A few photos for your critique..

[kami]

Here's a few shots I took from a photoshoot last week. I just started doing portraiture photography and hopefully I can improve more with your suggestions. Gear used: Nikon D80 / Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 / SB-600 thru white shoot thru umbrella / triggered via RP JRX /

I was using ISO 400 for all shots with aperture varying from F4-5.6, shutter speeds from 80-200. I had an assistant hold the umbrella with a monopod. Light was cloudy, white balance used was flash. No post-processing was done except cropping and framing.

 

[D-B-J]

pretty girl and great photos. Although.. the face on number four is oof. Still, great job.

Can you explain to me about the umbrella. I am new to flash photography and i wonder what you mean when you say "through" the umbrella.

 

[Josh220]

pretty girl and great photos. Although.. the face on number four is oof. Still, great job.

Can you explain to me about the umbrella. I am new to flash photography and i wonder what you mean when you say "through" the umbrella.

There are different types of umbrella's to use with flashes. There are "shoot through" for softer, more diffused light, and reflective which gives a harsher more focused light. Here's a good read:

Strobist: Lighting 101: Umbrellas

A search will bring up loads of info on this, so it's probably best to not clutter the thread.


OP, nice shots but I too noticed you missed the focus on her face in one of the photo's. #2 and #3 are my favorites, but I am not sure if I like her shoulder position in #2. I like the pose in #4 but as I mentioned it's OOF and a little dark.

 

[kami]

Ya, I know I missed the focus on #4's shot. I wanted to get different focus points with that pose but somehow, I couldn't get the face. I thought I did but while I was cycling thru the pics, none of them were in focus. I did love her pose that's why I kept this one which was more in focus than the others.
One thing I did learn about this shoot was that I lack control of the subject. I didn't know how to coach her in to great positions. She basically did everything herself with a little help from me.
Thanks for the C&C guys! More C&C much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[kami]

Any more kind words? Or anything I could have done to excite the photos a little?

 

[mar1u5]

I can't offer anything other than my personal opinion as I havn't got any massive portrait shooting experience to offer, but here's my 2 cents: The background is too busy and not diffused enough. An 85mm f1.8 or 105mm f2.8 would have been a better choice to seperate her more from the background. Or maybe just move her further away from the background with the lens you have if you can't afford a new one. The lighting is also wrong to me. It looks like you where shooting her shoulder, as that's the one thing that stands out in all the pictures.

You also need to work on directing your subject, because this looks like a very pretty girl - but all the poses are wrong. Nr.1 looks like she's given up and just hangs there limp. In nr.2 she's standing in a very ackward position (who stands twisted like that?). In nr.3 she looks troubled by something off frame. In nr.4 it looks like she's posing for someone else, and you just happened to sneak in a shot. And in nr.5: her arm is so twisted it looks painfull, and does she have a hand growing out of her stomach?

And do you really need to capture that much of her body, or would the pictures benefit from coming a bit closer to your subject?

As I said, this is just my own personal opinion, and I'm just trying to give you something to work on. I hope you don't take it like I'm beeing harsh and trying to put you down, because that is not my intent. I'd like to see you try again, preferably with the same pretty girl