the runway shots

[Onyx]

ISO250, f/3.5, 1/125s, 85/1.4


ISO200


ISO250


ISO500, f/5.6


ISO1250


ISO1400, f/6.3

Smooth porcelain face like a doll, and dressed in pink

ISO220

She looks a bit like Jessica Simpson

ISO560

He's too sexy for his shirt, so sexy it hurts...

ISO1600

Thanks heaps to Wendell, you've done so much for me that night.


I welcome critiques, please be harsh, honest and open. Since it's my first time, I have less than no idea and have much to learn.

[Mal]

Well done, some lovely shots, very slick. My only comments would be about the “boarder / blurred edge” that you have added. I thought you had got some ones head in the shot when I looked at the first one. But as I scrolled down I noticed it on the others. And also the shadow under the eyes, maybe you needed to be closer with your flash.
But hey they are still way better than anything I would have captured!!
I think my personal choice is the “china doll” you have really captured that delicateness of the model.

[Raskill]

Well done mate, those are really good shots. The models are sharp as a tack, not overly easy when they are walking towards you in dull light (i imagine).

Is the blurring at the base of some of the images a 'frame' from PPing, or OOF objects between you and the models?

What lens/body you using? Was there an opportunity to get more full length shots?

Well done, post more if you got em!

[Alpha_7]

Nice work Chi, definitely proving the worth of the 85/1.4 it's nice a sharp. As has been said above this is a slick presentation or some great girls and interesting fashion.

[wendellt]

chi I like the china doll one and the 3rd, even with the black fringe at the bottom, the black fringe may have been because i was in front of you.

Those 2 are worthy for Cream submission

Nice work on the 85 f1.4 it is definitely sharper than the 70-200 at lower apertures. Next time i'm using that lens and you can use the 70-200

thanks for your assistance at FBI ,UTS and MSU without your assistance I wouldn't be able to get everything myself.

that is a horrible shot of me, next time ask me to smile and work for the camera

[gooseberry]

Some nice shots there onyx. Although the dark shadow at the bottom in some of the pics are a little distracting. Also, did the lighting vary so much that you had to use ISO from 200 to 1400 ? or did you stop down the lens ? For the 85/1.4, probably don't need to stop down past f/2.8 - f/3.5 unless you really need deeper DOF.

[Onyx]

Thanks for the comments guys. Suggestions for potential improvements are most welcome.

The black fade line at the bottom was not added in PP. It was due to the spotlights used at the venue. They only lit that far down the model vertically, hence you'll see a sharp cut-off to black where the lighting ends. If I had used flash it may have overcome this.

I didn't use flash - I gave up on it after the first half dozen shots (struggling with exposure issues), so I shot in available light (and contended with colour cast issues, fixed with a great deal of pain and time consumption in PP). Which would explain the widely varying ISOs used.

And I stopped down the lens perhaps more than I should have cos at the time I thought I was getting OOF/DOF/focsuing issues (I wasn't, upon review on PC it was subject movement - damn hard to tell the diff on a 1.8" LCD), so I stopped down to maximise depth of field and to disguise focusing shortfalls...

Many lessons learnt, unfortunately even the immediacy of feedback on a DSLR was insufficient to apply during the shoot - I'll have to wait for a "next time" to apply what I learned on this occasion.

That 85/1.4 is damn sharp! Heavily cropped images still showed tack sharp details finely resolved - no need for USM or PP sharpening.

[rokkstar]

Chi,

I think these images are spot on mate. The black fade at the bottom looks cool. They are all well exposed and could easily be seen in some glossy mag.
They only criticism would be that the model in the last shot looks a little......well......doesn't look as pretty as the rest, but whatever flicks your switch

[mudder]

I thought I'd opened up a fashion mag... To me these look like any magazine shot, you've got some beautiful lighting and exposures there... Very nicely done...

[blacknstormy]

Chi - what wonderful photos - but tell me why that poor girl has a tea cosy on her head???? LOL
Rel

[wendellt]

chi mate your doing well

my shots are overexposed and lack mood, the girl on the left looks dead too
yours is timed better
well done again!

[wendellt]

here is the rest

lots of whacky outfits i like the first set of outfits presented here
but fashion is about what sells so the more conventional menswear collection won on the night

http://www.zeduce.org/images/fashion/MSU06/01.htm

[Onyx]

It's interesting (at least to me) Wendell that you publish your images in pairs, not individually. Why is that?

What surprised me was the absence of focus errors/struggles with the D70 in AF-C mode, given the low light conditions. Despite everyone else using twice or three times more expensive and capable bodies on the night, I didn't feel I was handicapped by the D70 at all (small viewfinder my only ongoing complaint). I definitely need to sort out my flash deficiencies however, as I realise full length shots would have been prefered over these legless ones.

Wendell, were you using flash for your published shots?

[wendellt]

Chi

Pairs or triplets, less time for editors to scroll through lots of images
sometimes a set of 2 or 3 images can show a sequence too
the editors are very busy people, you have to show them the absolute creme of the crop and as much images in one go before they just go 'next please'

legless shots still get published, editors consider them half body shots which is fine, even though the fashion from head to toe counts.

I started using flash at the the start just to fill in the eyes but the shot looked standard and boring, to get those sexy shots you need contrast and flash kills the contrast from the expensive lighting setup
even flash at the lowest setting fills the model in a bad way that they look flat and boring, one way to use flash effectively is to bounce it so i always have mine at a 45 degree angle facing up that way some flash gets the models head(eyes) the rest disperses onto the unreflective ceiling, it works well on ocassion.

regardign focus issues in low light, it does happen many times even on the D2X as i missed the most important dress of the night becuase of a focus issue, to help you use single servo mode, C auto focus mode in low light sometimes takes too long to make up it's mind.