some more portraits for c and c

[shifra]

1.

2.

3

4.

I have recently gotten myself a background and a studio light....What do you think of my portraits? Can I start charging people? any advice would be really appreciated.

 

[Johnboy2978]

They are all decent, average or above. I'm sure there are many parents that would pay for this level of quality. The main problem they all suffer from is sharpness, but maybe you were going for softness, I don't know. The 2 studio type shots suffer from the lack of a hair light and all of the children's heads bleed into the background as a result. The WB seems a bit off in #1 and the focus seems off in #4. Otherwise, I'd say that there are probably plenty of people who would pay for this. Keep it up and add a hair light and a softbox and practice and you'll be turning out some really nice work.

 

[kellylindseyphotography]

It looks like the softness might just be a result of not sharpening for the web.

The first one has a WB issue, and has the shirt blown out. I'm curious why you erased the watermark in the corner also.

2 seems grainy? WAs it underexposed and you fixed it in PS? Or perhaps its just my tired eyes right now. Otherwise, the hands seem awkward to me, but I like the eye connection.

3 and 4 are really cute but looks like the shirts were blown again in 4.

 

[manaheim]

I didn't love the wet sploogy tongue in lips look on the first girl, and the second girl the pose was a little peculiar for me... too adult, maybe?

Nice compositions, though.

 

[JerryPH]

Could we also please NOT put CC requests in the Beyond the basics? There are specific places put on the forum JUST for that.

Thank-you kindly!

 

[shifra]

Thanks everyone for all your input and sorry jerry, I will try and post next time in the right forum.
Johnboy, I agree....I always think that my photos lack sharpness....what is it that makes a photo sharper? I use a telephoto 70-300 lens....could that be the problem?
kelleylindsey I erased my signature because I'm not really ready to advertise yet, when you say the shirts are blown out do you mean they're too white?
Thanks again and I will try my next shots with a hair light.

 

[Early]

2, 3 and 4 I like a bunch, even though #4 is a little too soft. What happened there, because I like the expressions on the girls’ faces?

If #2 is touched up, I would have like to see the original. But that’s me. I’m of the opinion that most people on here over edit.

In #1, the color is way off, at least on my monitor. I’m not crazy about the girl’s mouth, either. That’s the only toss for me.

Meanwhile, I think you can start charging and practice your lighting technique as you go. You seem to have a great rapport with the kids, and that's the main thing.

 

[Jim Benton]

The best thing I can say about these is that they look as if they have been taken by someone who loved taking them.

It shows.

I'd agree about the mouth in shot 1. It's a shame when a subject chooses just the wrong moment to open/close their mouth, blink, etc, and ruin an otherwise excellent shot (when colour corrected).

 

[shifra]

2, 3 and 4 I like a bunch, even though #4 is a little too soft. What happened there, because I like the expressions on the girls’ faces?

I wish I knew..... some of my pictures just come out out of focus....what am I doing wrong?

 

[shifra]

The best thing I can say about these is that they look as if they have been taken by someone who loved taking them.

It shows.

Thanks Jim. I absolutely do love taking pictures....

 

[Moglex]

2, 3 and 4 I like a bunch, even though #4 is a little too soft. What happened there, because I like the expressions on the girls’ faces?

I wish I knew..... some of my pictures just come out out of focus....what am I doing wrong?

It's hard to say without knowing exactly how you are focusing.

At a guess I would say that you are using autofocus and from time to time the AF point is in the wrong place.

For example, if you are using a fairly shallow depth of field and the AF point happens to fall on the cheekbone or the eye, all willl be well.

If, however, it falls on the end of the nose the focus will shift slightly and seem soft (because the in focus point on the end of the nose is so small and no one is really looking for detail there).

You could try manual focusing - it's extremely easy with an SLR, but you may need to replace the focusing screen.

AF is great for snatched shots but with the type of photography you're doing manual is probably more reliable and you'll hardly notice you're doing it once you get used to it.

 

[shifra]

Thanks early,
I will try manual focus for a change and see how that works out.