HELP! Need feedback :)

[brittany c]

I am just someone who wants to shoot portraits on the side. I've been "shooting" friends and family for about a year and want some general feedback on my photos. I have ZERO classroom experience in photography. I shoot with a Nikon d5100, with a Nikon DX AF-S NIKKOR 35mm 1:1.8G lens. I use lightroom to edit my photos. I would appreciate any honest feedback and tips. Thanks!

 

[WesternGuy]

Just a few comment for nows. When you post this many images, it will help a reviewer if you number them. This makes it a lot easier to refer to an individual image. Also, you will probably get some C&C if you only post 2 or 3 images. A good review takes about 3 to 5 minutes for each image and you have posted 6 images here (= 18-30 minutes) and that is a lot to expect a reviewer to commit to. I am not a portrait photographer, so I cannot comment on the merits of the actual portrait. My only comments is to watch your backgrounds. They should not provide a distraction from the main subject, the person or people in the image. The door in the first image is, in my opinion, such a distraction. Its colour tends to draw attention to the door and the dark handle will definitely draw an observer's attention. In the third image, the background is too close in colour to that of the shirt on the child and thus, in my opinion, there is a bit of a tendency for the subject to get lost in the background. My other comment would be to watch how you crop peoples joints and other bits and pieces. Check out this guide for some suggestions on what to do and what not to do - http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/03/30/free-portrait-photography-cropping-guide/. I am sure that there are a lot more hints and helpful suggestions that others may have. HTH.

WesternGuy

 

[CmazzJK]

I like the composition of most of these. Aside from some of the whites being dangerously close to being overexposed I think they are pretty good. Take that for what it is.

 

[KmH]

Be more mindful of light quality and direction.

Learn how to use a flash (or 2, or 3), both on and off the camera, and other supplemental lighting like light from a reflector or 2, or 3.
Understand how light direction and quality can negatively impact the light metering sensor in your camera.
Understanding Camera Metering and Exposure

The last photo of the young boy his face is under exposed. Fill light from a reflector or a flash unit could have helped that.
In some of the others, their eye sockets are dark (raccoon eyes).

Direction & Quality of Light: Your Key to Better Portrait Photography Anywhere
Lighting & Design for Portrait Photography: Direction & Quality of Light
Minimalist Lighting: Professional Techniques for Location Photography

Posing, try to get your subjects shoulders on an angle to the camera, not straight on or at 90°.

The center of the frame is a weak spot, and tall narrow subjects usually look better if the camera is rotated 90° to the portrait (vertical) frame orientation.
Composition: Using the Rule of Thirds

• Making the Most of Natural Light in Photography (NEW)
• Portrait Lighting with One Light: Introduction
• Portrait Lighting with Two Lights: Fill Light

 

[Ysarex]

I realize that this is a contemporary fad at the moment. However, for the past 150 years in photography that look was an immediate an clear indication of a botched exposure. Odds are extremely good that this fad will do what most fashion fads do and fade away soon enough. This look will then return to meaning what it used to mean.

I understand that selling fads can be lucrative and if you're laughing all the way to the bank, fine.

I'm too old to see it as anything other than a botched exposure. And so a cautionary note; imagine a photo of Justin Bieber wearing a pair of drop crotch harem pants (you can Google it). That's what happens to fads after they pass.

Joe