The Idol Blog Pic Appreciation/Criticism Thread

[AurA]

I set this thread up because the H!P spam thread is not exactly the place to just post pictures of our favorite idols. I want to use this thread as a place to post pictures from the girl's blogs and explain why they are good or bad, and discuss what makes a good photo.



I'll start with a brief description of some of the terms I may use to describe photos.



Exposure: Over exposed=too bright, under exposed=Too dark. Pretty basic.

Rule of Thirds: As explained in this wiki the rule of thirds describes the composition of a shot. It is supposed to explain how the brain naturally analyses what it sees. However the rule is not absolute, and is more of a general guideline.

Composition: How the subject(s) is/are framed. Most blog photos are self shot portraits, so composition will mostly refer to how the girl is framed with the background.

Depth of Field (DOF): describes the focal plane, or basically how much of the frame is in focus. Cells phones used in 99% of blog pictures now-adays have a very large DOF so it will likely not be used much in this thread as almost everything is in focus.

White Balance: In short white balance controls how natural the colors look given a certain type of lighting. Because the cell phones used for most of these shots have no control for WB this will not be used often.

Distortion: How the camera and lens affect the shape of the subject. Usually this will be used to describe how a face looks given a certain perspective.

Perspective: How the position of the camera affects the look of the shot.

Bokeh: Is the quality of the background. Usually it's used to describes portraits where the face is in focus and the background is blurred. But a blurred background is not necessary to have good bokeh.

[AurA]

Terrible Blog Self Shots: Tanaka Reina



Let's start with one of Tanaka's recent pictures





First off it's over exposed making her skin look completely white and removing much of the face details. The framing is terrible and off balance, and the perspective is skewed such that her forehead looks much too large.



It looks like she uses the camera's flash which removes a lot of the natural shadows that would result from an over head light source, It makes the face look slightly off.





The worst part about Tanaka's pictures is that almost ALL of her self shot's look similar to this, such a tragedy.

[AurA]

Great Blog Photos: Yajima Maimi





Not all of her photos are this good, but Yajima is pretty consistant with taking good self shots. It looks like the actually puts some thought into how the lighting and background looks. I like the use of an over exposed background to compensate for not being able to blur the background with a cell phone lens.

[AurA]

Usually the best Blogs pics are not self shots Kusumi Koharu











These are old pics from 2010, the composition with the flowers is nice, and the expressions are lovely.



Plus I am really just a sucker for this hairstyle, I find it really cute

[AurA]

Great Blog Photos: Sayumi Michishige







She often uses a similar technique as Reina with close zoom, skewed perceptive and over exposure, but can pull it off without ruining the photo. If Reina could tone down the use of this her pictures would greatly improve.



The color balance in the second picture is off quite a bit, but I can't blame her because it's the camera's fault. Although she could have tried with whiter light I suppose.



Sayumi is also great at taking photo's of other people. She often captures interesting moments that most would simply enjoy without thinking about recording.

[AurA]

Here's that same picture with the balance a little more natural

[AurA]

Picture Appreciation Ikuta Erina



I love this picture. The way the lighting reflects off their eyes is really alluring. I changed up the colors slightly. Reduced the green tones and tried to make the skin color more natural



Link to the original image

[Shoujo Q]

I remember a year or two back, Reina and Sayumi were on a television show where they showed techniques for taking self shots with a cellphone camera. If I remember correctly, the upward shot was used to make them appear more thin? Or was that the peace sign over the chin? I can't remember. :<



Anyway, that was before the big iPhone craze took over.



Keep doing this Aura, it's all very interesting. I approve of this thread.

[AurA]

Here's the video you're talking about The subs are in Spanish though.

[Shoujo Q]

Thanks! :D That was it.

[Enmiz]

I bet they over expose their blog photos since pale skin seems to be really desirable in the idol world.

[tsukinobyouin]

^ Also when you over expose it wipes out any blemishes, dark circles, redness, etc.



Since the video is Spanish subbed, here are their tips:



Tip 1: The color of your outfit changes how you look in your picture. Black clothes make your face look darker, light colors make your face look brighter. BUT don't wear white because then you look washed out.



Tip 2: Face framing. Pull your hair out from behind your ears and let it lay around your face, it makes your face look smaller. Doing a peace sign under your chin makes your face look sharper (less round).



Tip 3: Take your picture in front of a white wall or by the light of your computer for best lighting.



Tip 4: Hold your camera at a 45 degree angle to get that ultimate myspace angle effect. If you cut the top of your head out of the frame your face looks smaller.



Tip 5: Put tape with your fingerprint on it over the lens to get that fuzzy dream world effect.



I think they still use all of them even in the iPhone era, except maybe the last one since now you can do that with app filters. And Reina still has a non-smartphone anyway xD

[strawberryjam]

[quote name='AurA' timestamp='1363556621' post='147179']

First off it's over exposed making her skin look completely white and removing much of the face details. The framing is terrible and off balance, and the perspective is skewed such that her forehead looks much too large.



It looks like she uses the camera's flash which removes a lot of the natural shadows that would result from an over head light source, It makes the face look slightly off.

[/quote]

You do realize that is all on purpose, right?



It's her SKILL to make her skin look pale, face is small, etc. so she's beautiful <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... smooch.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='=3=' />..

[Ap2000]

[quote name='Shoujo Q' timestamp='1363563885' post='147196']



the upward shot

[/quote]



Also known as myspace angle. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... lesson.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lesson:' />

Too many (comparison) pictures to post, so I'm just going to link to google. haha

https://www.google.at/search?q=myspace% ... 4gTD_oDwDw



EDIT: Too late, TnB was faster.

[Anderei]

9th gen are big believers of the myspace angle.

[cadmonkey]

[quote name='Anderei' timestamp='1363572786' post='147217']

9th gen are big believers of the myspace angle.

[/quote]



Especially Erina. She's my favorite member, but a lot of her blog pictures really annoy me.

[AurA]

[quote name='strawberryjam' timestamp='1363571694' post='147210']

[quote name='AurA' timestamp='1363556621' post='147179']

First off it's over exposed making her skin look completely white and removing much of the face details. The framing is terrible and off balance, and the perspective is skewed such that her forehead looks much too large.



It looks like she uses the camera's flash which removes a lot of the natural shadows that would result from an over head light source, It makes the face look slightly off.

[/quote]

You do realize that is all on purpose, right?



It's her SKILL to make her skin look pale, face is small, etc. so she's beautiful <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... smooch.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='=3=' />..

[/quote]

Yes I know it's done on purpose, and she's beautiful obviously. But it's still a terrible picture.

[aine]

I'm not sure if there's much point to holding blog self-snapshots, typically taken with greasy crap smartphone cameras, to any kind of technical or artistic quality standards. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' /> It's not like they have any clue about any of those things, or even technical possibility to control most of them with their "cameras. I did lol at that video when I saw it first though. Congrats, Sayu, you just invented a soft focus filter.



Well, I suppose it could be amusing enough in some way, similar to converting your height to parsecs. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... tongue.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



On the other hand, I could rant about some really technically poor photobook photos which should have never ended up in a professional publication they ask you to spend your hard-earned money on. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... smooch.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='=3=' />

[AurA]

The important thing to note is that you don't need to know anything technical to take a good photo. I doubt any of them are running around worrying about exposure, composition or the rule of thirds. But they do try to take pictures that look good, and sometimes they pull it off. You can just intuitively know what makes a good photo by looking at it.

[showraniy]

[quote name='aine' timestamp='1363606090' post='147245']

On the other hand, I could rant about some really technically poor photobook photos which should have never ended up in a professional publication they ask you to spend your hard-earned money on. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... smooch.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='=3=' />

[/quote]



I'd read it. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... lesson.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lesson:' />



Tbh, self-shots are something I still haven't mastered, and I only started recently doing them to chronicle the day's ~makeup stylingu~. So I take interest in whatever strange ways girls try to make things look better. Except for the 45 degree angle because it needs to burn in the hottest depths of Hell, it's so obnoxious and ugly.



So hey, anyone who knows anything about lighting, cameras, etc. has my attention.

[AurA]

Award for egregious use of color altering filter: Yurina Kumai

I kind of like this filter. It's neat how it shows the camera data on that bar at the top. What's not neat is the blaring yellow color.



I tried re-balancing the colors and ended up with a lot of spots with a bright magenta color, which I edited out for the most part. I also sharpened the picture.







The picture itself is fine and the expressions are nice. I also like how she did not tilt the camera sideways as she often does



EDIT: after looking at it a bit more and doing some quick research I have concluded that the filter does not show actual camera data. It seemed odd to me at first because of the 1/15th shutter speed. She would basically need a tripod to get that shot (especially difficult while holding a phone with no stabilization) and the picture should be darker with the exposure comp and iso like that. Also most cell cameras used a fixed aperture. It's a shame because it would not be too much work to make a filter that does show that data.

[Melon]

Totally grabbed the Sayu one for my cell wallpaper~

[Ap2000]

[quote name='AurA' timestamp='1363636249' post='147297']

Award for egregious use of color altering filter: Yurina Kumai

I kind of like this filter. It's neat how it shows the camera data on that bar at the top. What's not neat is the blaring yellow color.



I tried re-balancing the colors and ended up with a lot of spots with a bright magenta color, which I edited out for the most part. I also sharpened the picture.



http://i.imgur.com/xYgNMRx.jpg



The picture itself is fine and the expressions are nice. I also like how she did not tilt the camera sideways as she often does

[/quote]



The right one is the original one, right ?



Yurina looks great and classy in that pic. Miyabi is completely out of place.

[AurA]

Yes, the right is the original picture, left is edited.

[rob]

Yurina could EASILY walk into any modeling job she wanted to after Berryz finishes.... and I think she turns 20 this year!

[AurA]

A blog photo with a hint of creative spark Sugaya Risako





Good show Risako This is from a little while ago, but it's the first I've seen of it. It's not spot on perfect, there's some overlap and such. But still nice to see more than the usual self shot. Risako generally posts OK pictures most are pretty normal and boring, and I'm not a fan of the pouty lips expression.

The photo gives a slightly uneasy feeling, and the color balance works well with that feeling.







Another one that stands out to me is this recent photo



As I said already I don't care much for the expression but it's more subtle in this photo. The background gives something to look at more than the usual blank backdrop. The dress is pretty nice to, I think it works with the background.

[Ap2000]

The stones on that necklace look extremely cheap.

[rallyleo]

You guys...







Poor Zukki... <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... pyeyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':puppyeyes:' />

[yuzuriha]

Risako takes the best blog photos. I use some of the same apps she does now.





I AM NOT BIASED.

[AurA]

So Close! Niigaki Risa

I don't know who keeps telling people that looking like a duck, or a catfish is a good look. But a simple smile would have made this a pretty nice image, maybe drop the highlights and sharpen the eyes as well for good measure. Niigaki takes a lot of photos like this.





Niigaki has been in show business for a long, long time. It's safe to assume she knows a thing or two about photo shoots, and what expressions work. But you wouldn't know it by looking at her blog. I doubt any photographer ever suggested the duck or fish face.



And of course most are overexposed for that soft skin look, and with a tinge of yellow (probably because of the lights)





Moving on,



Framing and using the rule of thirds



So we got this picture. It's alright. Pretty girl, fairly interesting pose, nice style. But it's a little boring, the subject is right dead center in the middle of the frame. You could make precision measurements based on how perfectly centered she is.



So what if I did this;



Put her off to the side a little while keeping a few key elements. I wanted to keep the full head, the end of the skirt, and the right hand all in frame. You can see that her face is not perfectly centered on the guideline, but there's not reason it should be. The "rule" of thirds should be just a guide, something to keep in the back of your mind while working.





And here's something more finished, with the colors re-balanced to reduce the yellow glow.





There. Less boring. You're not going to write a novel about how interesting that background is, but It's still an improvement.