Formals for a wedding portfolio

[lordarka]

I felt like these were more portrait than wedding, so I wanted to post them here for some feedback. These are mock bridals with my girlfriend's sister in her engagement sari that we shot this weekend. We are trying to sell the idea of studio formals to Indian brides, and I wonder how these images might fare as enticement for a potential client.





I always get great critique here, so I would love to hear what you all think of these images, both artistically, and in terms of their commercial viability.

Arka C.

[J Holmes]

Please do not take this the wrong way, as I am not as familiar with your culture as I may need to be. I am not sure if the jewelry in her nostril is something that has an deep meaningful purpose but to me it is very distracting. Not that all nose jewels are, but this on is a little overwhelming. It may just be that I am not accustomed to seeing something this size, but that is MHO. For example, I find the headpiece that she is wearing quite beautiful but the nose piece keeps pulling me away from it. I like the setup of both shots especially the DOF in the first, although it does highlight the nose jewelry. Maybe a little more exposure comp in the first.

Overall very nice and a nice model. Are these types of photos not common with Indian brides?

[lordarka]

Originally Posted by Jeff

Please do not take this the wrong way, as I am not as familiar with your culture as I may need to be.* I am not sure if the jewelry in her nostril is something that has an deep meaningful purpose but to me it is very distracting.* Not that all nose jewels are, but this on is a little overwhelming.* It may just be that I am not accustomed to seeing something this size, but that is MHO.* For example, I find the headpiece that she is wearing quite beautiful but the nose piece keeps pulling me away from it.* I like the setup of both shots especially the DOF in the first, although it does highlight the nose jewelry.* Maybe a little more exposure comp in the first.

Overall very nice and a nice model.* Are these types of photos not common with Indian brides?

Jeff, thanks for your candor. The nose jewelery is something that I am not a huge fan of either, but they are quite common among Hindu brides, and among Indian classical dancers. This model happens to be both, and she is shown here wearing her reception or engagement attire... there is typically an engagement ceremony that precedes the wedding by several months, and that ceremony can be almost as complex as some of the wedding rituals. I don't think that noserings are obligate to South Asian formal rituals, but a great majority of traditionally married women elect to wear one, so we have represented it here.

Interestingly, this particular model is not all that traditional in worldview, even though she was born in India. She has a deep respect for the heritage though, and I think all of the jewelery is part of that. Given that a lot of Indian brides maintain the noserings of various sizes, we decided to incorporate it into the pictures. We are trying to target a specific market with these images, and to that market, I don't think the nosering would be distracting.. it might actually be quite the opposite, with many wondering why this particular bride was not wearing one if we left it out.

Thanks again!

Arka C.

[J Holmes]

Arka,
Thanks for the quick lesson. Taking all inro consideration I would see the jewlery being wuite acceptable, specifically when looking to entice prospectve clients, makes sense and I wish you all the luck in the endevour. There is nothing like making a living doing what you love.

[bevilaquafoto]

Just throwing in my 2 cents. I love the first one. I am a big fan of shallow depth of field. I did not like the last one so much. Also, the color balance on both images is quite cool. Warming it up either in Photoshop, or when shooting would help out the images. A warmer skin tone is more pleasing in general. Keep shooting. Love the angle, and the overall feel of the first image. Beautiful eyes!