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Glamour and Boudoir Critique Part 2

Lesson 25 from: Professional Photographers Critique Student Images

Sue Bryce, Scott Robert Lim, Bambi Cantrell, John Cornicello

Glamour and Boudoir Critique Part 2

Lesson 25 from: Professional Photographers Critique Student Images

Sue Bryce, Scott Robert Lim, Bambi Cantrell, John Cornicello

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Lesson Info

25. Glamour and Boudoir Critique Part 2

Lesson Info

Glamour and Boudoir Critique Part 2

On the camera angle and this is not working for me on dh. Part of the reason. If you look at the camera angle, this forward shoulder looks huge. Well, why is it looking so big? Well, it's the camera angle, but in addition to that, because they took her arm and put her arm up towards her face, it encircles her arm and it makes it look even larger than I think it probably wass so, yeah, that front could have just come straight down and she could have just worked his shoulder on it would have been beautiful. Absolutely. And then if you're going to be lying down, you still can prop up the head so you roll up a tail or a hand tell you prop it up under the heared to lift the heat up to give beautiful hidden shoulder shape so she's not lying backwards so what's closer to the camera is going to look bigger. So here arms going look bigger and your body's going to look bigger. Any hits going look small and last it's a beautiful shot if she being elevated and push forward then you could have put ...

this hand under here head so it was really sixteen used to front shoulder elevated and push that chin forward and down. And you know, speaking of things to go you can roll up a talent that's a great idea but you know, they also have one of the things we use in our studio are those you know those baby bump things the things that women use they created their baby and that's actually a really great little tool to use in the studio to put up underneath a blanket for you know, to impose your boudoir subject in that is a couple questions from the internet v k would like to know should we follow the rules of portrait photography in glamour and boudoir in particular the position of the hands, the chin, the shoulders in the face line are there significant differences imposing or rules that we need to follow when we're aggressively going after these particular category? Yes, the rules you need to follow is make your client look good amen a ten give her slim arms give her small, flattering hands she's buying it. Okay, so that's all you have to do those are the rules do what ever you have to do to go to to meet them that's what you do do not block out haram and make it look fat she won't buy it do not make her hands look like man hands she went by a boudoir shot where she has hands like number two dick and why would she come to you? Yeah, that's the whole reason they're coming to us is that we know how to take ah flattering photograph of the subject. I mean that's really the point especially something's coming to you for glamour or boudoir. They're not just coming in, you know, like, you know, a prisoner to have a head shot taken but it's about making flattering images, and so those rules are very important, you know, turning the body of forty five degrees from the light source or doing whatever you need tio to slim that shape. Many of our clients are larger women, and you have to use your tools of posing and composition really more so than ever than on anything on on that meant that heavier person and there are also mature women who want to have you two are taken. I have one of my clients, my oldest was fifty eight years old, and so you know, some of the things you might be able to get away with with a young, you know, with a young twenty one year old person you won't be able to get away with with somebody. Who's got a few pounds on the mets in their fifties, so you want to learn to pose the body and light the body and a really skillful way to flatter your subject you know what this place would have been really good if they've gotten above here a little bit more like actually stood on a cheer because if they had gotten some space between the forum in the arm and arm in the body you could have even slimmed down on photo shop I mean leased the option would be there to make it smaller instead of the perspective being the head being really small in the body looking large aside from that good connection, by the way, that is a girl with an axe and hunting hat in an alley may shit so I guess it was kind of open showing cleavage looking kind of sixty I was looking back too far with a big x I think I don't they really say anymore. Okay, um well, I will say that besides the things that she's mentioned, um the subject is too close to the background. I think it's too literal, you know, they just said this is this is kind of they didn't make it an interpretive photograph and I think that's the real difference to me between a real skilled photographer and one who is more of a just a technical I want to say geek yeah that's the right word or not, but sometimes the geeky photographer is one who is they understand, you know you know, f eleven f eight a five point six and then they understand about hey let's, do a picture. This is from my boyfriend and he's a lumberjack, and so they'll put those things, those elements together in a very literal way. And this is, I think, what you don't want to do well, put it like this, maybe she's a lumberjack, and she does the wood cutting, in which case it all makes sense to hear. But I just be very careful putting that in your folio because as a woman, I don't think it's a flattering as a photographer, I don't think it's a great shot so ifit's not going to attract clients, you wouldn't use it in your folio. If you think it's a killer shot of here and she loved it, then that's awesome! You please your client. But when it's so literal that you're eliminating a market of women, don't use it in your advertising. Oh it's water! Okay, that got me well, ok, look at the shape of her boob. You could have fixed that so that neither repaired, adrift or gel in her bra and from the front it looks completely pushed happened fled and you could have just squeeze that I get, clients asked me to change the boob schapelle the time secondly, you shorten the arm from the front when you show the elbow directly to the camera so she could have been like this she could have been like this I mean, she could have been a million different ways except the elbow to the camera, but just be really careful when you push the bootie back don't lean forward because when you push, the beauty can go biggest much as you want and soak in the shoulder because she can really shake the body, but when the booty goes back and the head goes forward, what does that say? You know it's, especially when you gather it doesn't I don't get it it's kind of look a man look at that beauty in terms of that being on a tear in the water, they obviously, you know, wait until the tide came in or drop drop on a boat, which is pretty damn cool that often I really wish she had been just like this from the front down saying arms up e m in water, you know, that's kid could have been like that she could have been on one league, she could have seen rocking it instead of like out there on that year, but it some if the makers out there to do it again, please please please do this again because you're on you have the you have a raw, rough idea, but you need to follow it through in a different way. I didn't even realize it was a chair. I love the idea of this photo right away. And I think you could have made this head you now that it would have looked like the cover of amazing magazine. But I just feel like the pose is just a little bit, not quite there, but it had you got this, you would have just oh, wow, this could have been so cold. There's going to be a whole lot of people taking fancy cheers out toward of this world when they see that you know, one of the thing about this and if you look at the horizon line it's slanting to the left and see because she slanting to the left like she's falling, she looks like she's falling over. So if you had turned her the other direction, at least would kind of balance it out just a little bit. I love the idea also, it's, just stop for once again. If you're going to take a shot, that could be a signature shot for you like it. This photographer head of now, this pose this would be a signature shot like this would be something you remember nineteen years. Why, when you think about that when you think of a magazine cover what post, what they'd be doing on a magazine cover this is not oppose you do on a magazine cover if you're going to create something so unique and so beautiful mimic magazines where if you ever seen affection post like this with a short arm affleck boom in the booty poking out you know, like you could have nailed this is it million fashion poses you could have done? Maybe she couldn't let go the back of the cheer because the water's getting quite strong and you want to fallen, you know, when the water's moving around you maybe she felt unstable, maybe it's a soft, you know, base, maybe it's complicit? Yeah that's what I was thinking maybe it's a complicit a composite, so you know, you got me talking in that all that new zealand tongue of yours and stroppy is really a weight it's in the english dictionary um incredible background, beautifully lit, beautifully lit face girl wearing jeans, it's like a boudoir shot in. She hasn't taken a close off yet, the post says boudoir the expression is sixty and cute, the rooms, his sixty bid and she's enclosed it doesn't match it's like don't put clothing in a boudoir pose on a boudoir sitting and cool it boudoir I mean, she could have been in a black evening dress and it would have looked better than genes it just doesn't quite work. Secondly, when you have a lean body like that, make sure you tune them towards the camera cause when you turn them away from the camera like that you lolly pop them really quickly her bottom half looks very skinny and it's because the heat is, you know, close to the camera and if she was side on she would look perfect in proportion that's why you can photograph models from a lower angle but what a beautiful background I say hey, how do you feel about it? Like that was just my instant reaction, it was like, oh, she hasn't taken a close off yet, you see, I don't have a problem with her not have I mean, having her blue jeans on my first, the first thing that grabbed me, it was the beauty of the environment and the way that the image was exposed because I mean, I could see somebody you know, in the process of removing their clothes in boudoir and still, you know, maybe she's from a part of the country like georgia where they may be more conservative, I don't know, I mean, maybe they don't do boudoir there, I don't know first I do know they do it there I don't think most people will be looking at a gene is all they probably wouldn't be and that's that's probably why I didn't really pay that much attention to the blue jean aspect but I did pay attention to the to the softness of the room and I would love to have seen her wearing something regardless of what she's wearing I'd love to have seen her wearing something that was softer intone ality that would harmonize with that environment yes, it looks like she's wearing shoes too on the beat do you provide? Do you ever provide clothes for clients or today you always expect them to bring I don't provide boudoir attire I don't provide lingerie underwear isn't like that that kind of creeps me out I would never want to where somebody else's stuff like that what I do provide is lots of fabrics I mean we have I buy tool online and I wrapped the bodies and tool we have lots of silks that we can use to cover the body because not everybody has the body like, you know a beautiful model like this and so I have found that you know, having lots of beautiful soft silk that's just in a soft, creamy color could be a great way to camouflage, you know someone who doesn't have a perfect shape the other thing that we do is that we have I have lots of alternative kinds of things like, like window screen that I can wrap them in to showcase just portions of their body and, you know, highlight certain features. So not luxury them. What about you, sue? Yeah, and I have both I have a co chairman, but I don't. I have adams, but I don't carry clothes that such a biscuit. Tutu's chul fabric flowers. Do you have a busy days? You know what I would have done? I would have taken her jane's off, wrapped a shade around her lower half there you go, and that it would have to make exactly on also she's wearing a pointy talent shoes that old, just his casual, casual casual process. But while businesses but where it's kind of like you just got your system and they just take the lighting and it happened to be a good child, it's. Look, this photographer is great. They just didn't bring all the elements to get it for me camera angle again, I think we've already talked about a little bit, same shot, really, isn't it that showed is too big. So you know, I hope that all of you in fact, you guys probably now are starting to critique these yourselves, and you're going all the camera angle looking that shoulder, it makes the shoulder look so large, so I want you to think about that when you are doing boudoir images don't get so carried away with just taking lots of pictures, start analyzing it, analyze your camera position, you know, is it is it? Is it a flattering angle to the subject? And if you need to move yourself or reposition the model learned to take your time, I have to say this is probably one of my biggest weakness is is that I tend to move really fast, and I'm one of the things that I'm really working on for myself is to slow down and not get so crazy about taking lots of pictures, but to say, ok, is this a good one to take and don't take it if it's not ok, lie down on your back have look at this, I can you he's going to go back and her hands here and then you hit ten to the side and you're sleeping ok, if I'm going to take a photo of somebody sleeping, I don't want to take a photo of this part of the heated because it looked look at my face is sleeping if I'm going to take a fighter, the, uh, I would rather have here looking at the camera that's it and I would rather have her backhand up and she can touch your face anything like chicken that baby, if I'm going to be down here, I would rather do something like this and then it's a beauty shop, but not a sleeping face shot. But if I'm going to take a photograph of somebody sleeping, I would get the long body shot with their arms or above the heared arching back sleeping, you know, I would take something like that or opportunity shot were they holding their belly or something like that? Like that makes seems to me, but if I was going to see his sleeping, I just don't see the point in getting up here and going like that to the air and it's, not a beauty shot when you're sleeping, so when you had her arms up above her head like that, where would your camera angle b? Well, screech dancy hits not back so far, put this hand here so it's not too high because I don't want to see just amp it that one can go up and over so it's nice and long, I could do anywhere. I could pretty much do a two hundred degree rotation around here and it would work if I got a really beautiful position in the league. So if I had a league's anybody just languishing at a gorgeous shape and she was back like this I think I could shoot it from above I could shoot it from here I could just keep working my way around and I would just keep looking for it and I could shoot it down that way I know I could shoot it from an aerial and it would look good but I would be showing her whole shape. Well, the thing is is when I get to hear I go katie, bring this hand down this one yeah, that said that said and two in the hand towards you a little way but keep bringing it down and keep moving it no doesn't look good you keep moving it ok cam down touch his shoulder good girl bring it up on top of that I can't bring it they just keep going and as you move around it doesn't you know it's this hand now sticking out the top of the head stay low, look for your angles I look at it like this so often I see photographers who knew take a shot and then look in the camera you're looking at it through the camera you're already looking at the composition, do it before you click the button don't click the button and then look at what you just got it's like oh, look what I got like you're looking at it, you know, that's what's framing your picture, you're seeing the picture before you press it so I'm always like, stop, look at the picture and the camera just look in the camera and go like this move around, I call it the tighty move it's when you hold your cameron, you go, do I do it here, here, here, here, all the orders, but move and stop this guy banging away at it and then forgetting that that's a human being that needs to be spoken to and you're spending all your time looking in the back here and you've stopped holding that space. And that space is the girl that's holding the position that's meant to be like like a beautiful sleeping form. Who is your client? Who wants to feel special? Yeah, thanks, carrie. Just just don't put the fingers in the mouth on the lips. You know we don't need to have our fingers on their mouth. It's a sign of lying when you speak with you, hand over your mouth and your body language it's a sign of worry it's a sign of being worried about what you're saying and it's not good body language do do bad you do hint away if you have that sixty mouth will you like this? That kind of makes sense but otherwise what why would you do that cup the face framed the face open it up have it here have acute haven't tossed ling the here but just watch what your body language is saying because it looks worried and it's a shame because it's actually beautiful shot its crop too far on the left it's really? I love the look I think she's very I think that the makers very, very close to this close to a beautiful photograph I love the composition I don't mind the shoulder treatment yeah, I do too I think it works very nicely the camera angle is a bit too low on dh where the main line is coming from look at how large her shoulder looks. This looks that can you tell that this is a real common problem that photographers have that they photograph straight into the shoulder or the shoulder becomes there really is becomes to the subject yes, erica that's me come down. I should look, father yeah, okay, all sorry, erica, just look at one thing is she hugging that tree? He actually yeah she's a tree hugger that's okay, but if she's kind of hug it, then you need to consider the energy around it like she's very up against a tree it's like standing up against a war, you don't really do it, but if your hands were between the tree in here like I call it, hands on heart, when you turn it this way and then you tipped towards the tree, then it's more like I'm using the tree to pose on not I'm standing up against a tree and remember what I said to you about chairman the back your shoulder? Show me the open up your shoulders to me, show me the back, your shoulder, open that your shoulders, make the movie shoulders, and make them move it around cause it's very important. It would have actually mean better if she's leaning with their back against a tree, because it makes more sense to lean on a tree and look over the shoulder than it does to have an awkward tree here. In addition to that, I think about when you're about to take this photograph think about the other elements that are around those two bright spots in the background are very distracting, they pull your eye right away from the subject, and that, too. Yeah, and so one of the other things that you could do to is if you're going to if you want her to be leaning into that tree if you just drop that shoulder down a little bit, you know, that's what? You've got to change the perspective so that you're not photographing straight into that shoulder. One of the things you could do to is is you white baby, what you just said really, really important detail that shuttle goods in the mansion here. See? Nice base, she's long she's long for the nick coover you ensure you are less space. Okay, she can do it. She can do it, push chin right to the india shoulder katie I'm struggling and struggling to do it. I'm shorter than katie thicker than katie. So what do I have to do, drop it down like that and create some space that makes people look cinema? And then you decide you open the shoulder, apple open the shoulder, ford being really important to learn and that's exactly what babies saying, drop this, open up that push it forward, but get some distance here soon as you put distance here, you lengthen insulin really, really good listen, shoulders really important next, you know, one other element that is important in this is the quality of light on your subject softer light source is going to be more flattering to a face any time you have a small light source. And this is a small light source and we can tell because of the strength of the shadows, see how sharp that shadow is underneath the nose on because of the angle of the light you can see it's creating dark circles are kind of giving her a bag on her eyes. So it's not a flattering type of light source. And there are some things that you can do outside to soften the light if it's a son was the sunlight or how did you ok, so that sunlight use the translucent of a reflector. Use the translucent side of a reflector if you put that between the sun and your subject, you're going to create a a nice soft light source that's going it's gonna spread that light out and we'll give you a really pretty soft light even when you're out on in in an environment outside, I think I had my reflector. My kid was holding reflect on this out of her s o was pushing it back, so use the translucent. I mean, I got to tell you, there's I like the west caught five and one reflector it's got a shoulder side of gold side a black side whiteside and then it's piece of polystyrene litigated very more. Yeah, but I like the but I like the five in one because it has a translucent. It has the sheer white fabric and it's on wire. So that it's, easy for you to have an assistant just hold it up. And as a go between the mate, you know to the sunlight and your subject when people are outside, you know and they're videotaping outside for the news, you quite often see them using a translucent over the subject to spread that light out. I'm so happy to see this photograph in here because this is a mature woman and it's not as easy to photograph mature women as it is to photograph the young ones where we have, you know, a lot of it's. Very forget you get this a lot of things you could do to make a young person look cute. Um, so you talk about this arms towards the camera, this no triangle between her hand and a head. If you'd open that up, should look longer and slimmer, pulled back a little bit and took the hand under. To just be aware that when you're posing anybody leaned towards here towards may no matter how lean they are if katie looks at me now her arm is closer to the camera than the rest of her body is if you want to make that work you need to get her elbow into the position where it's back beer and her chin has fallen down now she is all in the same so their hands just ahead it's out of focus it looks last it looks huge yeah and then there's this big grey band which is either a what? Sure, yes it's a watch first thing I do on my studios watches off I don't even care if the boys have address watch and this is something that means a lot to them I always was taught twenty five years ago take the watch off because it causes a big reflective round circle on dh also it nowadays the watch is huge like big beans on the risk just take it off you know it's just distracting to look at a big watch and surfacing I say decline is take it off I'm sickened lee not many people look good elbow here, hand back to here and lean onto your hand canton and look at may not many people look good with all of their right now, but you know create some space here now lean on it, you know, triangles, triangles in a good space around the body. And then no matter where the hand goes, this room always looks really good to just don't block it all up like this, you know, I don't have the elbow and all clumpy, give me some space to look through. So what people do is they put the hit in the hand and then they tip onto a like this and it shortens the am I always say fingertips, just put your finger tips in your head, then you can still lane and looked let you got good body language, but it just opens up this triangle once you open up that triangle space look center longer, longer arms. The other thing that I find in this photograph is that the camera position was a little bit too much on the broad side of the face, and because of that it's, making the nose look larger. So if you move your camera position to the shadow side of the face and and take advantage of the short light you're going to make that nose looks so much more narrow. It's going to be a much more flattering angle on this on this young lady space for this mature woman stays there's that finger in the mouth. But I think it works in this photograph I think this is she it looks like it, but it doesn't bother me that it's there and she doesn't look pornographic it looks sexy and elegant I think this is a pretty photograph yeah, it works, you know, it's a jury shot is that a beauty shot hours in a makeup shut? It might be a little over, you know there's a lot going on and there are a lot of blue I'm a makeup snob so I'm I'll put it I'd pull it the makeup but at the end of the day it's a beautifully lit shot um, I would have probably if you're going to go to the effort to cut away the here like you've done, I would have gotten rid of there because it doesn't really belong, but others and that's a good view shot I mean, props you don't have a problem with hand it all I'm surprised you're not saying anything about, you know, it's like I don't let's look at body language, so I kind of think of it like this if I am talking, if I'm sleeping with somebody and you know I'm like this playing of my here I get this body language, so if I was speaking with you at a bar and I for the how's it going for you yeah it's waking e I just don't really to me oh yeah the handball dismay if it's about the ring she should have bean touching her face to see the ring uh the fact that her fingers in her mouth and hands glory in index fingers straight out makes me look at your face I hide her eyebrow because I want to fix it instead of shop and shape it properly then his elements of incredibly beautiful and has really basic mistakes that hand looks horrible the head looks flat it's over cropped here I'm looks fat and you've done the one thing that I can't stand and that's lift I called it I can't tell you what they call that no you know I'll tell you after thisbut here nine years to remove it you mean the chick lit alcohol? I call it something way this's a part this is a cheap pg program yeah you know so it's like almost incredible beauty shot but this elements toward the look grand professional also she's you know down on the shoulder so there's no lengthen who naked body models went along and have linked so it has I get argue so many elements of this but at first glance it it is a great shot but it has a lot wrong with it as well there's a beauty as a beauty shot it's not a portrait let's face it well see, I disagree with you I think it could very well be a portrait I mean, you know, to say that you know that just because her, you know, she's had her makeup done this particular way and it's about the jewellery, but that doesn't mean that it that it couldn't be that there's not somebody out there that really likes to have to wear blue eye shadow and and that that kind of jewelry and would put her hair and something that's oven opposite on the color wheel. Andi, I gotta tell you, I see I think it looks believable the way her hand is positioned in her mouth. I mean, I do agree with you that I think that that the with the point that you made about the here on the shoulder, I totally agree with that, and especially where it is in relation to the jewelry in my mind, I don't see I don't think it's a portrait, I think it's probably a picture of the jewelry, but it could be a portent for me. I wouldn't say that it's absolutely not. Okay, so this is how I feel is a photographer when I look at other people's work when I look at websites or photographers, I look and I can tell when you have a model, my him client and when you have a real client I can tell I don't know how, but two may if you line them up and they were thousands would go model model client client client model model model playing playing client panama tomorrow and so to me when I see the model shot to me I can tell that they're not really clients to me I just get this feeling that they sit up shots now that's ok if you want to do the odd model shot throughout your portraiture and bounce it into your work, I don't have a problem with that, but to me I feel like you can tell the difference it's between a model's shot and a portrait now what are you trying to be a you're trying to be a beauty photographer for commercial are trying to be a portrait photographer because you can't do both some people do but not very successfully you're either one or the other this to me looks like a joy shot, not a portrait so if it is a portrait it's too may not a not a very well done portrait if it's a beauty shot, then I get it what you're trying to do but you've made some really basic commercial mistake. So um what are you trying to achieve here? Because I'm confused and I don't want to be confused I want to see either a really girl that's connected to the camera because ok I'll break it right down for you. It's, a sixty slutty pose with a product shot, joined together, and it doesn't make sense. Take something off, not your underway. Well.

Ratings and Reviews

Dell - DLawrencePhoto
 

This a great course. It's like you're taking a lot of what we learn into all the classes and applying it to the critiques. Everytime they give a tip I'm thinking "oh I remember X saying this." "oh I remember Y said that". When will the videos be available for download? I see the thumbnails and the link but it says to purchase to download. Thanks

Chris Hansel
 

The way I learn photography is to watch reviews. but the way I learn is to pause before they pass their comments and then match my reactions to theirs. This was free but is worth more to me than a lot of other courses.

Nora
 

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