How can I improve???

[shnic]

Please let me know what you feel is good/bad about these photos...What can I work on to improve?
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

 

[Kerbouchard]

In general, shoot tighter. Lots of dead space above the heads in several of the images.

I am not a huge fan of the lighting, but that's more of a personal thing. Not a fan of the tilt, but again, that is a personal thing. Same thing for the processing.

The only thing univeral is that the crops are a bit loose and include things that just didn't need to be included.

 

[Guinness Man]

I love the lighting, but I second the Crop thing. too much dead space

 

[Derrel]

1,2,3,6,7 all have bad amputations of hands, limbs,or feet. By contrast, shots 4 and 5 show the children full-body, and the end result is much more tranquil and pleasing to the eye. The excessive top space on several of these would have allowed you to include ALL of the feet or limbs, and that would have made each photo better.

 

[DiskoJoe]

What darrel said. lol

#5 was the best imo.

 

[shnic]

Thanks! I know what to work on next time!

 

[Designer]

Please consider my comments in addition to other poster's comments regarding cropping

#1 forget the tilt, distracting element in background, need more light on subject's faces
#2 cropping, lighting could be better
#3 there's that tilt, again (what's up with the tilting craze?)
#4 distracting element in background (not so much what it is, but where it is relative to the subject's head)
#5 pretty good, but there is a (probably unintentional) very slight tilt - also check focus in enlargement
#6 adorable model, but this shot does not need a "tilt" - the lightish background detracts from her hair
#7 my favorite of them all

 

[ankur31gkp]

head space is more and ISO level is high or make it proportion with your shutter speed. Try to focus on face or body if the background is not needed to place in click. Well i should appriciate you for nice processing and timing

 

[MReid]

These aren't bad.
Less tilt and vignette. If you are going to clip body parts do it in between the joints not at knees/wrists don't cut feet and hands in half.
I like your use of light and your depth of field. Framing and background are decent.
To improve look at a lot of portraits, take note of what you like and keep practicing.

 

[shnic]

Thanks for the tips! I have a lot of things to think about for next time!

 

[shnic]

Did some editing to #1. Tried to minimize the tilt. Since the limbs were cut out at an odd place I cropped it at their knees. Cut out some of the dead space at the top and side. I think that it helped somewhat. At least to me it seems more pleasing to the eye. While it may not be perfect, its all I had to work with. Again, thanks for everyones input.

 

[Derrel]

Good re-work of the first shot. One comment however; when using overhead, hanging foliage as a compositional or framing device...it's okay to leave a bit of top-space in the frame, to "establish" the foliage within its own space. In this shot, the most-distracting thing is that rusty-red colored fountain or whatever it is in the background...that is just killing the shot,and it also appears in photo #4. Photos 2,3,5,6 all have "clean" and simple and unobtrusive backgrounds, which really helps keep the emphasis on those attractive kids.

Probably the single best photographic bit of advice I could give is to watch the background. Look at the background FIRST, and find a clean, simple background that does not compete with the subjects. As you are photographing people, always keep an eye on the background and watch for objects like that fountain, or cars, people, telephone poles, trees, ugly buildings, and the like. Often times only a few steps to the left or right, or moving the subject just a few feet one way or the other, especially when using a telephoto focal length, will give a clean, simple background.

 

[shnic]

Thanks!