Am I getting better???

mrsdthompson · Aug 15, 2011

Took these today for a friend. Tips?

(I know I know! I shouldn't have snapped her knees off in the shot

But there is something I really like about it!)

WesternGuy · Aug 15, 2011

Well, what do I say - not much, but just some comments - mostly nit picks...

#1. too closely cropped for my liking, but then that is just me. Skin tone in the first one does not seem to match the skin tone(s) in the rest of the images.
#2. not bad, but the background is distracting - I find my eyes go to the "green" patch on the right side of her head rather than to her eyes, but a nice catchlight though.
#3 the flare is overpowering - I would have tried to hide more of it behind a tree.
#4. not bad, but her face is in shadow and the sky is blown out...as for the light standard on the right side, I would have tried to include the whole thing or none of it at all - I find having only half of it a bit distracting. (I would have cropped it out as it distracts the viewer from the main subject.)

Anyway, my 0.02¢ worth.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

fokker · Aug 15, 2011

Hard to say if you're getting better because I haven't seen any of your previous work.

Of all the images #3 stands out as an excellent photo to me.

Also, the images aren't showing up for me for some reason (I just copied the url and viewed them in a seperate tab).

mrsdthompson · Aug 15, 2011

Thanks guys!

Diddy2theJJ · Aug 15, 2011

I haven't seen other images either...but a few thoughts. A BIG pet peeve of mine is a shadow showing up from on-camera flash like in #2. I don't really mind the cropping in #1 but it seems really flat and underexposed. #3 the sun looks cool there but the overall composition feels awkward to me. Maybe try moving her to the left side, or have her sit on the left side up top...or maybe leave her where she is and make it a vertical composition cutting off some of that on the left. #4 feels like there is way too much head room...and it seems strange to me that she's looking off to the right, and most of all that the child is looking backward, and the light post in the right corner feels like it was a mistake there too.

My 2 cents too. Keep practicing. What I like to do is find a really great photo that I like, and try and dissect how they did it, try to find where the lights are, whether it's the sun and a reflector or studio lights etc. You can use the eyes to see where a front light is placed, and look for rim lights around the hair and shoulders if it's a back light.

Good luck!

- Diddy

jake337 · Aug 15, 2011

I usually don't see limbs being cut off as an issue in many cases, but in this case it makes it seem as if it is not even her leg. Like she's resting her baby on someone elses leg.

mrsdthompson · Aug 15, 2011

Diddy2theJJ said:
I haven't seen other images either...but a few thoughts. A BIG pet peeve of mine is a shadow showing up from on-camera flash like in #2. I don't really mind the cropping in #1 but it seems really flat and underexposed. #3 the sun looks cool there but the overall composition feels awkward to me. Maybe try moving her to the left side, or have her sit on the left side up top...or maybe leave her where she is and make it a vertical composition cutting off some of that on the left. #4 feels like there is way too much head room...and it seems strange to me that she's looking off to the right, and most of all that the child is looking backward, and the light post in the right corner feels like it was a mistake there too.

My 2 cents too. Keep practicing. What I like to do is find a really great photo that I like, and try and dissect how they did it, try to find where the lights are, whether it's the sun and a reflector or studio lights etc. You can use the eyes to see where a front light is placed, and look for rim lights around the hair and shoulders if it's a back light.

Good luck!

- Diddy

Thanks! I actually hate the shadow in this pic

But I don't have the equipment required to prevent that soooo I just have to deal. Thanks for the tip!

DiskoJoe · Aug 15, 2011

not really feeling any of these.

jwbryson1 · Aug 15, 2011

FWIW, the colors in these images (except for 3 and 4 which are a bit blown out) seem oversaturated to me. Did you shoot in "vivid?"

mrsdthompson · Aug 15, 2011

No but I did edit to vivid (not the skin) because I liked the look with the mommies style.

mwcfarms · Aug 15, 2011

I am not a fan of the processing on her skin look a tad orangey in number one. I would crop shot two much more to make it a headshot. Number 3 would have been nice but her hands look amputated to me. Keep shooting and keep posting.

Scoody · Aug 15, 2011

Miles ahead of your maternity session, Dee. Marked improvement.

1. Love it. Maybe a little too much saturation, but then it probably just me and what do I know?

2. I do not like flash and I think you could have taken a much better photo tweaking the shutter speed and ISO.

3. This one could have been the best of the lot if not for the crop job. You could have filled out the shadows a bit.

As a critique comparing it to your last work, much improved! Much better.

MTVision · Aug 15, 2011

Definite improvement!! #1 is too tight of a crop but I really like this picture. Her eye makeup is bugging me though and draws my eye away from the rest of the image. Obviously this has nothing to do with you and/or your photography skills! Its not blended very well and looks like a dark line across her eyelid. I'm not very proficient in editing programs but I did play around with this image to try and blend the eyeshadow - it makes the eyeshadow a little bit darker than what she is wearing. If you want to see my super duper amateur try then let me know and I will send it to you.

#2 is ok - the green on the background is distracting like Western guy said,
#3 Concept is nice but the sun is a bit to bright and takes away from the girl. My eyes are drawn to the sun more than to the girl.
#4 they are both in shadow, sky is blown out plus it might be too much sky. Maybe crop it down a little. IMO maybe if she had been looking at her son it would've came out differently instead she is looking to the side and he is looking back!

I'm a noob so I'm not really qualified to critique images so take whatever I say with a grain of salt

Good job though! Keep shooting!!