Eorzea's Next Top Model Cycle 4 - FINAL ROUND!

[KaiKatzchen]

Good Luck To All Three Of You! <3

[Tinsley]

I wasn't going to vote cause i <3 all three of you and it's hard to put you all in order but ... here goes. you are all winners to me

1. Nozomi
2. Sunny
3. Stephen

[Wings]

Not feeling my best, so I won't do the in-depth feedback I originally wanted. However, I just can't simply post and say nothing! So, starting from last to first:

3rd place: Nozomi Kei. This hasn't been a very long Cycle, but during it I've had time to see a lot of growth in your screenshot-taking, from mostly portrait or scenic to playing with angles and perspective. I can tell you come away from this a lot richer in knowledge (and inspiration too, I hope!). You may not always have ended up at the top half in my rankings when compared to your co-contestants, but keep in mind what company you've been in! There's a definite personal style to your shots that shines through as yours. Be proud of what you've accomplished.

2nd place: Sunny Day. You've had a lot of strong shots throughout the competition - the cosplay one actually got a fangirl squee from me because it was absolutely spot on. The final round's picture is probably your weakest in my eyes, since it's lacking the crisp clarity, and vividness of colour or contrast, that you had in your previous ones. You'd still have ranked first for me if only there'd also been more visual storytelling, rather than seemingly posing for beauty-shots, in the rest of your portfolio. I think anyone who's read my feedback so far know I value such things very highly

1st place: Stephen Fairbrook. You started off as somewhat weak to me, though I really appreciated your humour, but then wham you delivered that shot in the Imperial round! Almost every picture you've entered has been rich in emotion, and technically you've showed growth as well. All of those things combined make you my pick for winner.

[NecridsBraesal]

Nozomi
Sunny
Stephen

[Jeserbiel]

1. Nozomi (Go Nozomi, gooooo! <3)
2. Stephen
3. Sunny

[Sorry]

Nazomi Kei
Stephen Fairbrook
Sunny Day

[RamiLou]

Nozomi Kei
Stephen Fairbrook
Sunny Day

[Blage]

1) Nozomi Kei
2) Stephen Fairbrook
3) Sunny Day

[Stereomix]

Stephen
Nozomi
Sunny

[Tyriont]

Judge Feedback and Rankings:

Adam's Feedback and Rankings:



Sunny Day
Final Shot:
This shot is amazing! What I like the best about this shot is the fact that the effects are prevalent, yet you still manage to take focus without the effects overpowering yourself. You can hardly see the background, but it's still there. Great work making sure there isn't much negative space! Costume, and pose are both spot on, and props to you for managing to coordinate with the NPC! However, I would have liked to see the NPC a little better. The effects drown it out! Overall, a great piece as your final shot!

Overall Portfolio:
I do have to admit; I was absolutely sure that you would make it to the final three - and here you are! Your shots have been consistently great throughout and improves on it as you went along! Though, you did have the tendancy to take shots in the dark.. Still, you have yet to fail to impress me and I'm glad you haven't. Here's wishing you good luck!


Nozomi Kei
Final Shot:
This shot is a little bland in comparison to the other two, but I think it's mostly because of how the picture was framed. The NPCs do kind of look stoic - like statues, but I have to give props to you for trying! Costume, pose, and expression are great and definitely fits what you were aiming for! Just one piece of advice; when working with NPCs, try to time their movements as well! On the plus side, this shot is great!

Overall Portfolio:
When the first round started, I kind of went off about your costume choices and your pose/expression. I do apologize for that if it came out wrong. With that out of the way, the shots you presented at the start was pretty weak. I honestly didn't think you would have gotten far at first glance! But, you proved me wrong from the then and beyond! Your shots improved drastically as the weeks went by. Personally, I am very impressed by the improvement! It is to say that you are a tough competitior and you deserved to be in the finals. Wishing you all the best with the final round!


Stephen Fairbrook
Final Shot:
This is a great action shot! The pose, expression, costume were all amazingly well-done! Your coordination with the NPC was phenomenal, plus the background and framing were wonderfully done to boot. There is some negative space to the top left, but it's just a small detail. Nonetheless, you manage to pull focus onto yourself; which is a big plus! Good job!

Overall Portfolio:
Now here's where it gets a little bit iffy for me. The shots you presented early on were a tad bit too bland and didn't pop out as much. Still, they were great shots and were well-done! There does seem to be a pattern of negative space in your shots. Even so, as you went on, you get better and better with your shots (as evident with your final shot)! You showed that you can take amazing shots, and I kind of wished you would have showed that in the previous rounds as well. So, here's the best of luck to ye!


Adeline's Feedback and Rankings:



Nozomi – You’ve been a favorite of mine this whole cycle, and tbh your shots have always stood out to me among the other contestants, considering you’re a complete newbie as well. You’ve also shown a lot of growth this whole time, and have taken many risks! Your final shot is great as well, and my favorite compared to your competitors. I love your use of npcs here, and how everything is framed. A very clean shot! Nozomi, I vote you ENTM’s top model! Join me in my ranks!

Sunny Day –Tbh, your first shot kind of threw me for a loop. I wasn’t impressed with it, and I felt really bad because you were also a new person. Your pictures afterward though (especially your cosplay) have been some of my favorite ever, and you’ve show a lot of growth and put a lot of personality in your pics! I found your final shot to be really cool, but weakest out of the bunch framing wise. I put your 2nd mainly because of your whole portfolio. Great job this cycle, I wish you luck in the future, and I hope to see more of you round these parts!

Stephen – Stephen, you’ve also shown so much growth, and I’m so proud that you made it this far. Your initial free style shot was among my fav, and you’ve steadily been in the top-mid tier for awhile. Your final shot is pretty neat, but I found the framing of the mob a bit odd…I think it facing your back would of worked tons in adding that feel of a mob after you. I hope to also see more of you within the community!



Flare's Feedback and Rankings:


Stephen - Overall your portfolio has wowed me the most! You've taken simple and subtle pictures and made them shine. You brought a sense of humor that some of the other pictures didn't have but kept true to your concepts. Your beastmen picture was brilliant, a great use of the area and overall awesome story telling. Your Empire shot was by far my favorite from you. Not only from that gorgeous background, but the picture as a whole told a very powerful story. Great work this whole cycle!

Sunny - Another one that wowed me! You took some risks that paid off in the end. You took some of the prettiest photos that kept me coming back for more. Your cosplay was one of the most original I have seen in the contest, while your Mor Dhona shot was so stunning to look at. Another great model who we will see great things from in the future.

Nozomi - First time in Top model history to have an all male model final. And you deserve to be here! I think you grew the most this cycle and it definitely showed! My favorite picture from you was the beastmen shot, it was one of the best for me that showed what you were capable of. While your empire shot had a really nice glamour. Here's hoping we won't see the last of you either. Good job well done!


Sakuraya's Feedback and Rankings:



I tried to be as fair about this as possible by doing it mathematically where I ranked you through the whole cycle. I did this because honestly - all three of you are amazing and I was having a hard time deciding!

All of you should be super proud - to make it this far, and to have such an awesome portfolio! All of you are winners in my book. That said -

Nozomi Kei -

It is beautiful to look back at your portfolio and see where you started, and then ended. It seemed - to me - that you took a lot of the feedback to heart and made beautiful, amazing images that you can honestly be proud of! I will be honest - at first I wasn't sure based off the initial image, but you kept proving how good you were by bring out great pieces that I really loved! Two that stand out to me the most - Cosplay, your Genesis was amazing and I still find it to be my favorite still! Also your Castrum, playing the part of the bad guy never looked so good~! As for your last image -

I don't even have to read your little dialogue to understand this. Obveiously you're standing between the Bugaal Ja and this Roe, something has happened and you're trying to make it right. The lighting is lovely, and no matter where I look something interesting is going on with this image. I'm proud of you, and this is my top image for the week - and you are my top pick for Eorzea's Next Top Model!


Stephen Fairbrook -

Right off the bat I was impressed with you. Your first shot was lovely, and I could see you knew how to play with light. It was one of my favorites and I expected awesome things from you, and you didn't let me down. You know how to tell a story with your images and that's awesome! Two that really stood out to me the most - one was your Beastmen tribe. I love everything about this picture, and it told a story without words needed. Also your Castrum shot, I love this and felt it was very well composed with little dead space. and a very clear story!

As for your final shot, I like it and I think you did a great job - the lighting is very nice and you pop in it. But I'm not sure if it really tells a story, and I feel the little blurb is needed to see what you were going for. While I don't mind the little blurb, I also feel the image should tell that story on its own. But honestly - you and Nozomi were SO CLOSE I felt bad putting either of you second. You're amazing Step!

Sunny Day -

I had a feeling you would make it far based off that first image you put out, and I'm not surprised you got to the final three. You have a lovely way of mixing yourself in with a good eye for scenery! I was impressed with some of the ideas that you came up with! Two of my favorites that stand out - Cosplay, your Kite was amazing, and how you had the effect going on in the background, making it look almost futuristic/digital was amazing! Also your Mor Dhona, sinister never looked so good - the darkness in this shot really fit the mood of what you were going for and I am a fan!

As for your final shot... The lighting looks good, and I can totally see what you were going for with making it a battle shot; but the effects really cover everything up. Also I wish that you were turned more towards the camera so we could see your face more. If the effects had been there, but you were popping and in full view it could have been amazing. But even though I put you in third, please know that your photos are great and you deserve to be here in the final three!


Congrats to call three of you - and no matter who wins, all if you serve it and you have made this cycle amazing!!

_______________________________________

FINAL SCORES:

300 Nozomi Kei
255 Sunny Day
249 Stephen Fairbrook