Could really use some help - Afflicted with tunnel vision

Dara Robinson

Hey Guys,

Could really use some help, advice and perspective.

I am applying to iadt for the photography BA and my portfolio is due for submission in a month so a while ago I decided to start working on more photos and one of them was a fake band shoot.
Over the last 3 weeks or more I have been working on this shoot (well not constant now, just a day here and there and so on).

Ok, so the shoot took place on the 13th and I finished editing the photos today. I shot over 500 on the day and ended up with around 50 shots that I think are the best.

I do need some help though cause I think I am getting tunnel vision as I cant seem to decide if any are good enough for my portfolio and if so which ones. I have a few fav's but I've been looking at the shots way too long.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dararobinson/sets/72157623368466663/

Let me know what you think and if you think there are ones I should be putting in my portfolio.
Any advice is welcome, just getting stressed at this stage lol

Thanks

D

sineadw

Hey Dara In all honesty, and meaning no disrespect, I'd be seeking more qualified advice on this. Is there no-one in a college or something you could ask?

DotOrg

Dara Robinson wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Could really use some help, advice and perspective.


Let me know what you think and if you think there are ones I should be putting in my portfolio.
Any advice is welcome, just getting stressed at this stage lol

one of the main aspects of photography is in how you use light and sorry to say, this set don't really show any consideration for the quality of light being used. virtually every shot would have benefited in having some extra off camera lighting, even if just a simple reflector. As the shoot is very posed it shouldn't, in my opinion, only use natural light compared to if you were shooting some documentary style portraits

also, extreme wide angles and portraits are very unflattering, again something you want to avoid if its meant to look like a band press shot.

out of the whole lot, the only one i'd consider for a portfolio would be:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dararobinson/4381542595/in/set-72157623368466663/
and i'd probably do quite a bit more editing on it, fixing the white balance and then playing around with contrast and curves

Dara Robinson

sineadw wrote: »

Hey Dara In all honesty, and meaning no disrespect, I'd be seeking more qualified advice on this. Is there no-one in a college or something you could ask?

yea there are loads of people in college I can ask, and will when I actually go in but have not been in all last week as we were off and looks like I may not be able to make it in this week and if I do I wont be in long so probably not much of a chance.
Just wanted some perspective. More than anything else just looking for a fresh look on them to see if 1st impressions line up with what I am thinking

@ DotOrg
I'm not sure if your screen is calibrated right mate. The lighting is correct on most of them. They are high contrast on purpose if thats what your getting at as I have processed them for printing and simply removed a sharpening layer and flattened for the web. But I calibrate my Screen with a Colormunki on a regular basis and I have printed similar looking stuff and comes out perfect on my end.
As for your pick, its one of my fav's also.

Fajitas!

Dara Robinson wrote: »

@ DotOrg
I'm not sure if your screen is calibrated right mate. The lighting is correct on most of them. They are high contrast on purpose if thats what your getting at as I have processed them for printing and simply removed a sharpening layer and flattened for the web. But I calibrate my Screen with a Colormunki on a regular basis and I have printed similar looking stuff and comes out perfect on my end.
As for your pick, its one of my fav's also.

Define correct, tbh

The exposure might be ok, but that doesn't always make for an interesting photograph. Tbh, I wouldn't even call them high contrast, they're just photos, and your calibration ain't anything to do with it

Tbh, I wouldn't be overly happy with the shoot, you've cropped off arms left right and...well.. not so centre, but the wide angle lens you've used really doesn't do anything for the look you're trying to achieve.

I'd honestly (and with best intentions) say reshoot. You don't even need a full band to reshoot - in fact, I'd say you have too many people with too many different 'styles' to bond in that shoot, get one of them, maybe two, and work with that. With a bit more work on the positioning, lighting and processing, I'd say this has some of the most potential if you were going to reshoot.