My first Engaement Portrait Photos Warning(56K)

tasman

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This is my first time to do engagement photos. It was'nt really planned out and it was going to rain. I picked out 10 of the best. Please tell me what you think of them. Thanks for looking.

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These aren't bad but they need some editing. They all lack contrast and sharpness. Did you edit these at all? With some work these can look pretty good.
 
Yes I edited them in Lightroom. Change the color temp and exposures a bit. It was also kind of cloudy and about to rain, and lots of shaded areas..
 
First of all, you used ambient lighting VERY WELL! However, there seems too much of a yellow tint on most of them. So, the skin tone and clothing sort of blend together a bit much.

If you are not shooting in RAW, that would be the way to go, and then adjust white balance before working on them in Lightroom or PS. And as oldnavy mentioned, they need a little contrast and "pop".

Composition is excellent. You captured some very sweet and romantic moments. Depth of field and focus is good. Love the perspective with the sidewalk in the background. But one crit also is that the arm looks a little tight around his neck in #6. Might want to have her loosen up the choke hold on him there. LOL. ;)

Overall, I think you did well, IMHO. Thanks for sharing!

NJ
 
Overall I think they are nice shots, but my only critique is that I do not like the pose of him "hanging over" her shoulder. Something about that one just didn't sit well.
 
the arm looks a little tight around his neck in #6. Might want to have her loosen up the choke hold on him there. LOL. ;)

Overall, I think you did well, IMHO. Thanks for sharing!

NJ

That's what I was going to say. Hmmm wonder what was going through her mind, j/k.

Also, when they kiss, try a tip i learned from the forum and have them "act" like they are about to kiss and catch the moment there. This will eliminate face smashing and my personal fav fish kissing. Other than what has already been said, I think you did very well and your composition is great! Keep up the good work.
 
I like the poses, but the only thing I have to add to what other people have said is #10 their faces look too smooshed.
 
Thank you to everyone who commented on these. I really appreciate it.

I have one question for NJMAN. How do I adjust the white ballance like you mentioned. I did shoot in RAW and then adjusted in Lihgtroom because most of the photos had a blueish cast from the cloudy day.
 
Thank you to everyone who commented on these. I really appreciate it.

I have one question for NJMAN. How do I adjust the white ballance like you mentioned. I did shoot in RAW and then adjusted in Lihgtroom because most of the photos had a blueish cast from the cloudy day.

Hi tasman,
If you are shooting with canon, I would use the camera raw plugin in photoshop. Thats a good one to use to adjust the white balance. You can also use the software that came with your camera, although I havent used that much. In the PS raw plugin, set your white balance control to Daylight or Cloudy, whichever looks better. That will get rid of the bluish tint that your images have if your camera was set to auto white balance when shooting. But Im not sure whats going on with the ones that are too yellowish in this post. I would need some detail on how you processed them. Hope this helps. If you have any more specific questions, send me a PM if you want. :)
 
Hi tasman,
If you are shooting with canon, I would use the camera raw plugin in photoshop. Thats a good one to use to adjust the white balance. You can also use the software that came with your camera, although I havent used that much. In the PS raw plugin, set your white balance control to Daylight or Cloudy, whichever looks better. That will get rid of the bluish tint that your images have if your camera was set to auto white balance when shooting. But Im not sure whats going on with the ones that are too yellowish in this post. I would need some detail on how you processed them. Hope this helps. If you have any more specific questions, send me a PM if you want. :)

Thanks, I will check that out and try it. The yellow cast might be from adjusting the color temp in Lightroom to Cloudy setting. If I have any questions I will message you.
 
#7 really caught my attention. Its backwards from this typical shot, I like it. All these have a yello cast on them, and are lacking contrast/color. That can be easily fixed however. Nice first try.
 
If you are converting your images with a program that will let you adjust white balance (I use BreezeBrowser for all my converting), you can adjust one of the images and then tell it to use that white balance for all the others. Or if you are using Photoshop (I tried this is CS2) there is a quick and easy way to adjust your white balance if you have a white and black spot in your images.

For example, your image #9 has the white area in the upper left corner.
With the image open and at 100%, open up Levels. Select the right eye dropper and click on the whitest part of the white area. Now select the left eyedropper and click on the blackest area... I used the upper corner of one of the windows at the top to find a black area. This will set your white balance pretty close. You can use those settings to adjust your other images if they were all taken in the same light and same area.

When I shoot I try to have a known white/black object in my picture somewhere. I have a number of things I use... Digital calibration target, WhiBal or if I really need accurate color I use a McBeth chart. But usually the WhiBal because it's small and I can have it where I can see it in the full image but it is easy to crop out in the final image.

Custom white balances are good if your lighting is going to stay the same, such as in a studio. But out and about like your shots, the light is going to change depending on time of day and reflection of light off objects around you as you walk around shooting. You can't use the same custom white balance for changing conditions.

You have some good shots.

Mike
 
I agree with the others about the yellow cast and the need for more contrast. I also wanted to add that you might want to check for things "sprouting" out of their heads. The light posts (?) in #1 and the trash can in #5 & #6 really catch my attention.
 

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