A first attempt at something arty

On 01/01/2021 13:02, Savageduck wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 10:39, Alfred Molon wrote:
Do you want to continue doing self-portraits or try shooting
other people? In the latter case it's more easy to get
interesting results.

Oh, gee. Thanks. (**** off.)

If you are looking for constructive criticism, and useful advice there is little point in being oversensitive when that criticism, and advice is delivered sincerely.

My primary observation through this entire thread is that you are trying to express yourself artistically with limited training, and tools. My personal advice to you is to do some reading, or even a look through YouTube tutorial videos on the subject. From the image you posted I believe the photography genre you are trying to work in is “boudoir photography� so I would search for help in that area.

You are also limiting yourself with a phone camera. Some are quite capable of producing good, sometimes great images, but most will have a tough time reaching demanding expectations. Get yourself a more capable camera, or an iPhone 12.

I've already done loads of reading and stuff over the years, and very
clearly stated this was a first attempt at a particular type of project
and with various constraints. I know what "boudoir" photography is but
not keen on pigeonholing things or getting sucked into cliches and am
practicing the range of skills to learn from mistakes and discover what
I like and don't like whether it is applied to this or anything else. I
already knew 90% of the faults before I uploaded it. Maybe I'm fed up
reading stuff and watching Youtubes and am actually DOING something.
People would be complaining the other way if I wasn't. The results also
won't magically get better with more "gear". I already have a Canon G9
and *chose* not to use it for the reasons I stated plus I want to know
what I can do with my smartphone and how it responds.

There's pictures I want to take but that involves spending money on
wardrobe and jewellery, or mixing and matching to find combinations from
what I have which work for the concept and scene, and not just indoors
but going out and scouting locations and getting to know the right light
and developing confidence so I don't feel like an utter dork posing on
my own in a public space or having someone run off with my camera. I
also have to know my position and angles sometimes to the inch and not
just do it once but repeat it with only a small change between shots on
my own without a photographer directing the shot while chimping. Plus
possible wardrobe changes on site or freezing solid because stockings
aren't as warm as leggings. Plus makeup techniques. Some things work on
me and some things don't. Some things look okay for one situation but
not another. All of this takes hours, days, and weeks to discover and
refine.

If you're read the link on Helmut Newton and watched any of the
documentaries on his work you will know it takes time to develop a
methodology and an eye for things and find what works and pull all the
items together. it takes time to develop concepts. It takes time to find
the location. He had been taking photographs since he was a child and in
his own words he said he didn't get good until he hit 50. I had one hour!

I'm not being "oversensitive". I'm pushing back at some dweeb who thinks
he knows my mind and priorities and practicalities better than I do and
who gave the impression he was in the wrong conversation. Plus I don't
see him putting himself out there.

It's a mugs game being in competition with anyone else. I look at
professionally done pictures in the lifestyle sections of the media and
they're good but also contrived and didn't happen by accident. I've also
looked at plenty of pictures by others doing the same work as me. Some
are good. A lot are no better and in some ways technically worse. Some
done by professional photographers are okay but have issues or look a
bit too generic and samey because they all read the same book. That's
the market I'm in. The fact I want to do something better or different
or maybe even meaningful is to please me.

Basically, you have to start somewhere and that is exactly what I did.

--
Melanie van Buren

On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 13:02, Savageduck wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 10:39, Alfred Molon wrote:
Do you want to continue doing self-portraits or try shooting
other people? In the latter case it's more easy to get
interesting results.

Oh, gee. Thanks. (**** off.)

If you are looking for constructive criticism, and useful advice there is little point in being oversensitive when that criticism, and advice is delivered sincerely.

My primary observation through this entire thread is that you are trying to express yourself artistically with limited training, and tools. My personal advice to you is to do some reading, or even a look through YouTube tutorial videos on the subject. From the image you posted I believe the photography genre you are trying to work in is “boudoir photography� so I would search for help in that area.

You are also limiting yourself with a phone camera. Some are quite capable of producing good, sometimes great images, but most will have a tough time reaching demanding expectations. Get yourself a more capable camera, or an iPhone 12.

I've already done loads of reading and stuff over the years, and very
clearly stated this was a first attempt at a particular type of project
and with various constraints. I know what "boudoir" photography is but
not keen on pigeonholing things or getting sucked into cliches and am
practicing the range of skills to learn from mistakes and discover what
I like and don't like whether it is applied to this or anything else. I
already knew 90% of the faults before I uploaded it. Maybe I'm fed up
reading stuff and watching Youtubes and am actually DOING something.
People would be complaining the other way if I wasn't. The results also
won't magically get better with more "gear". I already have a Canon G9
and *chose* not to use it for the reasons I stated plus I want to know
what I can do with my smartphone and how it responds.

Since that is the direction you choose to take you can certainly see what you can do with your smartphone by shooting more of your particular scenarios, whatever they may be. It would also be best that you learn to recognize what makes your work pleasing to your eye without inviting any sort of critique. Mostly if you feel that you are done with learning techniques from those who have trodden the path you are headed down you are less likely to hear what you don’t care to hear if you limit your sharing of images until you are fully satisfied with the image you have produced.

If you have a problem you want to solve then asking for help in the various photography forums will always get you a mix of sincere and useful advice, sometimes good and appropriate, sometimes good, but missing the point, and sometimes missing the point altogether. The Usenet is an open forum, and once you have posted here your post becomes fair game for all.

I would also add that much of what you might be trying to achieve with your smartphone can be done with discrete reframing, cropping, and editing using software of your choice within the limitations of your particular editing software. The two variations of the same shot I have linked to below speak to that.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-q7b6PK3/0/8949912d/4K/i-q7b6PK3-4K.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DMbV8jF/0/a4b0c85f/4K/i-DMbV8jF-4K.jpg

--
Regards,
Savageduck

On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 10:39, Alfred Molon wrote:
Do you want to continue doing self-portraits or try shooting
other people? In the latter case it's more easy to get
interesting results.

Oh, gee. Thanks. (**** off.)

That’s an odd reaction to what I thought was intended as neutral, and
helpful commentary. If you are that sensitive to *perceived* slights, you
should hide your photos, not post them in public forums.

On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 31/12/2020 23:48, Bill W wrote:
On Dec 31, 2020, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 31/12/2020 19:40, Alfred Molon wrote:
In , lid
says...

This picture is nothing special but one of a batch of photos I took to
develop an eye for light and scenery as well as posing for portraits.
For work reasons it's borderline NSFW and I dislike posting anything
more explicit even for work. (No I won't be posting any links or spam or
encouraging discussion related to work only the merits and demerits of
photographs and photographic discussion.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d6x9fzrol1...20-20-49-1.jpg

Did you take this picture and if so, what camera, lens, ISO etc.
did you use?

Bog standard Android smartphone. Nothing special. Bit of a daft question
really when the most important thing is artistic development.

I've been reading up on a couple of notable photographers and one in
particular. It's interesting noting how they kept things simple with
their choice of cameras and lenses and other equipment. Some would say
spartan certainly compared to gearheads. Their skill really was in their
psychological influences and making a thing of various elements of
taking pictures which appealed to them and suited their work habits plus
of course observation and composing scenes and using a notebook to
record their ideas.

I'm never going to take pictures like them because I'm not them but I
like aspects of their work and of course there is the inspiration. Their
commentary on their shooting process and the bits and pieces of of this
are helping me organise how I'm thinking about photography better.

One thing I liked was the idea of found light but then they had their
own favourite lighting both dark and light conditions which dominated
their artistic work. Less so their commercial work.

Picking through some photographs I also felt inspired about poses and
scene building. Some outside shots are nothing special in themselves.
It's all in the light and pose. For other more clever photos indoors
composition and poses are key. The more deliberate work might involve
sourcing an item or shifting furniture or grabbing things from different
rooms to create a scene but it's all still a fairly simple methodology.

I can’t speak for Alfred, and I’m a relative newbie here even after a
couple of years, but what I’ve seen is that most commentary on photos has
tended towards the technical side. I think that would explain his questions.
I’ll just guess that the technical issues with your photo are by choice,
and that is the look you wanted. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body,
but that’s no reason to stop me from commenting on that aspect: I think
your subject (I don’t know if that’s you) does have an interesting look,
and I do like the photo overall. My only criticism is the framing. It just
seems off to me.

Yes I've noticed there is a lot of technical leaning in these groups.
I've already explained the equipment issues, as well as the scene and
light availability, and the artistic intent. Also there's the fact it's
a self portrait (yes, that was me) and the first time I made a serious
attempt at aiming for classic modern and, for want of better words, a
certain kind of magazine or coffee table book you find with the great
postwar to 1990's era photographers who specialised in glamour or fashion.

There's a balance between technical, artistic, and actually getting
something done. At the end of the day you have to start somewhere.
Speaking of which - framing...

I suspect you are correct about framing. This photograph was taken in my
bathroom and I had the problem of finding a composition I liked, dealing
with mislaying my tripod and having to use a selfie stick, the available
light, and dealing with the subject i.e. me. This photo was one of a
batch I thought made the cut. The basic idea was fine but the photos are
variable so composition style and mood and subtexts are a bit all over
the place. During my editing process of the ones which made the cut a
number of them including this one were saved by cropping. I also made
some presentation choices which turned out to be variable too such as
reading glasses not normal glasses, the wrong necklace and earrings, and
some issues with makeup. There are also issues with the pose both from
the narrative aspect to the fact I wasn't using a tripod and the camera
position.

I agree there is something pleasing about the photo. There are a lot of
issues if you unpack it but then this was the first time I tried to put
everything into practice. I've learned a lot. As for how and whether I
can move past this and improve I'll need more practice to know.

Well sure, that’s all you can do, and that is the joy of digital. You can
just fire away without wasting money on film and developing, and you can
non-destructively process photos endlessly. And exploring the history of
photography is a great idea, and finding looks you like is helpful, but
don’t trap yourself into mimickry, unless that is your intention. It has
its place, like any other style, but be aware of what you’re doing. And if
you feel you need to get another camera - or other gear, you will get lots of
valuable advice here, including on used gear.

On 01/01/2021 16:10, Savageduck wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 13:02, Savageduck wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 10:39, Alfred Molon wrote:
Do you want to continue doing self-portraits or try shooting
other people? In the latter case it's more easy to get
interesting results.

Oh, gee. Thanks. (**** off.)

If you are looking for constructive criticism, and useful advice there is little point in being oversensitive when that criticism, and advice is delivered sincerely.

My primary observation through this entire thread is that you are trying to express yourself artistically with limited training, and tools. My personal advice to you is to do some reading, or even a look through YouTube tutorial videos on the subject. From the image you posted I believe the photography genre you are trying to work in is “boudoir photography� so I would search for help in that area.

You are also limiting yourself with a phone camera. Some are quite capable of producing good, sometimes great images, but most will have a tough time reaching demanding expectations. Get yourself a more capable camera, or an iPhone 12.

I've already done loads of reading and stuff over the years, and very
clearly stated this was a first attempt at a particular type of project
and with various constraints. I know what "boudoir" photography is but
not keen on pigeonholing things or getting sucked into cliches and am
practicing the range of skills to learn from mistakes and discover what
I like and don't like whether it is applied to this or anything else. I
already knew 90% of the faults before I uploaded it. Maybe I'm fed up
reading stuff and watching Youtubes and am actually DOING something.
People would be complaining the other way if I wasn't. The results also
won't magically get better with more "gear". I already have a Canon G9
and *chose* not to use it for the reasons I stated plus I want to know
what I can do with my smartphone and how it responds.

Since that is the direction you choose to take you can certainly see what you can do with your smartphone by shooting more of your particular scenarios, whatever they may be. It would also be best that you learn to recognize what makes your work pleasing to your eye without inviting any sort of critique. Mostly if you feel that you are done with learning techniques from those who have trodden the path you are headed down you are less likely to hear what you don’t care to hear if you limit your sharing of images until you are fully satisfied with the image you have produced.

If you have a problem you want to solve then asking for help in the various photography forums will always get you a mix of sincere and useful advice, sometimes good and appropriate, sometimes good, but missing the point, and sometimes missing the point altogether. The Usenet is an open forum, and once you have posted here your post becomes fair game for all.

I would also add that much of what you might be trying to achieve with your smartphone can be done with discrete reframing, cropping, and editing using software of your choice within the limitations of your particular editing software. The two variations of the same shot I have linked to below speak to that.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-q7b6PK3/0/8949912d/4K/i-q7b6PK3-4K.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DMbV8jF/0/a4b0c85f/4K/i-DMbV8jF-4K.jpg


There was only so much which could be said. (Bill pretty much said it
all and was honest.) Sometimes people bring their ego and therapy issues
into the room or like you say it goes over their head or they are
talking at cross purposes. I had a lot of constraints and self-imposed
constraints. Some are stated and some are not.

The pictures you supplied are fair comment but are something else
entirely and not a like for like comparison.

There are pictures I wanted to take but because of constraints I
couldn't. Some of these were the size and arrangement of the room and
quality of available light. Others I didn't want to share. Other reasons
were I was being lazy or I couldn't find the shot so need to develop
more artistic skill. I'm also not 18 like in the picture you supplied so
gimme a break.

The best response to a picture is to produce another picture so to head
of any trolling I'm pulling a Tony and issuing a challenge to anyone who
wants to have a go to produce a self portrait:

1. The portrait must be new and taken after the time of publication of
this post.
2. The person in the portrait must be you.
3. You are allowed to take the portrait in a room no larger than 2mx2m
(or a large cupboard if you do not have a room this size).
4. You are only allowed one light source. The lightsource must be fixed
if available and if not available a portable equivalent lightsource may
be used. The light source must have a fixed brightness equivalent to a
tungsten 100 watt lightbulb or greater.
5. You may assemble your equipment and do your wardrobe and makeup or
stage makeup prior to shooting but are not allowed to buy or borrow any
new equipment or other items to use in this challenge.
6. Portraits may be of any style such as journalistic or lifestyle or
advert or glamour but may not be explicit (so no dick pics guys).
7. From starting you have one hour to take as many pictures as you like
from beginning this challenge but may only submit one.
8. On publication you are allowed to include your own commentary which
may include influences, what you were aiming for, any techniques used,
or if you just want to boast then yes give us a laundry list of your
squeaky clean and unscratched equipment you keep replacing every year to
beat the Jones.
9. You can operate to additional constraints if you choose.

Lets see how many pixel peeping gearhead backseat drivers come up with
something decent.

GO!


--
Melanie van Buren

On 01/01/2021 18:51, Bill W wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 10:39, Alfred Molon wrote:
Do you want to continue doing self-portraits or try shooting
other people? In the latter case it's more easy to get
interesting results.

Oh, gee. Thanks. (**** off.)

That’s an odd reaction to what I thought was intended as neutral, and
helpful commentary. If you are that sensitive to *perceived* slights, you
should hide your photos, not post them in public forums.

He was talking at cross purposes from the start and pretty much ignored
everything I discussed like he was pushing an agenda and because he
hadn't shown much goodwill or flexibility I took his comment as a not so
subtle personal dig. Like, hello? The person in the photo is a human
being too which he forgot. I'm sure he looks wonderful too.


--
Melanie van Buren

On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 18:51, Bill W wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 10:39, Alfred Molon wrote:
Do you want to continue doing self-portraits or try shooting
other people? In the latter case it's more easy to get
interesting results.

Oh, gee. Thanks. (**** off.)

That’s an odd reaction to what I thought was intended as neutral, and
helpful commentary. If you are that sensitive to *perceived* slights, you
should hide your photos, not post them in public forums.

He was talking at cross purposes from the start and pretty much ignored
everything I discussed like he was pushing an agenda and because he
hadn't shown much goodwill or flexibility I took his comment as a not so
subtle personal dig. Like, hello? The person in the photo is a human
being too which he forgot. I'm sure he looks wonderful too.

I didn’t see it that way at all. I thought he was saying that you would get
more interesting results because you have no control over another person, and
complete control over yourself. I didn’t read anything into his comments
about your personal appearance. You are an attractive woman, so your reaction
just seems way too touchy.

On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 16:10, Savageduck wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 13:02, Savageduck wrote:
On Jan 1, 2021, Melanie van Buren wrote
(in article ):

On 01/01/2021 10:39, Alfred Molon wrote:
Do you want to continue doing self-portraits or try shooting
other people? In the latter case it's more easy to get
interesting results.

Oh, gee. Thanks. (**** off.)

If you are looking for constructive criticism, and useful advice there is
little point in being oversensitive when that criticism, and advice is
delivered sincerely.

My primary observation through this entire thread is that you are trying
to express yourself artistically with limited training, and tools. My
personal advice to you is to do some reading, or even a look through
YouTube tutorial videos on the subject. From the image you posted I
believe the photography genre you are trying to work in is “boudoir
photography� so I would search for help in that area.

You are also limiting yourself with a phone camera. Some are quite
capable of producing good, sometimes great images, but most will have a
tough time reaching demanding expectations. Get yourself a more capable
camera, or an iPhone 12.

I've already done loads of reading and stuff over the years, and very
clearly stated this was a first attempt at a particular type of project
and with various constraints. I know what "boudoir" photography is but
not keen on pigeonholing things or getting sucked into cliches and am
practicing the range of skills to learn from mistakes and discover what
I like and don't like whether it is applied to this or anything else. I
already knew 90% of the faults before I uploaded it. Maybe I'm fed up
reading stuff and watching Youtubes and am actually DOING something.
People would be complaining the other way if I wasn't. The results also
won't magically get better with more "gear". I already have a Canon G9
and *chose* not to use it for the reasons I stated plus I want to know
what I can do with my smartphone and how it responds.

Since that is the direction you choose to take you can certainly see what
you can do with your smartphone by shooting more of your particular
scenarios, whatever they may be. It would also be best that you learn to
recognize what makes your work pleasing to your eye without inviting any
sort of critique. Mostly if you feel that you are done with learning
techniques from those who have trodden the path you are headed down you are
less likely to hear what you don’t care to hear if you limit your sharing
of images until you are fully satisfied with the image you have produced.

If you have a problem you want to solve then asking for help in the various
photography forums will always get you a mix of sincere and useful advice,
sometimes good and appropriate, sometimes good, but missing the point, and
sometimes missing the point altogether. The Usenet is an open forum, and
once you have posted here your post becomes fair game for all.

I would also add that much of what you might be trying to achieve with your
smartphone can be done with discrete reframing, cropping, and editing using
software of your choice within the limitations of your particular editing
software. The two variations of the same shot I have linked to below speak
to that.

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-q7b6PK3/0/8949912d/4K/i-q7b6PK3-4K.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-DMbV8jF/0/a4b0c85f/4K/i-DMbV8jF-4K.jpg

There was only so much which could be said. (Bill pretty much said it
all and was honest.) Sometimes people bring their ego and therapy issues
into the room or like you say it goes over their head or they are
talking at cross purposes. I had a lot of constraints and self-imposed
constraints. Some are stated and some are not.

The pictures you supplied are fair comment but are something else
entirely and not a like for like comparison.

There are pictures I wanted to take but because of constraints I
couldn't. Some of these were the size and arrangement of the room and
quality of available light. Others I didn't want to share. Other reasons
were I was being lazy or I couldn't find the shot so need to develop
more artistic skill. I'm also not 18 like in the picture you supplied so
gimme a break.

The best response to a picture is to produce another picture so to head
of any trolling I'm pulling a Tony and issuing a challenge to anyone who
wants to have a go to produce a self portrait:

1. The portrait must be new and taken after the time of publication of
this post.
2. The person in the portrait must be you.
3. You are allowed to take the portrait in a room no larger than 2mx2m
(or a large cupboard if you do not have a room this size).
4. You are only allowed one light source. The lightsource must be fixed
if available and if not available a portable equivalent lightsource may
be used. The light source must have a fixed brightness equivalent to a
tungsten 100 watt lightbulb or greater.
5. You may assemble your equipment and do your wardrobe and makeup or
stage makeup prior to shooting but are not allowed to buy or borrow any
new equipment or other items to use in this challenge.
6. Portraits may be of any style such as journalistic or lifestyle or
advert or glamour but may not be explicit (so no dick pics guys).
7. From starting you have one hour to take as many pictures as you like
from beginning this challenge but may only submit one.
8. On publication you are allowed to include your own commentary which
may include influences, what you were aiming for, any techniques used,
or if you just want to boast then yes give us a laundry list of your
squeaky clean and unscratched equipment you keep replacing every year to
beat the Jones.
9. You can operate to additional constraints if you choose.

Lets see how many pixel peeping gearhead backseat drivers come up with
something decent.

GO!

But you aren’t held to those constraints in the first place. It was a
choice you made. Find your camera, find your tripod - or rig up something
else - find another room and another source of light, or go outside. Again,
that’s the joy of digital - just fire away. You’re acting like people
savaged your photo, but no one did.

On 01/01/2021 19:01, Bill W wrote:

Well sure, that’s all you can do, and that is the joy of digital. You can
just fire away without wasting money on film and developing, and you can
non-destructively process photos endlessly. And exploring the history of
photography is a great idea, and finding looks you like is helpful, but
don’t trap yourself into mimickry, unless that is your intention. It has
its place, like any other style, but be aware of what you’re doing. And if
you feel you need to get another camera - or other gear, you will get lots of
valuable advice here, including on used gear.

I'm not doing mimickry. I'm not Helmut Newton and his isn't the only
influence I have. But, yes. Fair comment. For a lot of shots I can
practice wardrobe design and modelling and see what works before doing a
shoot either at home or on location. Guys are pretty bad with advice in
this area. I don't quite get light at the moment and need more practice
with this too possibly including screens and reflectors. Or maybe I just
need to develop more artistic skill so I can use available light
properly. For self-portraits I also need to find my own comfort zone. As
for the end result a lot of how a photograph is received or perceived
can also depend on context and what kind of images people are expecting
or looking for. How a photograph is put together can alter perception
quite a lot. Some people can produce this magic while the rest of us (me
included) have to work at it.

I'm not currently in the market for new gear. There's stuff I would like
but I have other things on my plate which come first plus I want to get
to my feet more with photography. After developing skill and a better
artistic vision and not tripping over myself with everything else in the
process I might want some new equipment. I wouldn't mind a set of lights
and some backgrounds but it's the middle of a pandemic and I don't have
much money coming in so this has to wait. I have a decent enough
wardrobe but never have enough clothes. Post financial crash a lot of
what I could previously get via Ebay has dried up. I also now cannot get
hold of the makeup artist I wanted to use.

There's plenty of available found locations locally and I could always
rent a hotel room or AirBNB for some things but the pandemic knocks a
lot of this on the head.

My local photography club has a well equipped studio available for a
very agreeable price but, again, more practice needed and pandemic.

I'm slowly getting used to the idea of staging shots. There's a couple I
could try even if it means taking a huge mirror off the wall and lugging
it somewhere else and suchlike. My brain hasn't totally clicked with
this yet but like all things. More practice.

--
Melanie van Buren

On 01/01/2021 19:37, Bill W wrote:

But you aren’t held to those constraints in the first place. It was a
choice you made. Find your camera, find your tripod - or rig up something
else - find another room and another source of light, or go outside. Again,
that’s the joy of digital - just fire away. You’re acting like people
savaged your photo, but no one did.

I pretty much was held to these constraints. I actually had a few more I
stated and some are left unstated. Also like I said it was one picture
out of one photoshoot. I'm also not being held to shifting arbitrary
demands.

I'm not acting like anyone savaged my shots. I'm acting like I'm being
mansplained and taught to suck eggs by people holding me to standards of
professional photographers with unlimited budgets and access to
catalogues of (very expensive) models when this isn't the brief.

Nobody has actually commented on some of the good advice in one on the
links I gave nor added anything substantive. I think using the shower
curtain to soften the light is a neat trick and the first time I tried
this. The light in the bathroom is actually pretty harsh and getting a
good photograph in the available space isn't easy.

The next time I do anything with this space I will likely try something
different. For example there's one picture Helmut Newton took of a model
sitting on a lavatory. I could also try something a bit more like French
New Wave cinema. Maybe something with a very foamy bubble bath like in
one 1980s music video, or a picture while I'm in the shower. Or the
right closeup with a mirror and a stick of lipstick. If I use other
rooms I could make something of the Venetian blinds and a window, or if
I can get the right light a blank wall and an outfit and makeup which
pops a bit more. Sometimes you need a prop like a floor standing
uplighter or a newspaper or magazine to give the picture a focus of some
action and make an interesting pose. A mirror leaning against a wall and
ironic props in frame when properly posed and shot from the right angle
can make for an interesting picture. A tree or park bench on its own can
be very pedestrian but with the right light and wardrobe and pose can
make for a dynamic photograph. Some scenes benefit from having other
people in them as another layer of narrative or shift of focus or
background. Others benefit from overt solitude. A lot may not work
without the right light which depends on the weather and time of day and
my ability to use the light. All of this effects narrative and
engagement and whether there is something deeper in the picture than
just snap although, yes, a snap whether accidental or by design can have
merit. I can't do all this in one go so it has to wait until I have the
energy and inclination. For anything more racy it's also a bit cold to
wear fishnets and get my tits out even if I had a fur coat, and
multistory car parks and fascinating sidestreets after dark can have
their unwelcome surprises.

--
Melanie van Buren