1st Attempt at People (C&C Requested)

[jjphotos]

I don't usually take picture of people so please lay all your critique on me

 

[Juga]

Just my two cents and by no means am I a professional but...your highlights are really hot, very harsh shadows due to the direct sun light, horizon is not level, and for me the sunglasses are causing a disconnect especially in number 2. I know these aren't 'beach' photos but waiting for better lighting when the sun is going down or coming up tends to be best for these types of shots where it gives a warmer look. Others may not agree with me but just my observation as I am trying to learn as well.

 

[The_Traveler]

I think you would benefit from allowing editing to your images.

 

[caseyrbrown]

C&C per req...


I think both of them need fill flash. It looks like you only used the sun as your key light and nothing else. Even though it's bright out, your on-camera flash set at 1/64 or even 1/128 power or a simple reflector camera left could have helped immensely with this shoot by filling in those harsh shadows across her cheek and neck. Also, with just a little fill, you could have darkened the sky a little and made her glow a little more.

On the other hand, the model's posing seems just a little awkward. In #1, the back of her right thigh is bulging out a little, which distracted me from her face. You also cut off the bottom of her foot, which isn't awful, but you left so much room at the top that it would have been easy to include her foot. She also didn't seem too interested in the pictures either. Not sure if she is a friend or a hired model, but if I assume the former, than one thing that helps when I ask my girlfriend to come take pictures is showing her the end result of recent shoots. If she sees that she looks great in photos where her eyes are lit up and focused then she is more inclined to do just that.

A few little things too... I think both are a tad overexposed. Both her hair in #2 and sunglasses in both are distracting, and are both easy fixes.

The pictures look pretty good, but I think if you work a little more on posing and lighting you'll be golden

PS. Did you edit these at all? Traveler is right; even a little bit of tweaking in Lightroom could help a lot more than you may think.

 

[jjphotos]

Just my two cents and by no means am I a professional but...your highlights are really hot, very harsh shadows due to the direct sun light, horizon is not level, and for me the sunglasses are causing a disconnect especially in number 2. I know these aren't 'beach' photos but waiting for better lighting when the sun is going down or coming up tends to be best for these types of shots where it gives a warmer look. Others may not agree with me but just my observation as I am trying to learn as well.

Thank you very much for the critique
By highlights do you mean things such as a the yellow shirt?

I think you would benefit from allowing editing to your images.

Okay i have changed it
Do members get a notification if i quote the?
People dont seem to respond back

C&C per req...


I think both of them need fill flash. It looks like you only used the sun as your key light and nothing else. Even though it's bright out, your on-camera flash set at 1/64 or even 1/128 power or a simple reflector camera left could have helped immensely with this shoot by filling in those harsh shadows across her cheek and neck. Also, with just a little fill, you could have darkened the sky a little and made her glow a little more.

On the other hand, the model's posing seems just a little awkward. In #1, the back of her right thigh is bulging out a little, which distracted me from her face. You also cut off the bottom of her foot, which isn't awful, but you left so much room at the top that it would have been easy to include her foot. She also didn't seem too interested in the pictures either. Not sure if she is a friend or a hired model, but if I assume the former, than one thing that helps when I ask my girlfriend to come take pictures is showing her the end result of recent shoots. If she sees that she looks great in photos where her eyes are lit up and focused then she is more inclined to do just that.

A few little things too... I think both are a tad overexposed. Both her hair in #2 and sunglasses in both are distracting, and are both easy fixes.

The pictures look pretty good, but I think if you work a little more on posing and lighting you'll be golden

PS. Did you edit these at all? Traveler is right; even a little bit of tweaking in Lightroom could help a lot more than you may think.

Thank you so much for the critique
I have always avoided the on camera flash
Do you know if a simple camera like the Canaon T2i (what i have) has flash ajustment?

Just a friend of course

Are the main issues the psoing and deep shadows?
Now thatilook, the posing does seem quite awkward

#2 doeant seem too awkward but youre saying the eye contact is breaking the photo?

 

[Juga]

Again I am not a pro but this is what I would have done for the first image. I toned down the highlights which wasn't only the shirt but multiple spots on her skin particularly her shoulder and most of her face, dropped a bit of contrast and exposure, brought the temperature up a bit and a little more color saturation so she didn't look pasty white. Even in the edit I did I feel like the harsh shadows kill the image.

The second one is thrown off by the sunglasses, lack of eye contact IMO, and again harsh shadows.

And yes on the T2i you can control Flash Exposure Compensation by 1/3 increments.