BlueMoonPics wrote:
I'll take a critique.

I started by reading your profile; at first I was really impressed by it, especially the amount of information that was presented and the fact that it was all still very relevant.  The inclusion of the social media links was a smart thing too, wish I had thought of that lol.  That being said, it's very close to being too much information.  It may be fine as is, but I would warn against adding anything else without removing something first.  Models on this site already don't read profiles as is, so giving them a chapter out of your life is surely going to get the ADD started with some girls here.

On to your portfolio:
I really enjoyed some images (see: https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/1 … 871e90.jpg) but the critique is supposed to be "how to improve" so I'll recommend being a little more picky when it comes to makeup.  It's a bit heavy in a couple photos, the most notable being: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/36201258 and I'm not sure if that's heavy D&B or some major contouring on the MUA's part, but I would've toned it down a bit.

Also, be careful with angles.  Some models don't shoot well straight on, and their shoulders can look very broad (like a linebacker's).  Even if the model is a broad-shouldered individual, we have to be able to take a little creative license and try to position her in such a way that would minimize that.  Be careful of wardrobe too, baggy/loose items shot in certain ways can suggest that the model is "bigger" than she is in reality.  For examples of both see:
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/28644508
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/36201133

All in all, not bad work though.  Just minor things that can be addressed relatively easy.

J O H N  A L L A N wrote:
Sounds like you're putting more thought into this than the typical MM "critique" - so I'm open...

Your portfolio is all over the place, there's some nice images, and some not so nice images to put it nicely.

For starters, all your nudes should go.  None of them even remotely come close to approaching the quality of your clothed stuff. 

I'm all for breaking rules re: cropping but this one just doesn't work: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/26089254 18+ being cropped at her ribcage.  Even at this resolution her skin still looks very rough, and the angle from which you shot makes it very vanilla. 

This one: https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/28535109 18+ between the skirt that doesn't work, the messy hair, and her expression...doesn't work. 

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/28619839 18+ Again, expression was a poor choice, retouching seems to be only partially done (see right armpit, lips, belly, forehead), and the shot doesn't work for her body type.  She's very square, and doesn't have the typical coke-bottle shape variance between waist/hips so shooting her straight on only emphasized and even perhaps exaggerated her boxiness.

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33367622 18+ entitled "Fashion 414".  You can't just call something fashion and it'll be so.  Other than the obvious "this isn't a fashion model", the styling is very very bad, and the "Who is that dude creeping in my window at me?" expression again doesn't work.

All the nudes are pretty much the same, but on the other hand the clothed images don't suffer from as much in my opinion.  The only real issues there would be sometimes questionable makeup and poor styling...but that can be remedied by simply looking through current work on fashion blogs and in magazines and working with a different team.

I would say based on your work that I've seen displayed here, that you are clearly a test photographer.  Meaning that the type of images you shoot aren't necessarily editorial or even in some cases mainstream fashion, it's more of a subsect of work that is created more for model's portfolios.  That type of work is good for getting models to shoot with you, and even getting agencies to pay you from time to time.  I would follow that route of shooting, especially with stuff like:

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/34296032
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35482084
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/35025764

I think if you kept at it with that type of stuff, not only would your work improve but eventually you'd get better models to test with because agencies eat that stuff up.  No booker would say it flat out when you're emailing to test, but they'll avoid sending you models if they see photos like that, and if they do send some your way it'll all be newbies and minors that they know you can't shoot that stuff with anyway.  I'd avoid the nudes for a while though.  For the moment they just seem like nudes for the sake of nudity, but no real merit behind them other than that.  Delete those, pare your portfolio down to your 10 strongest images, and it'll improve dramatically.

AndyD10 wrote:
This could be interesting.  Please tell me what (IYHO) I need to know.

I see a little fashion/portraiture, and a lot of art.  I actually like some of the art stuff, so I would focus on that, but instead of just shooting various art concepts I'd like to see you work on a series.  Something that you can put together as a body of work that will reflect what you're doing at the moment.  Kinda like Picasso's Blue Phase.  Find something you want to do, and do it with several models.  Put it together in a folder here, or maybe even make some nice prints and go to a gallery.  I'm always disappointed when I see art photographers who don't have at least a couple series of work.

I know I'm not much for inspiration but maybe a "raw nude/portraiture series" like: https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/1 … cd0fb5.jpg 18+  Or maybe not, but you get the idea.

Blaire_ wrote:
No smoke, please!!

Well for models, generally the best advice is to keep shooting...a lot.  Practice makes perfect and whatnot.  The one thing that bugged me while looking through your photos though (and this might be my fashion-bias here, and probably isn't relevant to an art model), is that your hair is in your face a good bit.  Sometimes not a lot, just a couple whispies, but sometimes it's almost completely hiding it.  Again, I'm not an art photographer...so I can only guess that maybe it's ok to hide or obscure the model's face, and to just focus on the shape/form/lines of the body.  Still bugs me though.  Other than that, I'd like to see maybe some more conceptual stuff.

Glenn Worton wrote:
I'd love your opinion

I would say shoot more, and look through current art nude publications for an idea on making things more modern.  A lot of the photos are older (2006) and have a dated look to them.  I think just shooting more and having recent work up would help, but also trying new things.  A lot of the photos are repetitious in terms of style, lighting, and even posing and composition.  Gotta get out your box and try something new

Jorge Kreimer wrote:
Sure!

I like that you've got your style, and theme going for you, and you've tried to explain that in your profile so people can better understand why you do what you do. 

That being said, my biggest issue with your work so far is the cropping on some.  I'm all for breaking the rules and all, but a couple of your photos have gone a little further than that:

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33089685
https://photos.modelmayhem.com/photos/1 … 672f49.jpg

And I distinctly remember one from the model in the thread above but I didn't want to comment on it until I got to your critique.

All in all, it's cool stuff, but little things like that just irk me.  That being said, you're getting published, getting stuff shown in galleries, and apparently don't have any shortage of models to shoot for your projects...so take my opinion with a grain of salt