[adwb]

here you are 5 mins work in ps/ from a screen capture

background tidied up

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Last edited by adwb; 03-31-2012 at 07:01 AM.

[agsy]

That goes to show how important PP is. I also agree on shooting HDR, Photoshop has a great automated feature to combine the images and even fix blurring in case of a motion between the images.

[adwb]

That goes to show how important PP is. I also agree on shooting HDR, Photoshop has a great automated feature to combine the images and even fix blurring in case of a motion between the images.

don't mess with hdr or beach or any of the other point and shoot jpg toys, use raw and do the job properly

[LaurenOE]

I know this is Pentax forums, and a very supportive place to get advice. However, there were a TON of fundamentals the OP (Original Poster) missed.

I recommend several classics for the OP to get ahold of.

Kodak Guide to 35mm Photography - ISBN 0-87985-347-6
The Book of Color Photography - ISBN 0-394-72467-4
Photography, A Practical Guide - ISBN 0-68115-484-5

In the books above, you can learn some techniques that will make the settings on the camera make sense and make the technical side of the photo shoot more successful.

Aesthetically?

Learn how to take pictures of women. Many men do not understand what makes for flattering pictures of us. There are certain "angles" that flatter us and some "angles" that are terrible. There is always something beautiful in a woman, and it makes sense as a photographer to concentrate on that trait or characteristic in your female subject.

When you get ready for a shoot, evaluate your model critically and know what is going to make the crop or cutting room floor.

As a photographer, never publish bad pictures of your female subject. Never take professional pictures of a subject that you are personally attracted to, as what YOU see in the lens, may not translate to others. Have someone review your work from an aesthetic and critical nature. Go out and buy some magazines that have women in them - not porn obviously.

If you get the chance for a re-shoot, I would schedule it after your "homework" is accomplished. Otherwise, your career as a professional will suffer as you are only as good as your last assignment.

[adwb]

I know this is Pentax forums, and a very supportive place to get advice. However, there were a TON of fundamentals the OP (Original Poster) missed.

I recommend several classics for the OP to get ahold of.

Kodak Guide to 35mm Photography - ISBN 0-87985-347-6
The Book of Color Photography - ISBN 0-394-72467-4
Photography, A Practical Guide - ISBN 0-68115-484-5

In the books above, you can learn some techniques that will make the settings on the camera make sense and make the technical side of the photo shoot more successful.

Aesthetically?

Learn how to take pictures of women. Many men do not understand what makes for flattering pictures of us. There are certain "angles" that flatter us and some "angles" that are terrible. There is always something beautiful in a woman, and it makes sense as a photographer to concentrate on that trait or characteristic in your female subject.

When you get ready for a shoot, evaluate your model critically and know what is going to make the crop or cutting room floor.

As a photographer, never publish bad pictures of your female subject. Never take professional pictures of a subject that you are personally attracted to, as what YOU see in the lens, may not translate to others. Have someone review your work from an aesthetic and critical nature. Go out and buy some magazines that have women in them - not porn obviously.

If you get the chance for a re-shoot, I would schedule it after your "homework" is accomplished. Otherwise, your career as a professional will suffer as you are only as good as your last assignment.

hear hear Lauren,
I did not even want to comment on the pose /posture of the subject but realy those images are not what could be called professional.

I would suggest the op goes on a camera course then on a how to shoot models course.

[LaurenOE]

hear hear Lauren,
I did not even want to comment on the pose /posture of the subject but realy those images are not what could be called professional.

I would suggest the op goes on a camera course then on a how to shoot models course.

I'm not sure what "hear hear" means? I don't know if that means you agree or I am stepping over a boundary?

I feel terrible about contributing what I did, but one of my pet peeves is bad pictures of women. I applaud the women who are so confident of their body image that they can "pull it off".

For the rest of us, photographs are a reminder how flawed we are in front of the camera.

I protect the images of the women I take. Someday, if Niva hits the "big time", she will dread having these images posted from "back when".

My female subjects have no idea how my suggestions of setting/clothes/coverups/makeup or angles/crops go to make their images stand out and represent their beauty. The second I meet a subject I know what is going to work and what is not.

Because I am so critical, is why I don't shoot people or if I do, it's candid and relaxed work.

I will NEVER shoot a wedding professionally.

Sorry if I am coming across too pushy, it is not my intent to destroy someone's confidence, but to offer constructive critique.

[eddie1960]

I'm not sure what "hear hear" means? I don't know if that means you agree or I am stepping over a boundary?

I feel terrible about contributing what I did, but one of my pet peeves is bad pictures of women. I applaud the women who are so confident of their body image that they can "pull it off".

For the rest of us, photographs are a reminder how flawed we are in front of the camera.

I protect the images of the women I take. Someday, if Niva hits the "big time", she will dread having these images posted from "back when".

My female subjects have no idea how my suggestions of setting/clothes/coverups/makeup or angles/crops go to make their images stand out and represent their beauty. The second I meet a subject I know what is going to work and what is not.

Because I am so critical, is why I don't shoot people or if I do, it's candid and relaxed work.

I will NEVER shoot a wedding professionally.

Sorry if I am coming across too pushy, it is not my intent to destroy someone's confidence, but to offer constructive critique.

Hear Hear is most definitely agreement british style (popular in canada as well being a colony )

I agree the poses were not well done
the time of day was the worst time possible
The OP needs to study how to overcome the time of day - Reflectors held by an assistant would have helped, Flash with HSS preferably off camera (in combination with a reflector even better) would also have helped
(personally I would have just explained that I would not do this kind of shoot mid day as there would be next to no chance of making the artist look good. Artists have a pretty high level of vanity in my experience and once they realise why they will look bad in that scenario they will find time to accommodate a better time for light.
It's not that you can't manage a good shot at 1pm in the blazing sun on a backlit beach but pretty much everything is going against you achieving it. Early Morning or late afternoon really (first and last hour of sun) didn't get the names Golden hour and magic hour for nothing, closer you can manage your shoot to these times the better

[adwb]

Hear, hearFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search
Hear, hear is an expression used as a short, repeated form of hear him, hear him. It represents a listener's agreement with the point being made by a speaker. It is often incorrectly spelled "here here".[1]

It was originally an imperative for directing attention to speakers, and has since been used, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, as "the regular form of cheering in the House of Commons", with many purposes depending on the intonation of its user.[2] Its use in Parliament is linked to the fact that applause is normally (though not always) forbidden in the chambers of the House of Commons and House of Lords.[3]

The phrase hear him, hear him! was used in Parliament from late in the 17th century, and was reduced to hear! or hear, hear! by the late 18th century. The verb hear had earlier been used in the King James Bible as a command for others to listen.[2]

Other phrases have been derived from hear, hear, such as a hear, hear (a cheer), to hear-hear (to shout the expression), and hear-hearer (a person who does the same).[2]

[Elva]

Spot metering, fill in flash and reflectors would give you what you were seeking. Bright background, dark subject.

[George Lama]

In this case a tough location, with tough lighting, plus unfamiliarity with the location, equipment, and photography fundamentals certainly combined to really sock it to the OP.

I'm often challenged by my clients' choices for on-location photography, but in most situations, I will visit the site ahead of time and familiarize myself with possible challenges, lighting (direction and angle of then sun, reflection sources, etc) good/interesting spots for photography, and restrictions/limitations that I may encounter. It's saved me more than once and even then, it's a moving target. After all, lighting can literally change from one second to the next.

Beaches and lakes can be some of the worst, uninteresting locales you can ever photograph - or they can be the best. In this case, there isn't much going on with the sky, the water is pretty flat, and that "sand" could certainly use some sweeping to get rid of the chunks of shells and miscellaneous leftovers and to smooth the wet sand out. Moving to the dry sand, after some sweeping, would have helped. Also, shooting early mornings or afternoons can certainly offer beautiful skies to incorporate into the beach scene, even if the ocean is flat.

[paddy567]

i guess the moral of the story is that i need more accessories for the cam try to get some help so i can use reflectors and or diffusers.

Actually, I would disagree. I am far, far from being a professional, but there are two things I always try to do which I think would have helped you in this situation.

1. Control as much as you can off the camera, before I start looking at what I can control on the camera.

2. Always think about light as the number one thing I'm trying to control via all my other settings both on and off-camera.

Applying this in your situation at the beach would have meant things like:

What time of day should I shoot this [to get nice light on my subject]? (e.g morning or afternoon, or indoors).

What angle am I shooting at [to get nice light on my subject]? (e.g shooting down on your singer whilst she was looking up would have given you more light plus still have some water in the background).

What pose is my subject in to optimise the light hitting her? (e.g is her face in shadow but her body in the light etc etc).

Where am I shooting my subject? (e.g that sand is bright! Maybe getting her into the water would help etc).

By all means, a tripod, ext flash etc - these are all very handy things to have, but they are just more ingredients to the picture, but they cannot make a bad picture good, nor produce good pictures by themselves. As an analogy; salt is a great ingredient in soup, but you can't make a soup from only salt, and you can make a damned good soup without it if everything else is right.

The camera is really the last step of the picture making and taking process, and if we don't get the previous steps right - or at least take them into account - it's a very big demand on the poor old camera. If you set up for success, you make it a lot easier to get those keepers.

[cats_five]

...
By all means, a tripod, ext flash etc - these are all very handy things to have, but they are just more ingredients to the picture, but they cannot make a bad picture good, nor produce good pictures by themselves. As an analogy; salt is a great ingredient in soup, but you can't make a soup from only salt, and you can make a damned good soup without it if everything else is right.
...

And they also complicate the process - there are more things to have to do the right thing with.