Looking to improve- CC, please?

[dustilanephotography]

Have been taking pictures for awhile now and I have definitely improved (if you could see my order pictures you would laugh!) but I know I have a long way to go before I'm where I'd like to be. Can you please give me some constructive criticism on both editing and the image itself? Thank you.

 

[dustilanephotography]

Oh, and the quality is a little off once I put it on my phone.

 

[JacaRanda]

Hello and welcome to TPF!

From what I can tell, you have done a nice job in focusing on the eyes. I would watch your cropping and or shoot a little wider so you don't cut off body parts (chin, forehead, elbow, arm).

I like the two pictures on the left. Nice angle - getting down low for the shots, and pretty model.

 

[dustilanephotography]

Hello and welcome to TPF! From what I can tell, you have done a nice job in focusing on the eyes. I would watch your cropping and or shoot a little wider so you don't cut off body parts (chin, forehead, elbow, arm). I like the two pictures on the left. Nice angle - getting down low for the shots, and pretty model.

Thank you! And I will definitely take note of that for my next session!

 

[ronlane]

I agree with JacaRanda about the cropping. You need to shoot a little wider on the first one to get all of her elbows in there, that should allow to get the top of the head in there as well (but I could live with a little of it cut off). Agree on #2. #3 I actually like this one as is. You've added just enough of the brick to show the reason for the landscape photo and the background is nicely blurred.

 

[dustilanephotography]

I agree with JacaRanda about the cropping. You need to shoot a little wider on the first one to get all of her elbows in there, that should allow to get the top of the head in there as well (but I could live with a little of it cut off). Agree on #2. #3 I actually like this one as is. You've added just enough of the brick to show the reason for the landscape photo and the background is nicely blurred.

Okay, thank you. I will definitely do that. And thank you again!

 

[DiskoJoe]

Try to envoke some varying emotion as well. She has exactly the same look in every shot.

 

[dustilanephotography]

Try to envoke some varying emotion as well. She has exactly the same look in every shot.

Okay, thanks for the advice. I just picked these three out of my favorites, and I always tend to love the images with a more somber mood. I have others with various emotions and whatnot, but I get what you're saying.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Try to envoke some varying emotion as well. She has exactly the same look in every shot.

Okay, thanks for the advice. I just picked these three out of my favorites, and I always tend to love the images with a more somber mood. I have others with various emotions and whatnot, but I get what you're saying.

These being part of the same set is the issue. Their isnt much variance.

 

[dustilanephotography]

These being part of the same set is the issue. Their isnt much variance.

Okay. I will work on that. Thanks for the tip!

 

[JoeW]

Have been taking pictures for awhile now and I have definitely improved (if you could see my order pictures you would laugh!) but I know I have a long way to go before I'm where I'd like to be. Can you please give me some constructive criticism on both editing and the image itself? Thank you.

Kudos to you for putting something up for critique--that's how people improve and that speaks well of you.

Here are a couple of tips for "the next time."
1. Upper left photo: generally like the pose for a lot of models, hair to one side also good. Seems a little overexposed to me. Also, not sure that pose works for that specific model--it makes her biceps look big (just heard another photographer refer to "bingo arms") and if her arms are straight (or biceps covered) it will be less noticeable. I think pose would also work better if her head had a modest tilt to one side or the other rather than straight up--it's a casual pose but head straight up looks a bit rigid rather than casual or relaxed. Agree with comments about cropping--generally speaking you don't want to cut of elbows. General rule for all of these shots--I personally find faces to be more dynamic when the person isn't facing the camera directly but their face is at a bit of an angle.
2. Left lower: like the hint of an expression and the pose. Bounce a little light from a reflector to try and reduce the shadows/circles under her eyes. Crop on this one bothers me less. Also, I'd pull her back another foot or two from the edge of the bricks--too much detail in the bricks may pull some viewers' to the bricks and not the model's face. If she's back a foot and you use a narrow DoF then the bricks add color but lose some detail.
3. Upper right: pleasant face but this show would benefit from a slightly different angle of the face (have her move her chin left or right by just 5 degrees). Or a different crop.
4. Lower right: has potential. But existing crop to me emphasizes the bars (including the ones coming out of her head). The bricks and bars have nice patterns. Pull back, show more of her and the background...then make it B&W to emphasize form--and see how that works. Like the expression on her face. The crop has a hand emerging out of nowhere. Far better to either eliminate the hand or show the entire arm.

As always, this is just my 2 cents and my preferences.

 

[pgriz]

Another tip - watch your backgrounds. If they are not adding to the image, they should not compete with the main subject. that's why you often seen photographers use a fairly large aperture to blur the background.

 

[dustilanephotography]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[KmH]

To one degree or another she has dark eye sockets (raccoon eyes) in all of them.
The light quality and direction look good, but in general the lighting is flat and she does not 'pop' from the backgrounds.
The one where she has her head on the wall (numbering photos simplifies things) has he separated from the background the best.

In the frame that has 2 photos, her sclera are gray and not white from under exposure.
In the lower of the 2, her hand has no connection to her, looks kind of odd, and draws a viewer's eye away from her face.
I would crop that one so the hand is no longer in the photo.