#cycle3week7

I just feel the need to mention a detail that is bugging the hell out me, but everytime I look at this picture, I mistake her lip for her finger, and that’s quite disturbing, I’ve never seen anyone picking it out out there, so I wonder if I’m alone to see that (?)

If Yaya didn’t insult a hat this would have (and SHOULD HAVE ANYWAY) earned her a FCO from the panel. This shot looks like it be a real ad campaign for the diamonds. She really knows what to do with her hands in beauty shots: the placement is super creative and elegant and is putting both the product and the tarantula on full display. Her eyes look so sultry and I am loving the parted lips. This is Yaya’s best shot in her portfolio and one of the best of the cycle.

Eva was clearly terrified of the tarantula, but unlike Norelle, she’s using that fear to her advantage. She’s fully engaged with the camera and her fear has brought out an innocence in her eyes that works well. The angle she’s chosen is flattering her face well. I like how the placement of her hand is mirroring what the spider is doing, and she’s letting the diamonds come to the attention of the viewer. I have to commend Eva for overcoming her fear enough to pull out a stellar photograph.

I wish Nicole had pushed a little more with her eyes, because it’s difficult for me to tell exactly where she’s looking. Putting that aside, this shot is really strong. I like the fingernail pulling on the lip and she’s modeling the rings well. Nicole looks like she doesn’t even care about the spider, and she’s almost modeling it like a giant earring which actually works. I can sort of see what the judges said about this looking like an album cover, but it’s a memorable photo nonetheless.

While this isn’t the most out-of-this-world picture of Amanda, I still quite like it. I love her little smirk, but I wish that smile had come out a little more in her eyes. I actually like her hand on her face, because it connects the diamonds, her eyes, and the spider all together. Finally, she’s caught the light better than anyone else has so far.

This picture of Norelle is pretty decent, but there are definitely flaws. The eyes are connected better than the shots ranked lower, but all I see in Norelle’s face is her concentrating on hiding her fear of the tarantula. The saving grace is that I love her hand placement; she’s modeling those diamonds fantastically and she lucked out with the spider’s position on her face.

Technically this shot of Ann is doing its job: the diamonds are prominent and the spider is still an important part of the photo. But her face just isn’t working here. Her mouth is too tight and her eyes betray how uncomfortable she was during the shoot. This photo doesn’t show how beautiful she really is either. This photo was stronger than Toccara’s but Ann’s body of work was slightly weaker so it was really a toss-up as to who should’ve gone home this week.

This is the worst shot of the week by a significant margin, and it pains me to say so since it’s coming from Toccara. Her eyes are so unfocused and sleepy, and she’s modeling the spider more than the diamonds. Plus, the spider is dominating her face, which is a major misstep on a beauty shoot. Toccara’s portfolio was pretty great, but her overall trajectory was downward and she would’ve struggled even more in Japan so I guess i understand her elimination. It just sucked to see her lose so much confidence in her final couple weeks on the show.