[manno]

One of my few ventures into glamour / nude photography . Can you believe this woman was 50 , this was one of the things she had always wanted to do but never had the courage before .

Any thoughts ?

[Dabhand16]

I think without her face being visible, it is almost abstract. My initial thought was that it is a bit soft, and without the eyes there is no focal point. Her hair is cutting her arms off too. Would a portrait orientation suit the style of shot better?

I like the lighting and warm tones, but dislike the pose.

[manno]

The pose was to accentuate her most prized assets for a woman her age which she was and should be truly proud of .

I did soften the image as a lot of work had to be done in photoshop because of her age .

I do have a lot of images of her showing her face but its not what she wanted .

Its mainly the lighting i went for .

[fionaB]

I dont mind the pose......... i can see what you are aiming for. My quibble is the large amount of black space on the left so i do agree that a portrait format would perhaps have been better. I like the softness and the lighting and can imagine that yes she would be pleased with this!

Fi

[manno]

Thank you .

[Markulous]

Pose works for me - more a nude than naked.

Like the use of negative space but think I'd prefer her looking into it rather than turning away from it (tho' minor point)

[j sotelo]

I also like the lighting and the tones, but, what if she was facing a little more towards the camera and used the shadow to hide some of her face , I think that would haved worked very good

[sawdust]

I think this is a cracking shot agree would like to see less space on the left but love the lighting and the soft focus.

[Rob Barron]

Much the same as the above have already mentioned. The space on the left is definitely a distraction and adds to the darkness of the overall image. If I might be frank, because of how dark the face/hair is, the black waistcoat type thing she is wearing and so forth, there really only is one part of the image that stands out (no pun intended there I promise!) so this is a picture of a pair of boobs plus her arms.

If this picture is entirely for her to own then I am sure she will be delighted with it as it portrays exactly what she wants, her boobs. But if I am critiquing this on the basis of it being an artistic semi-nude study then I am looking at it differently. As a dispassionate viewer, entirely disconnected from the subject model, it doesn't matter how old or young she is, it is simply a photographic study and then it is less appealling but that is at the point where it is mostly down to personal taste and this isn't really to mine. But then I am just one pair of eyes and others will view it differently.

I think if I am being truthful, being told 'this is a 50 year old lady who has a decent set of assets' is doing her a disservice. Is this simply an image that is designed to say 'Not a bad pair of knockers for 50, eh?' or is it something more? I am not trying to be at all harsh, I am only wanting to highlight that pictures are presented in different ways and for different reasons. I frankly couldn't care less whether a 50 year old woman I have never met has got decent boobs but I COULD care whether what I am looking at is a carefully presented artistic study of the female form so for me the image stands or falls on its presentation alone.

Certainly as a semi-nude image, I feel this would be stronger if it had most or all of the left hand side cropped off.
Cheers,
Rob

[manno]

Rob , i totally understand where you are coming from , but this wasn`t a session of a woman who wanted to just get her boobs out , it was about a woman who has eventually found herself after 50 years and is now happy enough in her skin to be able to do this , hence the mentioning of her age .

But thats why we are here to be critiqued , if we`re not told where we go wrong we can`t improve .

Thanks

[Gary Bagshawe]

I love this shot, its a total cracker in my opinion, if I had to quibble I would say have her facing the camera a tiny bit more, not too much but just enough to see a little bit more of her face.

[skipper954]

Hi Manno

I am looking at this image, and haven't seen any other comments. So forgive me if I repeat, and if I say something new...cool.

First, for 50, she is looking good. On the other hand, at 50, she needs soft focus and lighting, and you did this quite well. The lighting and shadows are well done.

There are several things I might have done if I could.

First, there is too much empty space on the left. So, I would crop tightly near her right arm. That way there is no lost space and she is still a bit off center.

In this image, one gets no feeling about a person, just a body. So, I would have backlit her hair, to just give a hint of a person there.

However, all that not withstanding, this is a neat image, and I applaud you.

skip

[Charlotte]

This is a really good shot, manno, well done
Love the lighting, soft focus, tones + shadows.

Couple of suggestions, tho' ................
I agree that the pic doesn't say much apart from "here are my boobs". I also agree that the space on the LHS is not necessary, + a tighter, more even crop would be in order here.

The pose is good, except that she's not actually looking at anything ... she's just sort of smelling her armpit. I think that's where the pic loses its purpose of being. If she were looking at something outside of the frame, e.g. looking straight up, then you could still avoid showing her face, but the pose would, I think, hold more interest. Or, with the current pose, if her eyes were pointing toward the crook of her arm at the elbow, this would give the pose a little more shape, I think.

OK, so the pose isn't perfect, but technically you've done a good job here

Oh, + yes, her boobs are in great shape for age 50