It's been a while

JayEnnis

Thoughts/opinions welcome.

All shot on 1D MKIIN + Pentax Super Takumar 35/3.5

steoc

Great Shots Jay. Love the first one

thatsnotmyname

Nice work Jay!

thumbs up...

JayEnnis

Thanks for the replies guys, I've been experimenting with old M42 lenses and love the look they give, especially this 35mm. It has some fungus in it at the moment so I can't wait to see what it's like once I get it cleaned.

AnCatDubh

Good stuff generally! Well done.

awkward poses ftw! ah, just playin with you, but in seriousness there is a bit - perhaps lot of awkward poses going on (imho) here.

It can be a difficult thing to achieve. "Stand there, raise your right leg, put your arm this way, look thataway, jump, sit, squat, whatever.........." - it isn't something that people will do naturally, or they may do it but not under instruction. Under instruction there is a tendency for the body parts to tense up and go into unnatural shapes so you need to visualise the end product of what you'd like to produce and actually look through the viewfinder because what you see will be what you get. Don't be overly anxious to hit that shutter release. To me, there is a mighty skill involved with bringing out the natural inner self of a subject or model. But don't despair in what i've said - there are many professional photographers that get paid significant amounts of money with the most beautiful and experienced of models and they too join the "most amazing awkward pose in the world" flickr groups - along with a nice animated gif to praise them into joining said group :eek:. Hmnnnn... my point? Is probably that you may need to concentrate on the pose, the female form, what produces an aesthetically pleasing image while still maintaining an edgy, urban vibe which you appear to have gone for.

There's not a lot wrong with the photography - though, the processing may not be everyone's cup of tea. You have achieved a slightly gritty urban vibe to it - hopefully this is what you intended. I like it generally but careful not to push the contrast slider too far.

In #1 you have to imho, be very careful when shooting female models from low angles. Undesirable shadows under chin areas in particular produce very unflattering results, can add pounds in weight in places that they aren't really present in real life. I'd suspect that she'd not actually sit like that, and that it wasn't particularly in your creative vision for the shot. (could be wrong entirely - perhaps you were mimicing the awkward pose brigade and if so that's fine too).

I like #2 the best. However, in terms of C&C, again the pose is awkward. You've lost the model's right leg from below the knee. Now you see it, now you dont. Again, a little attention prior to shooting it, visualising it, and giving direction to produce a more natural pose while not losing any body parts is desirable. I love the natural background which you've found for the shot, but it might have worked better (different pose) with the subject with a small distance between the background and where she was - yes, then you wouldn't have gotten the "i'm lying back against a wall look" but that mightn't have been a particularly bad thing either.

Your model by the way is entirely beautiful and very photogenic. With a little work on the posing side of things and with opportunity to shoot her again, I think you / her have fantastic potential to produce stunning shots.

I don't think the black and white treatment in #3 does anything for the subject or environment which you are shooting. Again, the pose bothers me. It's unnatural. Draped around the tree / branch from standing perhaps with arms in the right places and yes the scene may have worked but I don't get the positioning of the model, and don't think it does anything for the ultimate image.

I certainly prefer the colour to the b/w (which is really unusually for me, as i love black and white generally) but it just doesn't grab me in your last image.

All the above just an opinion. Hopefully there is something in there that you can take out of it. As for the rest of my advice - place it straight in the trash bin

dacogawa

JayEnnis wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys, I've been experimenting with old M42 lenses and love the look they give, especially this 35mm. It has some fungus in it at the moment so I can't wait to see what it's like once I get it cleaned.

Great pics Jay!

There's nothing like a good old m42 (I've got about 20 now :eek: ) You could just clean it yourself, I've cleaned, lubed &/or fixed aperture on about 10 lenses now, if you'r handy it shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure there's a few diagrams for the 35 on the net, looks like it's a crutch grip to open the front (not 100% sure) & a pinch tool for the back

TommyGun

The second pic is my favourite. Well done.