Engagement Photos / C & C Please

Guido44 · Oct 19, 2009

This is Jonathan & Renu. I shot this alone, but the next time I do a shoot like this I definitely would like to have an assistant to help out.

Having some one there to hold the reflective disk and help out with details would have made a big difference. It kept me from even trying to haul out the flash and umbrella. I would have ended up with a LOT more usable images.

This was my first shoot like this. For me the most difficult part is not knowing how to tell people how to pose. Any advise on how to get that accomplished faster is appreciated.

Here's a few shots:

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More later.

Dan

bigtwinky · Oct 19, 2009

I'm not liking them all that much.

I find you cut off alot of the limbs in most of the pictures.
the lighting seems inconsistent, sometimes the faces are in shade/shadow, others they are ok

conbitre · Oct 19, 2009

Guido44 said:
This is Jonathan & Renu. I shot this alone, but the next time I do a shoot like this I definitely would like to have an assistant to help out.

Having some one there to hold the reflective disk and help out with details would have made a big difference. It kept me from even trying to haul out the flash and umbrella. I would have ended up with a LOT more usable images.

This was my first shoot like this. For me the most difficult part is not knowing how to tell people how to pose. Any advise on how to get that accomplished faster is appreciated.

Here's a few shots:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

More later.

Dan

wonderful! thanks for the info..
However I think you should vary more examples to your writing much more interesting !

Guido44 · Oct 19, 2009

Thanks BT. I know, that's why I mentioned bringing along a helper next time. It was windy. I had the reflector disk on a stand, but it was waving in the wind a quite a bit.

Jonathan seemed awfully sensitive the the reflector disk too. I deleted a lot of photos of him squinting too much or one eye closed etc. I also purposely cut off Jon's feet (PP) in a few other shots because his shoes looked like crap.

Like I said, first attempt at portraits.

EDIT: How do you deal with 2 people in the bright sun that have opposite complexions?

craig · Oct 19, 2009

Shoot in the shade using a fill flash or reflector. Darker complexion near the light source; lighter complexion further away from the light source.

)'(

GeneralBenson · Oct 20, 2009

The fake bokeh look is killing it for me, and alot of the poses look forced and awkward. out of focus background are best left to fast lenses. When posing people, you always need to take a step back for second and look at them, then ask yourself, 'would anyone ever actually sit/stand like this?' Like the picture pf them on the swing/bench thing gazing off at the sunsey, the body langauage is very forced. His whole hand on her side is way weird. And most of them have something like that, where it looks like you just wanted to make sure their hand were touching eachother in some way. If you really want o get better, it happens when you're not photographing. Watch people, and study how they interact. Observe two people, who are in fact, siting together and watching the sunset. What do they look like? Always try to recreate reality.

IgsEMT · Oct 20, 2009

Dear Dan,
I'll be honest here, I quickly glanced them and didn't read other's reply.
My problem: Cut of limbs & harsh shadows.
Shooting outdoors utilizing sun is tricky since you get harsh shadows, use shades, use higher shutter speeds with a flash to potentially compensate for sunlight. Limbs and poses: granted photography is subjective, there are still rules that exist and one of them is NOT cutting limbs out. If you won't want to get feet in, then you should crop in below the knee, etc etc.
For the future, spend extra few seconds composing the shot and again be careful with shooting outdoors.

bigtwinky · Oct 20, 2009

You can start by having them interact with each other with very general guidelines.

"Go sit there, on the ground and look all lovey"

They will sit in a natural position (one natural to them). Have them talk to each other and keep playing with the position and having them do some changes. But basically, you are guiding them into something that is interesting and natural for them. Not just posing them like you would a model made out of clay.

You can still aim for a certain position / style, but I find that guiding them to it, while somewhat longer, ensures a more natural pose, specially for people who are not models.