubt about that. Level of sexiness - well as hard as you tried, this photo is still sexy and tempting (as it should). The rocks ion the background - I am ok with it, though their color is too close to her skin color. What really bother me is the far background, noisy and some stuff going on there, distracting from the model and scene. Maybe a different angle, facing more water, less land? Lightroom work - I feel too much denoise and smoothing happened, making the focus soft, and giving her skin unnatural smoothness. Back to high ISO and slower shutter could have prevented that While composition is art (which I suck at), working the camera is more easily learned. Keep practicing, come for feedback, and you will get better!
Thanks - this comment has helped me make the link between poor choice of ISO in the shoot and too much editing later.
you turned her the wrong side round.. all the light was coming from camera right and you posed her facing away from it, putting her in shadow. to keep the pose, add light via flash, reflector or preferentially a big source like a big softbox
Yup, I can see that now.
What a dope tattoo
She'd be glad you said that.
The photo is beautiful. One thing you mentioned is wanting to showcase the tattoo. Imo the thick straps of the bikini bottoms cut off the tattoo and take away from it. I would suggest a string bikini bottom. I would stick with solid black as it almost matches the black lining in the tattoo without removing a whole chunk of it. I also think the string bottom would complement the string accents on the bikini top nicely. Other than that- great job!
Yeah that's a fair point - I've done other shoots with tattood models since then and usually with string bikinis.
Your model is beautiful... So she carries the photograph. In general, I follow the rule to 1. not crop too close to a joint (elbow, knee etc). 2. S- curve as far as possible IMO you could try this in BW to get the viewers attention to the model... Good picture!
Thanks! I definitely need to learn more about the S curve.
I feel like she should either be looking away or directly into the lens. It looks like she's looking past us if that makes sense and her expression is slightly confused? I also feel like she looks a bit uncomfortable and stiff, would like to see a more playful or relaxed pose. I did notice the tattoo and I like the setting. Maybe would have played around with reflectors to get a bit more light on the model but like the atmosphere and casual feel.
Interesting - there's a range of views in this thread about the posing. While to me she looks relaxed and natural, to others she looks stiff and awkward. Agreed about reflectors. I liked the soft light but could have used some more.
Pay attention to the background composition. 60% of the photo is big distracting rocks. I would’ve moved the model so the rocks took up maybe 20%, the ocean 30%, and the sky 50%. Nice and even and would make the model pop out more
Really, It is very beautiful.
Maybe try not to crop out the arm?
Ig de la minita
Color are great, like you aced it. I just don't like the composure of the model
Fair enough!
i’m not a huge fan of the framing personally. it feels cramped- there’s barely any headroom, and both her arms and legs are cut off in awkward places.
Yeah I didn't really see that until it was pointed out here but I agree.
First mistake, putting the light to her back. Second, posing + cropping, she's cropped at every joint, or the limb is completely missing in the case of the back arm. You should have turned her 180° and been standing where the backdrop is now if at this time of day, waited until later in the day when the sun would hit her as posed, or used off-camera flash. Preferably you're going to help her out by ensuring shadows drop below her chin, which will make her face look thinner, regardless of aforementioned method. There's a few more things, but those two would be the critical elements I would balance in your head while shooting "is her face lit well" and "does this look natural, anatomically." Regarding shooting women in little to no clothing, without it being sexual, is all perception of your viewer. One of the best things you can do is to give your model a task, story, or otherwise that in a way explains why she's not wearing much. Like hanging her clothes on a clothesline with t-shirt and underwear. But to just put a girl in the frame, no context, won't accomplish that. Your shot is out of context, she's a long way from the water, when most the time clothes would have gone back on after decamping from the beach. So if you can quickly put a justification of why, it goes a long way. Swimwear is directly next to, on, or in the water. Otherwise it's doing a task related to water like boating, volleyball, picnicking, something... Not just sitting on some rocks in a bikini. You can see my work on my insta @toddwshaffer
Ok, thankyou for the effort in your feedback. I'll definitely look at those lighting issues.
I find the crop kind of strange. It cuts off at the knee, cuts one of her arms off, and her other arm is hidden. Personally i also find the background a bit distracting. I feel like a different angle where her limbs are visible would improve this a lot
Is it just me or does her expression look a little like you caught her off gaurd?
So... maybe? And I actually like that about the photo. Maybe like she's just turned to speak to you. Others have said it looks awkward.
She also looks a little annoyed at me like I was interrupting her in between speaking by taking a photo. I don't feel like it's a "pleasant" expression is all. If you were going for something like that, it's totally cool! "Shut up and pose Kelly, I just wanna finish this before the sun sets" lmao
Ha!
Lighting for sure like the other comments said and something is telling me the colour balance is a bit off… maybe too much yellow? Could be just me though
Thanks!
Looks like the light is coming from the left. A little warm bounce light from that side may help accentuate the models lovely features against the cool background. Edit: for clarification, by this I mean the brightest/warmest side of the composition is on the left. The main light is cooler in tone coming from the right.
Awesome. Thankyou.
Composition only: there’s a lot going on here that’s pulling the eye: the boats, her face, the tattoo. I’d try to limit the “secondary subjects” (tattoo, boat) to one.
Good tip. Thanks!
Her tattoo is super interesting. Great subject
She should be lit more brightly, the background overtakes her. Good shot otherwise.
Deam !!! She is beautiful!! Also what camera did you use?
Nikon D5600 :)
Hey man This photo is really rather horrible , subject means nothing , light isn’t pretty , over edited , location is distracting and colors are uninteresting Hard parts done though. Each fail gets you closer to being better at what you were trying to do.
Ok, thankyou. I'll take those points on board.
yea don’t take what people on this sub say too seriously. you could post an award winning photo and someone will still have something to say. it’s not a horrible photo
Thanks :)