Critique for Ian

After every workshop, whether through the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) or privately, attendees are invited to submit images based on the workshop for further comment. I always hope to provide information suitable for the individual and for others readers. If you are interested in attending any future workshops, please contact me sqw @ FilmPhotoAcademy.com

Because the lightbox setup we had produces a lot of light from below you have to be careful how it lights the face. I'm not unhappy with the light here, just something to be aware of. What bugs me far more is the pose has left Iveta's boobs looking completely different sizes. For me this is not a keeper for that reason. Most girls do have boobs of different sizes, and you need to be aware of that and shoot accordingly - angling this torso can help, deliberately covering part of a boob, using shadow or light to reduce/enhance a boob size - these are tricks for this kind of problem.

Lovely, delicate posing and face here. Love the ways the arms and face form a continuous circle for the eyes to track. Light across the torso, collar bones, pelvis, boobs and arms is spot-on - giving loads of modelling, loads of shape, highlights clearly show the shape and poise all the way through.

The crop at the bottom is awkward, feet are also often awkward I'd crop a little higher. Compare this to the previous image and you can see the modelling is nothing like as strong, but the light is wonderfully soft. This wasn't the way we were setup on the day, but can you imagine a little rim light on the left hand side as well?

Firstly this crop is what I was talking about the previous image. Of course now you can question about cutting across the hand like that and whether that odd bit of thigh helps or not... Next thing will be a slight higher crop again! Interesting that you've chosen this one for monochrome... The direct gaze could make this more "glammy" - and going to mono helps keep it "arty". I want the moles and stuff zapped though, they are very distracting - this applies on all the images.

First off crop the feet away. I'm not too happy about the waist crease and wrinkles in the armpit either - both are quite distracting. What bugs me most here though is that the pose although in principle has all the right elements, in practice just looks awkward, I think the shapes don't work together in that the various angles are all a bit at odds with each other - but also the pose/body language is mixed with the facial language as well.

Like this. The skin needs a little cleaning - and there's just a wisp of hair below Iveta's chin which makes it look like a goatee. You could put in a top crop that runs through the forehead and it would be stronger I feel.

Cool - literally and figuratively. Distinctive, different. Interesting how blue light is on the same as a blue-toned image as well. I hope you were able to see on your images the difference when there is two lights versus a single gelled light.

I think this is great, one of the best motion images I've seen. I think you could crop above the knees and overall this needs a little tweaking on brightness and contrast to give it more punch. But I think this is a spot on capture.

I love this image - there's a sort of Olympian Champion, Warrior/Goddess, French Revolution thing going on here that I really like. My only complaint is the little dash of red just at the bottom left of Cat's tummy.

I've been looking at this image for a couple of minutes now, because there is nothing I want to say about it except, "I don't like it - it does nothing for me". Which is not helpful I know. I've been trying to work through my own instinctive view of "this is not a keeper" to work out why. It's the eyes really. This is a "dead" image to me, there's no vitality in the face or eyes - for me. This is why I keep banging on about talking to your model, guiding them, directing them - even when they pose better than you do, because it helps keep them alert and not drifting off. But of course, there's always the "decisive moment" - sometimes you just catch the muscles, eye position etc where everything is just off - and sometimes where everything is just "on"

Whereas here there is a life in the face and eyes, love the diagonal versus vertical lines in this image. I would crop much tighter vertically, through the forehead and just below the bust line for a stronger image.

OK, this is quite a happy picture, but doesn't make the most of the setup. Firstly the camera position and pose are very unflattering - it really emphasises the belly. Secondly, by shooting with Cat facing into the light there's no real modelling, it is all a bit full on. Thirdly, its oddly muted, if this is out of camera I would expect some more colour here. I do like the fact that you stood off-centre to the backdrop - the photographers curse is we like to shoot flat to the backdrop. I do like the fact that this is happy and fun. Try duplicating the layer and setting the blend mode to SoftLight - see if that gives you a bit more contrast and colour for punch.

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