First Engagement Session - CC Needed!

[andrew99]

Hey guys, I had my first Engagement Session today, and this is actually my first time working with complete strangers (they answered an ad I put on an Internet classifieds site). We went down by the lake for the shoot, but it was a cold and very overcast day. Anyway, I'd love any comments or criticism.. what do you think of the posing (they were a bit nervous, I think), and any comments on the PP. I think the hardest part was making them feel comfortable and thinking up poses and stuff to do. Sorry for posting so many photos..

Any criticism is welcome, since it will help me improve!

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[rub]

I am not digging the processing, but I think that you captured the people and emotion amazingly well - and really - that is what matters. Great work!

 

[mJs]

I think you did a good job... there's just a couple where the pair's body language is very stiff (#1 and 5 especially).... a bend of a knee and an unclenched hand can help... in a number of the poses the woman is standing with her feet right side by side and legs straight which doesn't help on the stiffness scale.

Nice!

 

[mdtusz]

Cameras always seem to make people look further apart than they are. Whenever I shoot couples, I tell them to get as close to each other as they can to make them always look together and really into each other. You can really see the progression in your shots as they relaxed though :thumbup:

 

[Foxman]

I am not a fan of the processing personally, but that is subjective. I think 9, 12 & 13 are the best most natural looking, if I were going to choose my favs.

Although looking back in 12 he is holding her hand kind of awkwardly.

 

[andrew99]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate you all taking the time to look and comment. I was really struggling with the processing.. I got home from the shoot and spent a few hours, and lost some perspective. This morning I looked at the photos again with fresh eyes (before coming back here), and I cringed. I'm definitely starting over from scratch with a more natural processing. The problem is the day was so grey and cold, and the sky was white and overcast. I might try some B&W to see how that looks. I'll post some more of my second attempt.

It's hard to get people to relax, I'm quickly learning that people skills are the key to this kind of work! Thanks for the specific points made above!

 

[andrew99]

So I went back to the drawing board and reprossed from scratch with a more natural look. The day was very cold (hence the clenched fists and stiff poses) and the day was gray with a solid white overcast sky. Instead of fighting it this time, I rolled with it and here is what I came up with:

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[JimmyO]

Yeah i like the second editing feel.

 

[JenLavazza]

I guess I'm the oddball....I like the pp in both sets!! Maybe do a few in both and get their taste?

Overall I really like them! I really like the one's of her laughing...they look natural and she looks happy!

 

[SilverUser]

These are not remarkable. I would suggest the OP look at hundreds of engagement examples on the web first, before doing such a shot. It seems critical focus is not there most of the time.

For such comps I would suggest shooting nearly all those at flash-sync shutter speed, using ISO 50 if possible to get shutter speed at or below flash-sync. Why? To intentionally under expose the backgrounds because they're too bright too distracting at times. And a nice under by 1-1.5 stops with a fast f-stop makes for a nice dreamy background. Don't worry about exposing the people...the flash will do this job...of course you're have to shoot with the body in manual, flash in E-TTL/iTTL auto. As to the people, they wore drab colors, solids yuk...it makes them look fat, tired and frumpy. I would talk about attire before the shoot and make sure they don't wear what they did; perhaps the worst clothes possible sadly. These comps lack vision, and creativity...they look to snap-shotish.

 

[ghache]

I think you did a good job for a first session,

 

[jenn2]

I think you did a great job. I wasn't too into the processing your first time around and I like the second attempt better, however I think that some in the original processing actually work better that way. Combine the two, and give your clients a litttle diversity.