Cuban fashion show

[grumpy69]

While in Cuba there was a fashion show and I was lucky enough to get some shots, the models were very pleased with the shots and asked me to take more inside the hotel, in return we got the hotel pc wizard to copy them for the models. Comments welcome

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8 Thats me in the middle

[Ellie]

Re: Cuban fashion show

I should think they were very pleased to see how they looked

[Zuiko]

Re: Cuban fashion show

A great opportunity with some nice results. Well done!

[grumpy69]

Re: Cuban fashion show

A great opportunity with some nice results. Well done!

Really do you like them, I just looked at the other forum TP not very good replied at all although I did ask for comments I think am not getting something with my camera. Thanks for your comments I do need the truth of people but I don't know what to do next.

[Zuiko]

Re: Cuban fashion show

Really do you like them, I just looked at the other forum TP not very good replied at all although I did ask for comments I think am not getting something with my camera. Thanks for your comments I do need the truth of people but I don't know what to do next.

Hi grumpy,

I haven't been too critical because these are posted in Foto fair, not Perfection. I've just been on TP to see what comments have been made there.

It's true what one of them said about background clutter, #3 is a prime example with bobbing heads around the model's ankles. However, unless you are actually directing the models in a situation like this, you have little control. As you gain confidence you can shout out requests, of course, along the lines of "Can you move a bit to the right, please?"

#1 & #7 don't suffer any distractions, but you do need to watch for sloping horizons (particularly if they include water) as in #7.

Regarding sharpness, I do not think you have a focusing problem but some of the images may be just a tad soft and may need a little extra sharpening. How do you shoot and process? I tend to shoot RAW, edit exposure and WB etc in Elements, resize for posting on the forum and then apply any sharpening that's required. It's a fine line between leaving the image a tad soft and over-sharpening, which can look even worse, and this is something I'm still getting to grips with myself.

Whether shooting RAW or Jpeg, always keep the original image and save any edited versions seperately as it's difficult to undo any processing, particularly sharpening. Then, as your skills improve, you still have the untouched images to work with to process a better result. Also, be aware that a resized web image will most likely need a different amount of sharpening than a full resolution image printed at A4. With all this in mind, if you are shooting Jpegs it pays to have the in-camera sharpening set quite low as you can easily set the optimum amount in pp according to how you are using the image.

Back to your fashion pics; just because they could be better and it's possible to pick a few faults in them doesn't mean they are no good! On the contrary, given that it was an opportunist shoot on a crowded beach without the luxury of studio-like control, I think you did very well. Take heart from this, study your pictures carefully and look for things that you would change or do differently if faced with the same situation again. That way you really will learn from experience and be better placed to exploit similar opportunities in future.

[grumpy69]

Re: Cuban fashion show

Hi grumpy,

I haven't been too critical because these are posted in Foto fair, not Perfection. I've just been on TP to see what comments have been made there.

It's true what one of them said about background clutter, #3 is a prime example with bobbing heads around the model's ankles. However, unless you are actually directing the models in a situation like this, you have little control. As you gain confidence you can shout out requests, of course, along the lines of "Can you move a bit to the right, please?"

#1 & #7 don't suffer any distractions, but you do need to watch for sloping horizons (particularly if they include water) as in #7.

Regarding sharpness, I do not think you have a focusing problem but some of the images may be just a tad soft and may need a little extra sharpening. How do you shoot and process? I tend to shoot RAW, edit exposure and WB etc in Elements, resize for posting on the forum and then apply any sharpening that's required. It's a fine line between leaving the image a tad soft and over-sharpening, which can look even worse, and this is something I'm still getting to grips with myself.

Whether shooting RAW or Jpeg, always keep the original image and save any edited versions seperately as it's difficult to undo any processing, particularly sharpening. Then, as your skills improve, you still have the untouched images to work with to process a better result. Also, be aware that a resized web image will most likely need a different amount of sharpening than a full resolution image printed at A4. With all this in mind, if you are shooting Jpegs it pays to have the in-camera sharpening set quite low as you can easily set the optimum amount in pp according to how you are using the image.

Back to your fashion pics; just because they could be better and it's possible to pick a few faults in them doesn't mean they are no good! On the contrary, given that it was an opportunist shoot on a crowded beach without the luxury of studio-like control, I think you did very well. Take heart from this, study your pictures carefully and look for things that you would change or do differently if faced with the same situation again. That way you really will learn from experience and be better placed to exploit similar opportunities in future.

Thanks Zuiko, Yes I see what you are saying I took all my Cuba pics in raw but when I got home raw and jpeg downloaded raw would not load into photobucket so I used the jpeg shots and gave them a little sharpen which on my screen looked ok, the next set I have to show is the inside of the hotel where I used a 36R flash I think they look a bit better, would you comment on them please, I wont sharpen them at all. Thanks for putting the effort in for me.

[thurtell]

Re: Cuban fashion show

The second pic is nice. Good work.

[OlyPaul]

Re: Cuban fashion show

I agree with everything John (Zuiko) has said, at the least a fashion photographer would have had some large panel reflectors to cope with the lighting conditions which is limiting the dynamic range and under the conditions you did well.

Saying that if you have the raw images it should be possible to improve them more Hec.

From the low res jpeg which does not stand up to heavy editing like a full res raw, just a rough and dirty example as I only have one working eye at the moment of what you can do post process, forgive the quality and roughness as it is just a quick edit. All I have done is simulate the use of a large panel reflector.

Hope you do not mind me messing with your image Hec.
Orig


Edited

[banjukes]

Re: Cuban fashion show

Nice set. Hope you had a nice holiday.