Instagram and Twitter photography community has always been a hot and cold place. We either get ‘OMG YASS ICONIC!’ or ‘OMG TRASH KYS’. Feedback is feedback, however we never really get any feedback containing substance. Maybe because all people care about is the engagement they get from their own photos that they don’t really take the time to talk about other.
Now I’m not a professional photographer, I studied it at college, and done a handful of jobs here and there. But take what I say with a grain of salt, most of the time I don’t know what I’m talking about, so it’s your own fault if you actually take notice of what I have to say.
Latife,
Lawshootz.com
What initially drew me to this photo by Latife, was always going to be the neon lights the model is standing in front of. Maybe I like lights, maybe it’s that I’m a little obsessed with Brandon Woelfel. I do like the photo, but it could of been a much better image.
I’ll start with the parts that I like first. NEON LIGHTS. Where I live, there isn’t a lot of these bright neon signs, so I’m always jealous when other people get a chance to shoot with them. The colours you can get from them really is unlike any other type of light source.
The reflection of the buildings within this window again is spot on. Not only does it set the scene, it also gives the image just a little bit of interest around the edges of the shot which could of become empty without.
Th angle in which you shot the model is good. Generally you always want to shoot a male from below. Just makes him look more masculine, bigger and stronger, more powerful guy. Not quite sure why this is a thing, but it is, and it works nicely. And my personal pet peeve is cropping the model at the right angle. And this was done. Not cropping his head in half of his hands off. Shot well!
Things to work on.
Sometimes when you see a cool location you have to shoot it, but I’d love you to go back again and try it differently. Just to see if you could fully utilise that location your in. Now of course everything I’ve already said and will say is just my opinion, so the way you shot this and what you like is obviously different to what I like.
I’d like to know what lens this was shot with. If you’d of made the model stand further away from the window, with a 50mm the bokeh of the neon lights would of really popped nicely. Using a prism at the same time to get some funky reflections of the lights in the shot too.
I’d of like to of seen the model slightly more central to the image and actually ‘within’ the circle of the neon lights. In the original image he’s ever so slightly to the right of the frame, and the neon circle is to the left, if the photographer had taken a step to the right it could of been fixed.
The Time of day you shot this could of been improved, waiting till later in the day to shoot would of made image darker. Again doing this would of made the neon lights pop. You have a great thing here, you should of really abused the key parts of the image.
Finally, the model pose could of changed slightly. Wasn’t sure what type of shot or genre you were aiming for, but his slouching seems a bit distracting to me. Even makes it feel like he seems a bit bored. If he straightened his back and stood up more, would of looked more confident. And more confidence means more camera presence.
In conclusion, I like the image. I like the lights, but I do think just making a few adjustments could of created a much better image. I know how difficult it is when you’re actually on a shoot to keep everything in your head. But this is where constructive criticism helps. Everyone involved can grow. Me, the photographer and everyone else involved. I’d be really interested to hear what other people ideas for the picture would be. So let me know! Let’s all grow and share.
You can find more of Latife’s picture here
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Rootlessness 