# Abused girl in a park



## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

Lea, the girl, told me that she was bullied (abused) in a school, and she escaped a school to become dog handler. She said that she never considered herself beautiful, and she was always shy to smile because of malocclusion. In her Instagram very few photos and only 37 subscribers.

Nevertheless, I think she has good potential. I decided to help her and we did this set in a park. If you like this set, you can cheer her up and write her some good words (@ada_stafford). Thank you.

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## tirediron (Jul 5, 2019)

1976 called, it wants its shirt & shoes back!   There's a lot to like about these images, and overall, they're, IMO, a good, solid start.  The one thing they lack is a bit of fill light, especially on the face.  The eyes are a bit dull with no distinct catchlights, and in several cases her face is noticeably darker than other parts of her body.  The human eye is naturally attracted to light over dark, and as these are portraits, the face, and in particular the eyes, should be the first place we look.  A reflector would have worked well, or an off-camera speedlight...  As-is, I'm sure some careful post work could improve the issue significantly.

On the plus side, your poses are excellent, and in particular, the second image with the group of people in the background really ties in with the story.  Not sure if that was intentional or just lucky, but either way, well done!


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## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

tirediron said:


> 1976 called, it wants its shirt & shoes back!  There's a lot to like about these images, and overall, they're, IMO, a good, solid start. The one thing they lack is a bit of fill light, especially on the face. The eyes are a bit dull with no distinct catchlights, and in several cases her face is noticeably darker than other parts of her body. The human eye is naturally attracted to light over dark, and as these are portraits, the face, and in particular the eyes, should be the first place we look. A reflector would have worked well, or an off-camera speedlight... As-is, I'm sure some careful post work could improve the issue significantly.
> 
> On the plus side, your poses are excellent, and in particular, the second image with the group of people in the background really ties in with the story. Not sure if that was intentional or just lucky, but either way, well done!



Hello tirediron, and thank you for the feedback!

While I'm not a professional photographer, I just used a compact X100T with not reflectors. Next time I'll try to use built in flash to add a fill light.


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## Derrel (Jul 5, 2019)

Overall pretty good environmental portraits showing her within an urban environment. My main concern would be the lack of light in the shadow parts of her face.as was mentioned earlier, some fill lighting from either flash or reflector would probably make these look better as far as the light on her face. Obviously the backgrounds are pretty well lighted.


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## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

Derrel said:


> Overall pretty good environmental portraits showing her within an urban environment. My main concern would be the lack of light in the shadow parts of her face.as was mentioned earlier, some fill lighting from either flash or reflector would probably make these look better as far as the light on her face. Obviously the backgrounds are pretty well lighted.


Thank you Derrel. I'm going to practice more to shoot portraits in a daylight.


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## Designer (Jul 5, 2019)

I wish her success in whatever she decides to to.  She can do it!


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## JonFZ300 (Jul 5, 2019)

Nice shots. I agree about the fill light. I'm glad she was able to get away from bullying. She's a very cute girl and teeth can be fixed. I can tell she's shy about showing teeth. I'd love to see a big smile some day!! милый!!


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## JBPhotog (Jul 5, 2019)

I am sad to hear she was bullied at school, no one deserves that. BTW, I think she is pretty and carries her self with grace.

Depending on your post processing skill, most of these have potential for improvement for catch light placement and overall face exposure. Of note, the harsh sun photos where the face is in and out of shadow are problematic since the shadow is not placed optimally and watch the highlights catching the tip of the nose.

I am not a big Instagram personality but if that is the goal I may suggest less background and make her the subject of interest, I think vertical crops look best on mobile devices on IG too.

You deserve accolades for assisting her with her profile, good for you.


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## JonFZ300 (Jul 5, 2019)

JBPhotog said:


> Depending on your post processing skill, most of these have potential for improvement for catch light placement and overall face exposure. Of note, the harsh sun photos where the face is in and out of shadow are problematic since the shadow is not placed optimally and watch the highlights catching the tip of the nose.
> 
> I am not a big Instagram personality but if that is the goal I may suggest less background and make her the subject of interest, I think vertical crops look best on mobile devices on IG too.



I totally agree with this. If you shot Raw, you should be able to fix the highlights and shadows. I just saved one and opened it in camera raw and, even working on a jpg, just raising the shadows made a huge difference.


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## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

Designer said:


> I wish her success in whatever she decides to to. She can do it!


Thank you Designer! I will give her your words.


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## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

JonFZ300 said:


> Nice shots. I agree about the fill light. I'm glad she was able to get away from bullying. She's a very cute girl and teeth can be fixed. I can tell she's shy about showing teeth. I'd love to see a big smile some day!! милый!!


Thank you very much!


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## Derrel (Jul 5, 2019)

If she wants to build her Instagram follower list, then she will have to abide by the well known and understood conventions of building a following on Instagram. It takes a lot of work from what I've read I personally mostly gave up on Instagram about two years ago, and never was all that interested. However After reading about selecting popular hashtags I did a short one week experiment, and by selecting popular hashtags I got about 65 times as many views and likes as I did with no hashtags. So hashtags are really important, as is regular posting,subject matter,and consistently high-quality images.

  Over the past two years Instagram's stories feature has really expanded in importance, and users who reported low engagement now report extremely high engagement after having regularly availed themselves  Of this new development.

 I have been a member of Instagram for many years now, and in the past six months I've seen a marked  change in the commercialization of the platform, Now that it has been purchased by Facebook and Facebook has installed their own executives into positions that were  formerly held by Instagram starters.


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## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

Derrel said:


> If she wants to build her Instagram follower list, then she will have to abide by the well known and understood conventions of building a following on Instagram. It takes a lot of work from what I've read I personally mostly gave up on Instagram about two years ago, and never was all that interested. However After reading about selecting popular hashtags I did a short one week experiment, and by selecting popular hashtags I got about 65 times as many views and likes as I did with no hashtags. So hashtags are really important, as is regular posting,subject matter,and consistently high-quality images.
> 
> Over the past two years Instagram's stories feature has really expanded in importance, and users who reported low engagement now report extremely high engagement after having regularly availed themselves Of this new development.
> 
> I have been a member of Instagram for many years now, and in the past six months I've seen a marked change in the commercialization of the platform, Now that it has been purchased by Facebook and Facebook has installed their own executives into positions that were formerly held by Instagram starters.



I'm on Flickr mostly, not at Instagram (because there are a lot of commercial there). But I understand your thoughts about hashtags. If you want to have popular account, you should use 30 tags on each photo, and post every day. There is a lot of competition, definitely.


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## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

JBPhotog said:


> Depending on your post processing skill, most of these have potential for improvement for catch light placement and overall face exposure. Of note, the harsh sun photos where the face is in and out of shadow are problematic since the shadow is not placed optimally and watch the highlights catching the tip of the nose.


I shot jpg + raw. So, I raised shadows and darkened whites for these raws. But if raise shadows too much, it starts looking like fake HDR (which I do not like).

Thus, I'm thinking to use some fill light next time.


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## vintagesnaps (Jul 5, 2019)

Who cares how many followers anyone has on Instagram? She might be better off to just close it out and find ways in real life to connect with people, social media isn't necessariy the best thing or at least might be better used in a more limited way. 

You already got good suggestions. I'd suggest being aware of the time of day, direction of the sun, etc. I often outdoors aim the camera down a bit to meter the scene, then reframe, so the meter is reading where the subject is not where the sun is coming in from behind, etc.

I'd rethink the phrasing of the title so it isn't labeling the subject; that may be something that happened to her and that's she's had to deal with but it isn't who she is.


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## Pomo (Jul 5, 2019)

vintagesnaps said:


> Who cares how many followers anyone has on Instagram? She might be better off to just close it out and find ways in real life to connect with people, social media isn't necessariy the best thing or at least might be better used in a more limited way.


Thanks for your suggestions, vintagesnaps.

You know those teenagers... They brag about the cost of a phone or clothes and rate each other according to the number of subscribers in social media.


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## JBPhotog (Jul 5, 2019)

Pomo said:


> I shot jpg + raw. So, I raised shadows and darkened whites for these raws. But if raise shadows too much, it starts looking like fake HDR (which I do not like).
> 
> Thus, I'm thinking to use some fill light next time.



I agree, fake HDR is not the best look. However, there is a bit more room to improve the shadows via luminosity masks even for these JPEG's. I would also agree, in harsh sunlight a reflector or fill flash is the best way to recover detail from the dark shadows. Hopefully she is game for another shoot, good luck.


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## Derrel (Jul 5, 2019)

I know what you mean about that fake HDR type look from raising the shadows up in brightness too much. Whenever I have to lift the shadows up quite a bit, the last thing I do is to re-apply the curves tool to get just the right contrast, and thus avoid that "fake HDR look".

 I have only seen these on my phone ,but since you shot it Raw +JPEG, I would expect that you could go back and additionally edit these for a little bit more detail in the shadows well keeping the background brightness about the same.

 The last set I did in a location like this was with freshly-poured concrete that was almost white in color, and which provided a lot of shadow fill-in lighting even though I was shooting in bright August afternoon sunshine


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## Donde (Jul 5, 2019)

Pomo I like the last one the best. Cute girl. You say she has a dental issue? She hasn't smiled for any of the shots. By the way, catchy title.


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## weepete (Jul 5, 2019)

Cute poses, 7 looks as if she hasn't settled yet and 10 is the best imo. Iagree with the fill light.

Be a bit careful about terminology, abused has different connotations certainly in the UK. Also I'm not sure that's an apporopriate title, it has no bearing on the shots.


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## Derrel (Jul 5, 2019)

Yeah, the thread title is a bit "misleading" in American English, and is probably even more misleading in the Queen's English, I must say. The word "abused" should, IMHO, be replaced with "formerly bullied", or some other descriptive term.


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## Pomo (Jul 6, 2019)

JBPhotog said:


> I agree, fake HDR is not the best look. However, there is a bit more room to improve the shadows via luminosity masks even for these JPEG's. I would also agree, in harsh sunlight a reflector or fill flash is the best way to recover detail from the dark shadows. Hopefully she is game for another shoot, good luck.


I never used luminosity masks. Will google it, thank you.


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## Pomo (Jul 6, 2019)

Donde said:


> Pomo I like the last one the best. Cute girl. You say she has a dental issue? She hasn't smiled for any of the shots. By the way, catchy title.


Thank you Donde!

Yes, she has some problems with teeth. And I suppose, her family can not afford good dantist to fix them. Lea said me, that she borrowed this blouse from her mom.


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## Pomo (Jul 6, 2019)

weepete said:


> Cute poses, 7 looks as if she hasn't settled yet and 10 is the best imo. Iagree with the fill light.
> 
> Be a bit careful about terminology, abused has different connotations certainly in the UK. Also I'm not sure that's an apporopriate title, it has no bearing on the shots.



Thanks for your comment, weepete.

In my language there is no word "bulling". So I translated it like "abused" (or "insulted", "offended") first, and then I remembered the word "bulling" from some movie, which is more suitable.


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## Pomo (Jul 6, 2019)

Derrel said:


> Yeah, the thread title is a bit "misleading" in American English, and is probably even more misleading in the Queen's English, I must say. The word "abused" should, IMHO, be replaced with "formerly bullied", or some other descriptive term.


Yes, I suppose "formerly bullied" is the most suitable.


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## Fujidave (Jul 6, 2019)

Hi Dmitry as I said on the other forum I think you did a good job in your images to show how beautiful this young lady is.  Bullies are horrible and sad people and only bully because it makes them feel good, she will go a long way in her life and I wish her all the best.


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## JoeW (Jul 6, 2019)

Sorry she's bullied.  She's lovely.

1.  You need an assistant to hold a reflector and bounce and some light off her face.  Nice soft light and she'd be...beautiful!  Now she's just really pretty.
2.  I'd recommend a narrow DoF.  The background draws attention--I found myself thinking "I wonder where that is?"  The focus should be on her.  For portraits, bokeh is your friend.
3.  IMHO, the more relaxed she is, the better she looks.  Look for poses that let her exhale, less rigid, more casual.
4.  Don't have her face the camera front-on.  Show a side profile or at an angle.  She's slim and a great profile--so emphasize that.  Facing the camera straight on makes her look thicker than she is because she has hips.


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## Pomo (Jul 6, 2019)

Fujidave said:


> Hi Dmitry as I said on the other forum I think you did a good job in your images to show how beautiful this young lady is. Bullies are horrible and sad people and only bully because it makes them feel good, she will go a long way in her life and I wish her all the best.


Thank yoy Dave!


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## Pomo (Jul 6, 2019)

JoeW said:


> 1. You need an assistant to hold a reflector and bounce and some light off her face. Nice soft light and she'd be...beautiful! Now she's just really pretty.
> 2. I'd recommend a narrow DoF. The background draws attention--I found myself thinking "I wonder where that is?" The focus should be on her. For portraits, bokeh is your friend.
> 3. IMHO, the more relaxed she is, the better she looks. Look for poses that let her exhale, less rigid, more casual.
> 4. Don't have her face the camera front-on. Show a side profile or at an angle. She's slim and a great profile--so emphasize that. Facing the camera straight on makes her look thicker than she is because she has hips.


 
Hello JoeW!

Thank you for advices! Since I'm not involed in commercial portreture, I don't have an assistant. I was using X100T with conversion lens TCL-X100 for narrow DOF. It gives 50 mm f/2.0 in FF equivalent. I agree with you about shooting from different angles, not only from the front. Next time I'll try something different.


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## JoeW (Jul 7, 2019)

Pomo said:


> JoeW said:
> 
> 
> > 1. You need an assistant to hold a reflector and bounce and some light off her face. Nice soft light and she'd be...beautiful! Now she's just really pretty.
> ...


It doesn't need to be a paid assistant.  Get a second person interested in modeling.  Tell them the "price" for each of them modeling for you is, when it isn't their turn to pose they'll be holding the reflector and carrying gear.  Then have the models trade off.  One poses, the other assists.  You'd be surprised how many people will be willing to do this.


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## crzyfotopeeple (Jul 7, 2019)

Not a fan of the click bait style title.


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## JonFZ300 (Jul 7, 2019)

crzyfotopeeple said:


> Not a fan of the click bait style title.



That's already been discussed and looks like a language thing. I'm pretty sure the OP is in Russia.

Edit: and this thread title kind of references another thread about this girl that came previously.


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## Pomo (Jul 8, 2019)

JoeW said:


> It doesn't need to be a paid assistant. Get a second person interested in modeling. Tell them the "price" for each of them modeling for you is, when it isn't their turn to pose they'll be holding the reflector and carrying gear. Then have the models trade off. One poses, the other assists. You'd be surprised how many people will be willing to do this.


Maybe I should try this. Thanks for your suggestion.


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## Pomo (Jul 8, 2019)

Some additional photos, that I originally deleted.

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## Derrel (Jul 8, 2019)

Some equally good, or better, shots!


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## Derrel (Jul 8, 2019)




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## Derrel (Jul 8, 2019)

Quick edits in Lightroom, adding digital fill, to compensate for the shadowing, and increasing exposure and brightness, adding a bit of highlight recovery, going for a very "_light and airy_" feeling, commensurate with springtime. Slight saturation increase on most.


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## Pomo (Jul 9, 2019)

Derrel said:


> Quick edits in Lightroom, adding digital fill, to compensate for the shadowing, and increasing exposure and brightness, adding a bit of highlight recovery, going for a very "_light and airy_" feeling, commensurate with springtime. Slight saturation increase on most.


Hello Derrel!

Thanks for your variants. I noticed that my Fuji on X-trans sensor underexposes pictures in most cases. Maybe to save bright areas.


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## Granddad (Jul 9, 2019)

Pomo said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > Quick edits in Lightroom, adding digital fill, to compensate for the shadowing, and increasing exposure and brightness, adding a bit of highlight recovery, going for a very "_light and airy_" feeling, commensurate with springtime. Slight saturation increase on most.
> ...


S

Do you use Lightroom? If you shoot in Raw lightroom can really help, especially with lighting.

I don't do Instagram but please pass on my compliments to the young lady. She has a good face, hair and figure, she looks confident and holds poses well.


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## Pomo (Jul 9, 2019)

Granddad said:


> Do you use Lightroom? If you shoot in Raw lightroom can really help, especially with lighting.
> 
> I don't do Instagram but please pass on my compliments to the young lady. She has a good face, hair and figure, she looks confident and holds poses well.



Yes, I use Lightroom CC and Photoshop.

I will send her you words, thank you.


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## Granddad (Jul 9, 2019)

Try using the adjustment brush in LR (it looks like a magnifying glass on it's side) to paint more light (etc) onto your model's face where you should have used fill flash or a reflector. I find it works quite well with experience and a bit of trial and error to make up for my deficiencies in preparedness. I don't usually carry a reflector with me and my assistant is also my main model (and wife) so I snatch what shots I can and fix them in LR, Photoshop and Portrait Pro.


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## JonFZ300 (Jul 9, 2019)

These are my favorites of the second bunch and I agree with Derrel about lightening them up. I edited three of them in Camera Raw and they look pretty much the same as Derrel's edits lol. I agree that she is excellent at holding the poses.


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## Pomo (Jul 9, 2019)

Granddad said:


> Try using the adjustment brush in LR (it looks like a magnifying glass on it's side) to paint more light (etc) onto your model's face where you should have used fill flash or a reflector. I find it works quite well with experience and a bit of trial and error to make up for my deficiencies in preparedness. I don't usually carry a reflector with me and my assistant is also my main model (and wife) so I snatch what shots I can and fix them in LR, Photoshop and Portrait Pro.


Thank you for advice Granddad. I will try this brush.


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## Pomo (Jul 9, 2019)

adam.smith11 said:


> Lea take good decision. All the photos are pretty good. I think Lea will be a model if she up to date in instagram. All the best and good wishes for you lea. I wanna thanks to Pomo for such a stylish photo gift to Lea.


Many thanks!


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## Derrel (Jul 9, 2019)

The Lightroom adjustment brush is a super-versatile tool! No only good for lightening shadows, but also useful for burning in (darkening), tooth whitening, iris of the eye improvement, and other stuff.


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## Pomo (Jul 9, 2019)

JonFZ300 said:


> These are my favorites of the second bunch and I agree with Derrel about lightening them up. I edited three of them in Camera Raw and they look pretty much the same as Derrel's edits lol. I agree that she is excellent at holding the poses.


I suppose, I like the first one most. While #3 in a bit controversial for me, because Lea was looking to "sexy" for her age (she'll be 18 yo next month).


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## Pomo (Jul 9, 2019)

Derrel said:


> The Lightroom adjustment brush is a super-versatile tool! No only good for lightening shadows, but also useful for burning in (darkening), tooth whitening, iris of the eye improvement, and other stuff.


I know, there are same brushes in Photoshop. But I suppose, with manipulating raw files I would get better quality.


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## Derrel (Jul 9, 2019)

Yes, the raw file gives the most ability to manipulate the shadows and highlights. The tooth whitening brush and the iris enhancement are really nice features. The secret is to apply MORE Clicks at a lower intensity and  opacity, to prevent too much of the effect from being applied too suddenly.


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## JonFZ300 (Jul 9, 2019)

Pomo said:


> I suppose, I like the first one most. While #3 in a bit controversial for me, because Lea was looking to "sexy" for her age (she'll be 18 yo next month).



I noticed this as well. In some of the pics, she looks like a cute young girl. In others, she looks (or is trying to look) like a sultry/sexy young woman. I think I like the girlish ones better, they seem more natural to me.


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## Pomo (Jul 9, 2019)

JonFZ300 said:


> I noticed this as well. In some of the pics, she looks like a cute young girl. In others, she looks (or is trying to look) like a sultry/sexy young woman. I think I like the girlish ones better, they seem more natural to me.


Yeah, I agree.


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## crzyfotopeeple (Jul 9, 2019)

JonFZ300 said:


> crzyfotopeeple said:
> 
> 
> > Not a fan of the click bait style title.
> ...


I appreciate your explanation, however I stick by my reply. Using "abused" or "bullied" or "formerly bullied" makes it click bait style title, no matter where you are from. As you can see, it has worked based on the attention this particular thread is receiving.


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## Nestor Toussaint (Jul 9, 2019)

She is beautiful in a good photo


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## JonFZ300 (Jul 9, 2019)

crzyfotopeeple said:


> JonFZ300 said:
> 
> 
> > crzyfotopeeple said:
> ...



Fair enough. I saw the first thread first (lea dog handler) and when I saw this one from the same OP, I kind of knew what it was. It is a rather alarming title if you have no background though. Cheers


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## Pomo (Jul 10, 2019)

Nestor Toussaint said:


> She is beautiful in a good photo


Thank you!


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## Angal Faria (Jul 12, 2019)

Thanks for sharing some beautiful pics and really some beautiful shots. The girls are looking so cute and pretty.


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