Help! C&C Needed!

Eva D · Jul 8, 2011

Is there anything I can do to make these images better? I am still new to photography and would love any adive, feed back or comments anyone has for me?

tibrunner · Jul 9, 2011

I like these quite a bit! However, there are a couple things I would like to see differently next time.

Firstly, they all seem a bit underexposed...though it could just be my laptop screen.
Secondly, on the second picture it seems rather dull, color wise, and she seems to kind of blend into the tree. Need a little more color saturation.
Also, on the first picture, I cant get past the hoop earring! My eyes keep wandering into the empty void, maybe next time don't have the hole facing the camera?

But yes, brighten them up and make the colors a bit more vibrant. Other then those main two bits they are great! (IMO)

KmH · Jul 9, 2011

They all needed fill lighting, either reflected or strobed (flash), resulting in your subject being poorly separated from the backgrounds.

#1 has white balance issues.

#2 she has a bad case of 'raccoon eyes' (dark eye sockets) and is under exposed.

#3 she is under exposed.

Why did you use shutter priority and auto white balance?

Eva D · Jul 11, 2011

Thank you all for commented, this was the second shoot with my new camera and so far this was the best of all my shoots. I am still learning my camera ( I just bought it last week) and the same with Cs5, so please bare with me. I used shutter priority because I don't feel comfortable using full manual yet, however, I am learning. I used auto white balance because I wasn't sure, however, I will use the correct settings next time for the correct lighting. How would I give my pictures more color saturation?

AgentDrex · Jul 11, 2011

These photos bring a question to my mind. Forgive me if this seems rude, but subject has some big cheek-bones, how would one light them to minimize the size?

Raian-san · Jul 11, 2011

Sorry on this forum, we gave up on being patience. You either got it, or you don't. No excuses. I see that you were on here since March!! It's 4 months, so what if you just the camera last week? Haven't you been reading on Photography?

LOL I kid :lmao:

If she's staying still, and depend on how shaky your hands are, if you don't have VR or IS, don't shoot less than 1/100s shutter speed. It would help to know your lens and camera too. Also are you shooting it in raw and then edit or are you shooting jpeg or both? #3, watch out for background cause the light reflecting in the water makes that part blown out if you have at the right exposure. If you're shooting in the shaded area, try to not go below 1/100s of course, if you can go higher, go higher. Adjust ISO up a bit if you need to, and depend on your lens, let's say it's f/5.6. Then check the light meter to see if you have the right exposure, the line should be in the middle and take some shots. In shaded area, you do need fill lights but if you're just started, you might not have those equipment so gotta do your best.

If you haven't fully understand the exposure triangle, pick up Understanding exposure. I got it the minute I got my camera because everybody suggested it and it helped me a lot in the beginning. Play around with ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture. Let us know your camera, lens, and what format are you using, jpeg or raw.