Jade and her Harley

[Nuts4CorgiButts]

So a friend asked for some photos. I'd love some feed back. I'm not a pro at all.. and she knows this. Would love to learn more proper ways to compose and shoot portrait sessions.

P.s. the shoot started way later than planned and the light was horribly bright. I feel I over exposed everything.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app

 

[Designer]

You're right; the light was not your friend. This is way too many shots to write a proper critique, so I will just list some pointers for next time.

Earlier or later in the day will give you better angles of the sunlight.
Meter for your subject, not allowing the camera to meter for the sky.
Focus on your model's eyes, not the front of the motorcycle.
Ask extra people to stand out of the frame.
Use fill flash (yes, in bright sunlight) to fill in the shadows under people's eyebrows and chins.
Note; most are not too bad, but they could be better, and the backlighted shot would be TONS better.
Watch your backgrounds to avoid distracting elements.
Even if the motorcycle is leaning, you should still hold the camera straight (or look for a better pose).

 

[MSnowy]

I agree with @Designer on all his points. Other then the light I think the next biggest issue is the backgrounds. Nice clean backgrounds would have added to the pictures. I'm sure you might have already done this but googling "girls on Harleys" (NSFW)will give you some nice ideas for another shoot.

 

[Nuts4CorgiButts]

Thank you guys. That's exactly what I needed. I hated the location but she chose it. I'm struggling with camera tilt. I need to suck it up and use my tripod until I can learn to keep it straight o_0 I must have a short leg lol. I have asked her for another shoot to try again under better conditions and with these pointers in mind. If she goes for it I'll post a few here to see if they're any better. Thank you!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app

 

[tirediron]

Skip the tripod, it will only get in the way. Learn to shoot level! Before you hit the shutter, look through the viewfinder and find a frame of reference, building, tree, whatever. Something that's vertical or horizontal and line it up against your viewfinder's grid lines. As well, shoot wide and leave yourself room to level in post.

 

[Nuts4CorgiButts]

Skip the tripod, it will only get in the way. Learn to shoot level! Before you hit the shutter, look through the viewfinder and find a frame of reference, building, tree, whatever. Something that's vertical or horizontal and line it up against your viewfinder's grid lines. As well, shoot wide and leave yourself room to level in post.

I'll try this. Thank you

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app

 

[Designer]

I'm struggling with camera tilt. I need to suck it up and use my tripod until I can learn to keep it straight o_0 I must have a short leg lol.

I am very good at seeing horizontal and vertical, and I don't always get it straight in the camera. You should get into the habit of looking at each photo on your computer where you can straighten them. It takes only a few seconds for each one, and it's easy to do.

If you have difficulty in seeing horizontal and vertical on your computer, I can give you some helpful tips, but best handled in another thread or a PM.

 

[Nuts4CorgiButts]

I'm struggling with camera tilt. I need to suck it up and use my tripod until I can learn to keep it straight o_0 I must have a short leg lol.

I am very good at seeing horizontal and vertical, and I don't always get it straight in the camera. You should get into the habit of looking at each photo on your computer where you can straighten them. It takes only a few seconds for each one, and it's easy to do.

If you have difficulty in seeing horizontal and vertical on your computer, I can give you some helpful tips, but best handled in another thread or a PM.

I would appreciate it

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app

 

[Trever1t]

Location Location Location! Shooting portraiture you want to isolate and spotlight your subject. Choose a less cluttered and confusing background.

 

[Nuts4CorgiButts]

Location Location Location! Shooting portraiture you want to isolate and spotlight your subject. Choose a less cluttered and confusing background.

I agree with this. I went real soft and let the client make all the calls. Everything was bad. She was thrilled with the inages, but I was not. She's agreed to let me do another shoot on my terms. We will be relocating it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app

 

[Designer]

She was thrilled with the images, but I was not.

No offense to your friend, but non-photographers are more easily pleased with average photography whereas the photographer will strive for better results. She will be impressed with better photos, but you may still have to point out to her exactly what makes a better photo better. Then she will be even more impressed because you knew what to do and took the time and care to make it better for her.

 

[Derrel]

I really like the look of Jade's figure and waedrobe in this set! Very attractive. One of the easiest ways to get a good, clean background is to shoot against a large expanse of open water, like up on a hillside that's anywhere from 20 to 150 feet above a lake or the ocean. Or in a parking lot that has a large, open,attractive but simple expanse behind it...keeping the background objects pretty far behind the camera-to-subject distance will tend to minimize the depth of field that might cause the background to show up too clearly.

In shots 2,3,4 and 5, you used raw, undiffused sunlight quite well!!! You pointed her fce and eyes right into the sunlight, and at that time of day,m got a good, solid under-chin shadow; the under-chin shadow helps to show the shape of the face, and when the shadow drops straight down toward the upper lip, it looks pretty good. The nose shadow can also go a bit off to one side or the other, and look quite good too. This light was actually not "horriblel", but the exposure and processing of the captures looks like it was not quite 100% optimal.

I dunno..these same basic poses would have been quite good if the backgrounds behind her would have been less cluttery, or more compelling. For the next time, just try to keep it simple: motorcyle, rider, good wardrobe and styling, and some decent light, simple backdrops, and shoot. FIND a good location, before you do the shoot, and make sure that the lighting conditions there match the time of day the shoot is held at.

 

[Nuts4CorgiButts]

Thank you

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app