Need immediate feedback on this ad photo. This is an ad for a perfume. The company was looking for a sexy moment between a couple. Please be brutally honest as usual and let me know what shoul be changed. The blurred area is the Logo (I am not allowed to show it yet) But please let me have it as usual, all of you are a big help, thanks. Click here to view Photo
I don't care for her expression...she looks like she is wondering why she is there.
I'd reshoot.
Black and white generally doesn't do good for advertisements unless it has a lot of contrast - this seems rather flat and muddy. The sharpness also seems lacking.
I was basically going to say the same thing as Kevin re: her expression and the lighting/contrast.
The scene seems to be trying to sell romance, but her expression is more like "are we done yet?" My guess would be an amateur model who doesn't really know how to act out the scene.
The image also calls for a lot more contrast. There's a lot of grey in this shot, and I honestly think it is over lit. Let some shadow creep in, set some mood.
Hope you don't mind, but since you asked for advice I took the liberty...
Quick and dirty contrast/levels adjustments and masked off her face to get some detail back. Her shirt is blown and looks like a white blob. No detail to recover there. I think you probably metered her skin and the shirt got lost in it. Maybe drop the light by a stop or so...
Edit: Oh yeah, and cropped out the bit of lamp shade from the left side. :)
I pretty much get the same feeling as most everyone else.
It's not natural feeling to me. She doesn't not look relaxed and natural. Head up, tilted back a bit, a hint of a smile at least, a bit more contrast to pop it a bit more. She needs to display at least a hint of being interested without an OMG look.
Subtle body language speaks LOUD, especially in advertising. It has to hit a subconsious part of the viewer and shouldn't need to be studied to understand what is going on.
Think you posted some of these before. I hate to say it, but I agree that this model is killing the ad. Not sexy, never has an intresting expression (certainly not come-hither or anything romantic looking), etc.
I also agree with KevinG about her expression and the contrast. I dont feel its a bad picture it just doesnt really do anything for me.
Perhaps her expression is fitting for what it will represent but her facial expression doesnt seem to fit the mood or situation of the image itself.
As a viewer, She seems almost angry at being distracted from her "friend" or even uninterested in her "friend" since you as the viewer have so much of her attention. I guess seeing a couple cuddling I would expect a little more passion or playfullness in her facial expression depending on what you were shooting for. Perhaps an ever so slight smile of pleasure and just a glance toward the camera as if her attention is fully on her partner and she is only sparing you a glance.
Too flat, especially in her face, unnecesary objects in the photo (half cut off chair and table in the background on right, and something or other on the left). Addittionaly I think i would of had the model lift her right leg, not her left. This image is supposed to sensual, but she looks a little too exposed.., which makes the image go from sensual, to not so sensual.
OK..this is really, really, really fast (did I mention it was really fast?) Done in 10 minutes.
The crop needs to change, you need to simpify the background, you need to contrast it up (which I did with a glow and gaussian blur and a selective mask)
The good news...I think you can do all this in photoshop without having to reshoot.
I would like more interest in the female models face but I am supposing you do not have the luxury of a reshoot. I also touched up her face to remove that slight imperfection on her right cheek.
Spend 2 hours on this in photoshop instead of my 10 minutes and you have an ad.
I did the shape of the ad in billboard. It works in A4 or whatever.
Probably too late to re-shoot, but I wouldn't have had the model looking directly into the camera...she has the "OMG my husband is home look" on her face. A more seductive head position/expression would probably fit the "Passion" logo a bit better. Good luck.
Yeh I agree with what has been said about the woman. Think it would be better if her head was leaning back in a sort of passionate moment and not turned to look at the camera.
