Refraction is a Bitch - © Copyright 2010 by William Beem
Considering I have another workshop this month for a swimsuit shoot, I thought I’d review my old shots to find images that I didn’t like. The idea is to be mindful of past mistakes and concentrate on making entirely new ones. This photo shows a number of problems in one image, none of which are the model’s (Jordan Dunlap) fault. This shot does prove that just having a lovely model in your photograph isn’t enough to save it. With that in mind, let’s examine the ways I screwed the pooch on this shot.
- Awkward Crop - Fingers & feet! Most people have them, so the mind expects to see them. In this shot, I’ve awkwardly cut off her left hand
- Refraction is a Bitch – Take a closer look at her feet underwater. The refraction makes her legs appear freakishly shortened. Sticking your model’s feet in water generally doesn’t work out well at all.
- Uninspiring Pose – It’s just a dead-on straight shot. The lines running from her head to shoulders are off, as is the line from her shoulders through her torso. Her right arm is dead straight. It’s uninteresting and awkward.
- Lack of Direction – I should have taken charge to direct her pose, but I just fell in with the other workshop photographers. Mongo see pretty girl. Shoot! It can be very difficult for a model in a situation like this. She’s facing a dozen or so photographers, not knowing what they want or where to look. It’s better to wait for an opportunity, provide direction, and get a couple of decent shots instead of a lot of crappy ones.
- Uninteresting Lighting – It’s dead-on flash here. This workshop really wasn’t about lighting, it was about stock photography. Still, you have to figure well-light images should sell better than flat ones. A couple of minor changes could have given her some more shadow and definition.
Jordan is an outstanding model for these kinds of workshops. She’s lovely, friendly and tries to help the photographer get a good shot. The problem, as I said, is that she’s being overwhelmed by multiple photographers in a case where the workshop turns into a photo orgy. If you let yourself get caught up in the notion of just trying to catch a picture, you’ll never make one.
