Looking For C&C My Portraiture

[Fifthphotography]

So as of right now I'm just starting my business and my primary focus (for now) is Portraiture. So these are some of my favorites from the sessions Ive had. id much appreciate any comments or critiques you can offer on my work.

1

Old Town

2

Old Town

3

Dominic
4

Dominic

5

Jaqueline

6

Jaqueline

7

Luke-25

8

Luke-13

Thanks!

 

[tirediron]

Very nice; hard to really provide critique on these because they're so different from what I would do. I like the poses and ideas in them. A couple of small niggles:

2. You've cropped off a little bit of the last finger of her left hand. Not really fussed about the background here; great portrait (assuming the expression was deliberate), just a bit of a 'messy' background.

3. I think a reflector or kicker was needed here to reduce the shadow on the right side of his face just a tad.

6. I really wish I could see her eyes.

7. Slight blown area, right shoulder of his shirt.

8. As per 7, and slightly hot on the face.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary. I think these are some really nice shots. Well done!

~John

 

[DanFinePhotography]

#6 and 2 are nice have to agree with chopping off the fingertips a bit. maybe a tad overexposed but overall a nice set :thumbup:

 

[Fifthphotography]

I actually was using a reflector for 3&4 but my human reflector stand was running from the tide. So it may not have been as effect as it should have been. I guess need to work on my attention to detail the fingertips, the hidden eyes and such. Thanks for the C&C.

 

[Derrel]

"As hard as it may be to except, skill is far more important than gear."

You might wish to spell "accept" correctly, since the use of the word except makes your statement seem somewhat at odds with the message you were trying to convey.

Frames 1,5,6--why horizontals?

 

[Fifthphotography]

"As hard as it may be to except, skill is far more important than gear."

You might wish to spell "accept" correctly, since the use of the word except makes your statement seem somewhat at odds with the message you were trying to convey.

Frames 1,5,6--why horizontals?

lol I said nothing of spelling or grammar. Honestly I don't know. Looking at it now I see what you mean or at least what I think you mean. A vertical composition would of drawn the attention more to the subjects and less to the background which is nothing special. Ill keep that in mind next time I shoot. Thanks!

 

[Breaux]

Some excellent shots - and unusual poses!

When I was doing portraits, I found only a few factors that were critical for happy clients, assuming it's exposed and focussed reasonably well: crop close, focus on eyes, catch a charcteristic expression. You can use a wider crop if there's something good going on in the rest of the frame. (#1, #3 and #4 are OK wide, #5 - not)

Also, you'll do yourself a favor by not having white or black clothing, or worst of all, both. It can certainly work, but exposure is simpler without that. (As in #8, the dark guitar looks good, the dark hair looks good, the white shirt is burning my retinas!)

#2 is a good location and good pose, but has a bad background. Fix it with a larger aperture, or wait til it's darker out, then light only your subject with diffused or bounced flash.

#5 the expression you captured is priceless! I would crop in closer. Everything you want in a portrait right there in her face.

#8 now that's how a background should look!

 

[Breaux]

Also I just noticed the nose shadow in #8. Always watch for undesireable shadows on the face, which usually means eye-sockets and noses!

 

[njw1224]

1. Darn nice. I could see a H.S. senior lovin this. I'd like to see a bit more of the exposed eye.
2. Don't like it. I don't like the house gutter in the background, and I don't like the expression. It's kind of a fun concept - peeking over a fence - so I think I'd like it more if she had an ornery grin or something.
3. & 4. I'm not really diggin' these, sorry. I like the overall concept of a person in the surf, but here the plastic chair has no character and looks cheap (and weak). He looks to be too big for the chair, at least in the pose he's in. It makes the whole thing really top-heavy.
5. Pretty nice. The expression carries the shot.
6. The red hat and bracelet draw my attention far more than the face. So as a portrait, I think it is a bit weak. A dark hat wouldn't have drawn as much attention. Then lose the bracelet, and we can concentrate on the face more.
7. & 8. Fairly nice shots. I think the composition & posing is well done. 8 is too bright - highlights are blown out a bit. Needs to be a good bit darker. Probably fixable in post.

 

[Petraio Prime]

I don't understand. Staring what 'business'?

If it's professional portraiture, you should already be competent enough that you should not need any critiques here.

If you're a novice photographer, why are you even considering a 'business'?

The horizontal photographs need to be vertical. The fact that they are not means that you are not ready to start a 'business'.

 

[Fifthphotography]

I don't understand. Staring what 'business'?

If it's professional portraiture, you should already be competent enough that you should not need any critiques here.

If you're a novice photographer, why are you even considering a 'business'?

The horizontal photographs need to be vertical. The fact that they are not means that you are not ready to start a 'business'.

So you think a professional photographer should be beyond critique? I think thats foolish. I'm confidant that I can professionally do portraits for someone and they will be ecstatic with the results thats why Ive started my business. But I'm not interested in just being good enough I want to continue to improve and grow in my photography. And being critiqued by other photographers is an excellent way to do that. But thanks for the comment.

 

[Fifthphotography]

Some excellent shots - and unusual poses!

When I was doing portraits, I found only a few factors that were critical for happy clients, assuming it's exposed and focussed reasonably well: crop close, focus on eyes, catch a charcteristic expression. You can use a wider crop if there's something good going on in the rest of the frame. (#1, #3 and #4 are OK wide, #5 - not)

Also, you'll do yourself a favor by not having white or black clothing, or worst of all, both. It can certainly work, but exposure is simpler without that. (As in #8, the dark guitar looks good, the dark hair looks good, the white shirt is burning my retinas!)

#2 is a good location and good pose, but has a bad background. Fix it with a larger aperture, or wait til it's darker out, then light only your subject with diffused or bounced flash.

#5 the expression you captured is priceless! I would crop in closer. Everything you want in a portrait right there in her face.

#8 now that's how a background should look!

Thanks for the tips! I'm definitely going to try and stay away from the white and black. 1+2 are from the beginning of this year and God only knows why I was shooting at F/7 with my 50mm f/1.4 (what can I say I was so much younger and naive way back then lol)

 

[Fifthphotography]

1. Darn nice. I could see a H.S. senior lovin this. I'd like to see a bit more of the exposed eye.
2. Don't like it. I don't like the house gutter in the background, and I don't like the expression. It's kind of a fun concept - peeking over a fence - so I think I'd like it more if she had an ornery grin or something.
3. & 4. I'm not really diggin' these, sorry. I like the overall concept of a person in the surf, but here the plastic chair has no character and looks cheap (and weak). He looks to be too big for the chair, at least in the pose he's in. It makes the whole thing really top-heavy.
5. Pretty nice. The expression carries the shot.
6. The red hat and bracelet draw my attention far more than the face. So as a portrait, I think it is a bit weak. A dark hat wouldn't have drawn as much attention. Then lose the bracelet, and we can concentrate on the face more.
7. & 8. Fairly nice shots. I think the composition & posing is well done. 8 is too bright - highlights are blown out a bit. Needs to be a good bit darker. Probably fixable in post.

Thanks for the input. For 3+4 Id like to do these shots again but with a much nicer chair and maybe some different poses. I actually found the chair in the pictures at the beach someone had just left it there. So I decided to throw it in the water and take some shots.

 

[Petraio Prime]

I don't understand. Staring what 'business'?

If it's professional portraiture, you should already be competent enough that you should not need any critiques here.

If you're a novice photographer, why are you even considering a 'business'?

The horizontal photographs need to be vertical. The fact that they are not means that you are not ready to start a 'business'.

So you think a professional photographer should be beyond critique? I think thats foolish. I'm confidant that I can professionally do portraits for someone and they will be ecstatic with the results thats why Ive started my business. But I'm not interested in just being good enough I want to continue to improve and grow in my photography. And being critiqued by other photographers is an excellent way to do that. But thanks for the comment.

If you're a true pro, yes. You don't get 'critiques'.

The point I'm making is that you're nowhere near ready to think about doing professional photography. That should be the last thing on your mind. You're just beginning.

 

[Fifthphotography]

I don't understand. Staring what 'business'?

If it's professional portraiture, you should already be competent enough that you should not need any critiques here.

If you're a novice photographer, why are you even considering a 'business'?

The horizontal photographs need to be vertical. The fact that they are not means that you are not ready to start a 'business'.

So you think a professional photographer should be beyond critique? I think thats foolish. I'm confidant that I can professionally do portraits for someone and they will be ecstatic with the results thats why Ive started my business. But I'm not interested in just being good enough I want to continue to improve and grow in my photography. And being critiqued by other photographers is an excellent way to do that. But thanks for the comment.

If you're a true pro, yes. You don't get 'critiques'.

The point I'm making is that you're nowhere near ready to think about doing professional photography. That should be the last thing on your mind. You're just beginning.

Judging from your work you're nowhere near ready to think about telling others they are or are not at a professional level. So I'm going to keep asking for input and continue to improve myself. I have no desire to be just "competent enough" so please take your stagnation elsewhere.