#auscycle5week4

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1 – Madison

This is another one of those photos that feels better than the brief deserves, Madison took an incredibly commercial shoot, and gave a vibrant, energetic, youthful, but also expensive fashion shot that I could see in any fashion magazine. It is effortless perfection. Madison transforms in photographs, she always seemed like she had such a clear niche, yet managed to destroy this which seems so outside that niche. The body is so relaxed, she looks so tall here too, and the clothes look incredible. The beauty shit is perfection, she maybe lost a little bit of neck but I don’t think it harms the phot that much. The most important thing is the energy and confidence she just exudes, it is the first thing that hits you when you look at this photo, and for this client that is the key thing here. She nailed what she was asked, and still gave a shot that could do so much more.

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2 – Clare

Clare continues to be our consistent contestant, producing brilliant on brief photos that make her look great. The casual smirk and side-eye works perfectly, and I think with the styling and pose she feels like a great image to represent the product. It’s fresh, youthful and feminine. The pose is natural, she looks great, the expression is strong. This would read in any situation, and feels like a pretty perfect ad for the brand, and I think either it or my top spot should’ve been the clear contenders for the ad.

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3 – Mikarla

This is an absolutely breath-taking photo of Mikarla, and again I really was surprised to see her go, even more so than Eloise. I don’t think Mikarla was a better model, but she was a source of drama, so cutting her this early was a shock. It definitely was not deserved either, this photo feels light and soft. Despite not feeling over the top, Mikarla feels confident. Her face has photographed incredible here, perfect angle for the lighting, and I love the vibrant red looks on her pale skin. The walk is also the strongest of the girls in the maxi dresses, she feels tall and it would sell the dress perfectly. The only thing knocking it down from second is that the other shot works a bit better for the brand, but I prefer this as a shot.

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4 – Eloise

I was really sad to see Eloise go this week, she had one of my favourite looks this cycle, I thought she had produced some really solid shots, this one included, and had so much more potential to grow. This is almost a great shot, but the expression feels too mild. I think her face looks gorgeous here, and her body is incredible in that dress, her legs look great, and the walk is again perfect. If we had more life in the eyes, to really sell that confidence, youthful vibrance, then this would be an easy top 2 for me.

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5 – Laura M.

This is a good enough photo, Laura nailed the natural walk aspect, and looks great. I think the confidence is also solid, it borders a bit on smug and cocky, and the angle of her head is a bit low. This photo was definitely middle of the pack this week, but Laura really for me just doesn’t fully stand out as a model, and when the shots were this close, I would really have considered her going in the second spot.

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6 – Franky

I was a bit shocked to see this selected to be an ad, but I do think Franky matched the brief pretty well. The issue being I don’t really see a model. It feels like the shot you’d get of a celebrity, rather than a model. The stride is exuberant, and I think she has avoided the issue others faced with the long dress. But she has some issues, I think there is a slight issue with her eyes, they seem to be slightly squint. It probably wouldn’t read that badly given how wide the shot is, but it could be better. The other issue is how limp her left arm feels, it looks like it has no bone to be honest, flailing there at the back. And the last one is the lack of neck. Dropping her front shoulder down would have helped. It is another flawed shot, but I think minor tweaks could make it a brilliant photo.

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7 – Tahnee

This is kind of the opposite of Adele’s shot, I think the body looks pretty great, but the expression and energy of the shot just isn’t what I want. Like I said with Adele, I think the shorter dresses help the stepping movement not do awkward things for the body. Here I think Tahnee’s pose is natural, the clothes look good, as does she. Facially though I see a lack of confidence, her face looks beautiful though, and maybe this could work for some other brand. Maybe a perfume ad or something, but for the client it feels a bit off.

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8 – Adele

I like the energy Adele is emitting, it is exactly what the brief asked for, but I just find the body to be really awkward. The way the dress hides her body just throws off her proportions, her arm looks abnormally long here. The styling here is hurting her, pretty much all the girls with maxi dresses rather than short ones have this same issue, so I think if she had different styling, I might have this much higher. I have the next four shots really close though, there is so little between them for me this week. I might have eliminated Adele for this, her portfolio and potential don’t seem like massive reasons to deviate from the quality of the photos, but given how close the shots are, and how much they shift, I could really see myself having any of Tahnee, Adele, Franky or Laura M. as the other choice this week. All sort of sit pretty close.