an attempt at using models

[Christina]

Ok so my lighting sucked. obviously, three o'clock is not a good time to shoot im learning. but my main goal was learning to position to people and such. any help or C&C would be greatly appriciated.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

 

[heip]

Three o'clock can be a good time to shoot but you ned to take them into the shadows and watch what happens with the light.
Try not to pose the subject straight on.
Also be careful with your focus, a couple of these that were posed faily well are blurry.
#4 & #5 are nice shots, but again...the sharpness.
#8: generally posing couples far apart without a connection doesn't work.
#9 is a nice shot, but watch the highlights. (blown out on the arms)
Keep shooting!!

 

[NJMAN]

Hi Christina,

There are some good elements in these, but there are a few things you could work on, some of which heip has mentioned already.

#1, when shooting outdoor portraits, and the background is bright and busy, be careful to use shallow depth of field. This will keep the background blurred and give nice focus to your subject. Also, when the background is this bright, its best to expose for the foreground, or use some sort of fill light on your subject to bring in some light. A fill flash or reflector will work. Lastly, be careful of how your subject poses. I didnt think this was a particularly masculine pose.

#2, Again, the subject is too dark. This one could also benefit from a vertical crop, not a horizontal crop with the subject in the dead center.

#3, This one is better lit, but the lighting is flat. Again, it would look better with shallow depth of field. Also, a little bit of post processing on the skin would be good to clean up the blemishes/bumps on her leg.

#4 and #5, again, shallow depth of field will help separate your subjects from the background, so they dont blend in so much. Not sure about the brown/red tint either. It makes them blend in with the background even more.

#6, out of focus.

#7, This one could benefit from a vertical crop and some sharpening. The hard sunlight on her face is also distracting.

#8, As heip said, subjects that are this far apart dont usually work too well.

#9, This is the best one IMO. But again, it needs shallow depth of field, and the hard sunlight on the skin is distracting.

Keep shooting.

 

[Big Mike]

Far too many of them have the subject in the middle of the image. Right smack in the middle...with lots of dead space around them. Either get close and fill the frame with your subject, or compose them in a way which isn't so 'boring' (for lack of a better term).

 

[Christina]

thank you, and i appriciate the suggestions, haha they wont be happy when i drag them out to do it again.

anyone else?

 

[Garbz]

#7 How male. You're supposed to be focusing on the eye's not the breasts

Just watch your focus on a few of them. Also in number 4 and 5 they are completely lost in the scene.

 

[Sideburns]

The guy looks way too fake happy...and I find that the girl's blemishes/bruises...whatever they are...are quite distracting...face/legs/arms...

I'm not saying that she needs to wear heavy makeup or something, but maybe a bit to soften it all up, and you could probably do a small amount in photoshop to clean it up a bit.

But mostly the biggest thing I noticed is framing the shot you have them in the middle...and it's kinda like "hey lookit me I'm posing for a family portrait" ya know?

Also, the only one wear they aren't looking at the camera is when the girls is "purposely" not looking. Try and make it look more natural... Even take some pictures when they aren't expecting it...Your camera has burst fire and should be pretty quiet...with the flash off, they may not even know you're shooting...just don't put the camera down and take pics when they aren ot expecting you to...they might even turn out better than if they were planned.

 

[pink_panther]

#2 is a nice shot, although I would have cropped it just below her shoulders.

#6 is also a nice idea - however a little out of focus.

#7 is also a nice capture, however, think out of the box and look at the background. she looks like she has a post growing out of her head.

#3 I love this shot! A nice pose, good fore and background.

Did you use fill flash on any of these shots?

A nice little montage though. I like them, my critique is only my personal opinion and doesnt count for anything ;-0

 

[Christina]

hey i cant help she has big boobs, she was actually complaining they were too big when i was shooting..

as for the bruises & blemishes... i agree thats why i tried to crop or shoot a little farther away.

and the fake smile on the guy... i had to threaten to kill him to even smile. he's a friend of mine... not to fond of girls if you get my drift, but offered to help out so... i tried

but i appriciate everyones thoughts and suggestions, i will def. keep them in mind when i try this again. thank you all.

 

[NJMAN]

Christina,

I just have to say that you have a great sense of humor. That is so important if you are going to do portrait photography. I commend you for going out there and giving it your best shot.

If I were you, I would become familiar with using photoshop of some other image editing program to fix little areas of your images that need it. It will definitely pay off. Otherwise, just keep in mind all the other tips for shooting good portraits, and it will get better if you keep trying and learning.

Keep going. I look forward to seeing more of your posts!

 

[AUZambo]

I agree with everyone else as far as the framing and focusing. Also, be aware of other things in the frame...such as the fishing bobber hanging from the tree in #2. it could easily be cloned out, but even easier to avoid altogether.

 

[HollandHusker]

I like 3 but the background is a bit to busy. Also if you'd try to clone out the spots on her leg it be better! Overall I'd try to find a better location and the sort of yellowish doesn't do anything for me. It's too yellowish