New portrait session

DeCall

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This is my second practice portrait session outside of family members. The little girl is Jaidyn and I got some practice with mom and dad too. I've got a newborn practice session in the works now, and I'm excited about that. Please, any and all C&C is greatly appreciated. I'd like to work up to at least charging for my time.

1.
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2. This is a cropped shot. I might have cropped too tight?
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3. This was the best shot of her in her "dress up" shot, and I hate that I cut off her hand.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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Good shots overall, but I would try to give them some more contrast.
 
C&C per req:

1. A nice image, but just a little bit cool looking. I think your WB needs to be tweaked ever so slightly. Love the composition; this is an excellent example of hwo to have the subject looking away from the camera, but still make a strong image. Try and avoid cropping bits of limbs (right elbow). If you're going to crop, do it boldly and not at or near joints.

2. Agree, cropped just a little too tightly. Good exposure and WB seems fine. Not that in 1 and 2, the backgrounds while very softly focused still have enough of a pattern to be distracting. Consider what this will look like in the finished image when selecting areas to shoot in.

3. The cropped head doesn't bother me as much as the laterally bisected left upper arm and missin right hand. As a general rule, when you're composing this sort of work, zoom in 'til you're happy and then zoom out just a little bit. You can always crop more tightly in post if necessary.

4. This one is about a half-stop over exposed, and there background is too focused. Try separating the subjects from the background more, and using a longer FL lens.

5. Cliched, but cut pose. Unfortunate about her right ear.

6. Again over-exposed; bright highlights image left, In this case a diffuser to the left would have really helped. Again background is a bit distracting.

Overall, really nice work. I would suggest watching carefully for things like the red nailpolish on the child. This really doesn't work with these images (NO, this isn't a comment on children wearing make-up, it's a comment on red and blue not being overly complimentary).

Just my $00.02 worth - your milage may vary.

~JOhn
 
C&C per req:

1. A nice image, but just a little bit cool looking. I think your WB needs to be tweaked ever so slightly. Love the composition; this is an excellent example of hwo to have the subject looking away from the camera, but still make a strong image. Try and avoid cropping bits of limbs (right elbow). If you're going to crop, do it boldly and not at or near joints.

2. Agree, cropped just a little too tightly. Good exposure and WB seems fine. Not that in 1 and 2, the backgrounds while very softly focused still have enough of a pattern to be distracting. Consider what this will look like in the finished image when selecting areas to shoot in.

3. The cropped head doesn't bother me as much as the laterally bisected left upper arm and missin right hand. As a general rule, when you're composing this sort of work, zoom in 'til you're happy and then zoom out just a little bit. You can always crop more tightly in post if necessary.

4. This one is about a half-stop over exposed, and there background is too focused. Try separating the subjects from the background more, and using a longer FL lens.

5. Cliched, but cut pose. Unfortunate about her right ear.

6. Again over-exposed; bright highlights image left, In this case a diffuser to the left would have really helped. Again background is a bit distracting.

Overall, really nice work. I would suggest watching carefully for things like the red nailpolish on the child. This really doesn't work with these images (NO, this isn't a comment on children wearing make-up, it's a comment on red and blue not being overly complimentary).

Just my $00.02 worth - your milage may vary.

~JOhn

Thanks so much, John. I appreciate the helpful comments and the time you took for each photo.

De
 
These are some really great shots - the saturated colors work well and remind me more than a little of Audrey Woulard's excellent portraiture.

It seems to be - and I'm by no means an expert, so take from this what you will - that while you're very successfully anticipating and acting upon photogenic moments, your composition is ever so slightly off, and it keeps the shots from being really really great. Case in point: the very tight frame in #2, the fact that #1 could be just a little bit lower (a little too much negative space up top), the little girl's arm in #3, the chopped-off foot in #4, and the ear in #5.

Otherwise, these are really nice looking shots.
 
These are some really great shots - the saturated colors work well and remind me more than a little of Audrey Woulard's excellent portraiture.

It seems to be - and I'm by no means an expert, so take from this what you will - that while you're very successfully anticipating and acting upon photogenic moments, your composition is ever so slightly off, and it keeps the shots from being really really great. Case in point: the very tight frame in #2, the fact that #1 could be just a little bit lower (a little too much negative space up top), the little girl's arm in #3, the chopped-off foot in #4, and the ear in #5.

Otherwise, these are really nice looking shots.

Thanks Chris, your comments and feedback are very helpful. I definitely see what you mean and need to work a little on my composition. I'm adding the uncropped version of #2 (I don't know why I cropped it now), and one with less top space that I think looks better.

7.
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8.
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