Engagement shoot for critique

[cherylynne1]

Here are some preview images for an engagement shoot I did for the daughter of a friend. I'm going to let them pick the ones they like best before doing more in-depth editing for stray hairs and such, since there are a lot!

I really, really struggled. My flash failed at the first location (still not sure why...I got it working by the second location, though) then we got kicked out early, and I didn't pay close enough attention to how the gold reflector affected their different skin tones, etc., etc. I tried to fix what I could in post, but they still didn't turn out the way I was hoping.

Any advice?

Thank you! You guys are always so helpful!

DSC00069-Edit by cherylynne1, on Flickr

DSC09778-Edit-Edit by cherylynne1, on Flickr

DSC09692 by cherylynne1, on Flickr

 

[JonA_CT]

Not an expert by any means, but I'll throw my 2 cents in anyways...

1. Least favorite of the three -- the posing seems a bit awkward, and she looks uncomfortable -- something to do with the way her shoulders are aligned. The background also isn't that pleasant, imo. It's too dark, and there isn't enough of the water to really understand what it is.

2. I like this one much more. I think the pose seems much more natural, and the lighting is pleasant. My only question is her left hand -- it took me a long time to figure out that she was grabbing his tie. I think it's because the shadows are so dark on the knot of the tie, so I thought it was a sash or something. It could just be that I'm daft, though.

3. Favorite of the three. Nice pose, and I love the way the light is hitting her face. The background frame with the tree and the lake works for me, and it gives the context that the first shot was missing.

Anyways, much nicer than I could pull off!

 

[tirediron]

Okay, point #1. Take your gold reflector and put it somewhere safe. Very, very safe. So safe you won't be able to find it! Unless you're shooting on a tropical beach at sunset or working with very dark skinned clients, it will invariably cause more problems than it will solve.

In addition to the comments above, I'll add my own $00.00145 (exchange rate, don'tcha know?) cents worth: In #1 find the background less than exciting, and I would prefer to see them a bit off centre. I quite like #2, but given the darkness of the tree trunk, I wonder if this is the candidate for a monochrome coversion? #3 I'm afraid, doesn't do a lot for me. He appears to be stretching and she seems to have an expression that says she'd prefer her weird cousin left her alone. It's important to keep people close together and to prevent leaning. Also, watch your cropping; you've lopped off half her elbow!

 

[cherylynne1]

Thank you both! I agree, I learned my lesson about the gold reflector. Why didn't I just use silver? Why did I think it looked good in the moment? I have no idea. I think I just got flustered by the flash not working and everything went haywire. I have to work on not letting that happen.

I'll have to check and see how much I cropped in the first and third, to see if those edges can be recovered. I tend to overcrop.

As for the second, you called it, tirediron, it's only black and white because the gold reflector screwed it up so badly. I'm glad the lighting looks nice, though, at least that means I had it correctly placed if I had used the right color. And I agree with Jon, too, I think it would have helped if the triangular end of the tie had been more visible, since that would really have helped to identify it.

Anyway, thank you again for your comments!