Working on my Portraiture, c&c plz

[Outrageous]

heres some shots with my new 50mm f1.8 i got the other day. its my mission for the next month to shoot strictly people, in hopes of getting better at it. I'm wanting to go more commercial with my photography and i am unhappy with where i am with working with people. so here are a few shots from the other day, please any comments and c&c is VERY welcome as i want many opinions, and pointers....


1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[robertwsimpson]

make sure you're focusing on the eyes. they're the windows to the soul, you know.

 

[mikemicki]

#3 for sure is the stand-out. Nice job.

 

[gopal]

first is out of focus...
second-lighted while shooting
third will suit better in bw.
fourth, very harsh lighting,
fifth washed out image....all need corrections.....

portraiture is a subject to study a lot about, subject, emotions, lighting, angles, correct exposure, cropping, shooting faces, bust, waist-level or full.
standing, tilted, reclining, lying down, sitting, hands/legs' position, focus on eyes...and lot more....keep up. my best wishes.

 

[SrBiscuit]

make sure you're focusing on the eyes. they're the windows to the soul, you know.

lol they certainly are.

i can only see a couple of these, but they are def OOF.

 

[robertwsimpson]

when shooting at f1.8, if you even lean into or away from the picture, you can throw it out of focus. the focus plan is pretty sharp.

 

[Anelle]

What aperture were you shooting at?

Like others have mentioned the focus has to be slap bam on the eyes! It is probably the hardest thing to master when shooting people - getting the focus spot on on the eyes and shooting wide open!

I like the idea in some of these, so just keep working on the focus!

 

[Outrageous]

iirc, almost always f1.8, yeah the focus plane i have just learned is very small, and the screen on the camera is misleading, i think i am going to be shooting manual focus now with the 50mm to make sure i can get the focus right.

 

[Anelle]

Maybe also stop down to around 2.2 and see how that works? What lens are you using?

 

[robertwsimpson]

just have your model back up some. the focus plane will grow a bit. or yeah, stop down to 2.5 or so.

 

[Outrageous]

i'm using in these a canon 50mm f1.8. model is my girl, so there will plenty a opportunity for retakes

 

[kikikaikai]

you have a ver beautifull model
But you have to work on focus and manage exposure, because all the pic, (except the 1) show burned areas.
Coppositions: 1 and 3 are good , I don't like the others.

 

[ocular]

For second image there's a few things you need to do. Don't capture below the human subject unless u want a frightening affect. Her left breast is obviously ruining this picture and then this comes back to composition, unless your looking for a odd erotic picture.

 

[Brian L]

Great start man. I usually shoot my 85mm canon prime at f2.8. I find it is out of this world sharp there and the background is blown out great. Play around with it. You will like the f1.8 for low lighting inside. Great lens.

i am picking up the 50mm f1.8 usm and the 135mm f2.0L lens tomorrow. Can't wait.

Primes lenses rule

 

[AverageJoe]

Setup your camera to use ONE focal point (the center dot) focus lock on your subject's eye THEN frame the photo (without moving closer to or further from the subject).