C/C Request. . .

[93formulalt1]

I was asked to shoot some photos for my Sister, she knows that photography is a hobby of mine, and asked if I'd go outside my "normal" realm of photographic subjects and take some of her for her Senior Pictures. . . I jumped at the opportunity, and she decided to go ahead and let me try my hand at it, even after I explained how bad of a photographer I am, and that I couldn't guarantee satisfaction. She must have been feeling daring that day, because I think I actually got some decent photos.

I have included a couple that I like the most, and one that I need some input on. The last one would have been a great photo if it weren't for the lens flaring. Any ideas to clean it up a bit, short of re-shooting it?

Here are the photos, let me know what you think. I'm running a Pentax K110d with an 18-55 lens, Pentax hood, and a cheap UV filter. I left it on auto this time, because I was short on time, and thought I would have better luck getting a few worth keeping throughout the day if I wasn't messing with camera settings the whole time.

Next time I shoot, I'm going to play around with the settings a little more. I'm still a novice, but I've been doing some reading lately.

 

[93formulalt1]

FWIW, the pictures were resized MUCH smaller than the originals by Photobucket when I uploaded them. If anyone knows of a way to upload them without the photos being resized, let me know. . .

 

[tirediron]

C&C per req:

1. Always, always, ALWAYS avoid dappled light whenever possible. If you absolutely HAD to shoot this location than you really needed a strobe image left to reduce the deep shadows on the right side of her face. I thik you may have missed focus slightly too; her face is soft, but the cap-badge is sharp.

2. Nice, casual pose, but again dappled light and shadow on the right side of her face would have been better with fill light.

3. Fill light! (Notice a them here? ) Not fussed on her expression here, as shee looks rather annoyed; a closer crop would improve the image as there is a LOT of empty sapce and she's rather lost.

4. Nice expression, casual pose, and the CA from the sun actually sort of works here, but again a LOT of empty space. Zoom in/crop more tightly.

5. Dappled light again, shadow on her face.

6. This one had a lot of potential, but it's way under exposed (~3 stops) because of the bright sun. In a situation like this, remember to consider spot metering. Not sure she's in focus here either.

7. A nice expression, but in this case, I'm not a fan of the CA/sun haze and she is decidely under-exposed and a little too red.

Overall, they're not bad. Room for improvement definitely, but a start. Two things to remember, don't always center your subjects (easily fixed in post with a simple crop), don't include too much negative/empty space in the images, and watch your light. One of the most important skills a photographer can develop is the ability to "see" light; that is, to see what the light of a given scene will render like in the final image.

I'd suggest going back out and trying some more; you've got a great looking model, and some really nice area in which too shoot.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~Joh

 

[93formulalt1]

Thanks a lot! That's exactly what I was looking for! As far as the light is concerned, I didn't use ANY auxiliary lighting at all. The photo locations were all in a park/garden owned by a major university (who unfortunately beat Michigan this past Saturday in football), and they are a little off the beaten path. A couple of the locations used are hot spots for graduation photos to be taken by the "professional" photographers. These are high-traffic areas, and extra equipment would have slowed us down. Some of the photos were taken in locations where I had to stand in a road, bike path, etc., and couldn't block traffic for more than a few seconds.

Neither here nor there, however. I'm not going to make excuses. In reality, I tried to remember the lessons I learned from the great minds here, but I just couldn't remember all of them during every shot while I was out there snapping photos.

The "model" here is my younger sister. I didn't ask her to pose at all, I told her that the pictures were for her, I wanted all of them to look natural, none of the "posed" photos that her friends paid ridiculous amounts for. There are a few of them that really capture her in her element, but my lacking photography skills really prevent their true potential from being exposed.

Thanks again for the criticism, we're going to give it a shot again this weekend, probably in a different venue (where we don't have to pay an entrance fee and contend with hundreds of other people and vehicles). I'll keep up with the comments posted here.

What's a good way to add lighting? Reflectors? Remote flashes? I don't have a large budget, my camera is outdated, and my equipment bag contains a camera, an external flash (boot mount), and spare batteries. That's it. I do have a Jeep with a ton of auxiliary lighting on the front end I could use in a pinch, but I'd need some diffuser or some reflectors to break the light down a bit. . . Just some ideas. haha

 

[tirediron]

What's a good way to add lighting? Reflectors? Remote flashes?..

All of the above! Something as simple as a large piece of white posterboard can be a life saver!

 

[93formulalt1]

Great. I'll give that a try next time!

 

[Derrel]

It looks to me like that cheap UV filter killed your image quality when shooting toward the light.

 

[Abby Rose]

The photo locations were all in a park/garden owned by a major university (who unfortunately beat Michigan this past Saturday in football)

Mwa ha ha.

I'm a Spartan. :mrgreen:

I think I know where this is at, though.

I don't have any CC that's different than what's been said. I think that you should try again, though. Your sister is much better at posing than mine.

 

[93formulalt1]

The photo locations were all in a park/garden owned by a major university (who unfortunately beat Michigan this past Saturday in football)

Mwa ha ha.

I'm a Spartan. :mrgreen:

I think I know where this is at, though.

I don't have any CC that's different than what's been said. I think that you should try again, though. Your sister is much better at posing than mine.

Yeah, I live about 30 minutes from HLG on M-50, it's maintained by State. Cost $3/person to get in, it wouldn't have been so bad had it not been so crowded while I was there.

As far as the "Spartan" comment, my Mom has worked at UM for over 10 years, I grew up a UM fan, and sorry, but I'm not a "bandwagon fan" like many others. . . So you and I are sworn enemies, at least during the weeks when our respective teams are playing each other. lol

I'm going to experiment at a couple of local parks with external lighting (reflectors, mostly), and we'll give it another shot in a couple weeks.