My First Engagement Session (part 1)

NateS · Mar 15, 2009

I'm breaking this into two parts since there ended up being a lot that I liked and it will make c&c easier.

This was my first ever session with adults and I've only done one other "shoot" which was for a baby. So.....I'm anxious to hear some comments both good and bad.

I try to learn something each time I do one of these and I learned this time that.......while I can do some awesome stuff with lighting both on camera and off....don't become too dependent on the strobe because it's not always needed (and I tried to use it on about every shot even though it sometimes hurt rather than help.)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Please view the other parts and comment as well. I'm doing my best to get better and would love to hear what people think. Oh, and this is the couple that I'm doing my first wedding shoot for in June so this was good practice....especially since it's an outdoor wedding.

NateS · Mar 16, 2009

andrew99 · Mar 16, 2009

Some nice shots there! I think you have a tendancy to crop a little too closely though, some of them feel a little bit cramped, if you know what I mean? It could be just me, though, I'd be interested to hear any comments from the more experienced photographers.

NateWagner · Mar 16, 2009

alright, of the two parts, I think I definitely liked this one better. Particularly with the other set they look quite posed, which isn't necessarily bad, just not as much to my taste.

4 and 6 are my favorites from the set, though on 4 I would have probably liked the vantage point to be a little higher. From my crappy work monitor, 6 looks to be a little on the reddish side.

NateS · Mar 16, 2009

andrew99 said:
Some nice shots there! I think you have a tendancy to crop a little too closely though, some of them feel a little bit cramped, if you know what I mean? It could be just me, though, I'd be interested to hear any comments from the more experienced photographers.

I'd like to hear from some more people on these too. I see what you mean about the tight crops, but I didn't post them all here. On a lot of them, I did more than one "crop/shot". For example.....

and

Also....notice his tennis shoes that he showed up in??? Yeah, I almost had him switch me with my dark Brown Born shoes....anyway, that's the other reason for not as many shots showing the feet.

NateS · Mar 16, 2009

NateWagner said:
alright, of the two parts, I think I definitely liked this one better. Particularly with the other set they look quite posed, which isn't necessarily bad, just not as much to my taste.

4 and 6 are my favorites from the set, though on 4 I would have probably liked the vantage point to be a little higher. From my crappy work monitor, 6 looks to be a little on the reddish side.

I see what you mean on 4 and now that I think of it, there is a way that I could have gotten above to shoot, I just didn't think of that. Thanks for your comments.

NateWagner · Mar 16, 2009

no problem...

btw, from my perspective I think most of your shots are pretty loose, which can be good, because it gives you room to work with when changing ratios, from 4x6 to 4x5 or 5x7.

Also, on the crop you showed, I would recommend you use a portrait crop. The last image shown chops the finger tips, and the girl at the wrist.

Moonb007 · Mar 17, 2009

I think you did great, the coloring is very well done. You also framed them both very well, great shots.

NateS · Mar 18, 2009

Moonb007 said:
I think you did great, the coloring is very well done. You also framed them both very well, great shots.

Thank you. I appreciate your feedback.

sarahp · Mar 19, 2009

You have some very nice shots here. First, LOVE the location - it's beautiful and looks very European. I didn't find it gloomy at all. Excellent posing of the couple - great job of showing their closeness & connection without getting too cheesy.

I don't think the first picture is particularly flattering to her. While I like the idea of her sitting on the wall, it makes her legs look rather large. Add the placement of the guy, with his body being partly concealed by her legs making him look smaller, therefore it appears that she is much larger than he is.

Overall this was a great job for a first couples session. I'd say work on throwing in some different posing options - as it is there are a lot of the same type of pose in different locations, so you'll want to figure out other things you can do to set the images apart. Really, though - any couple would be thrilled to have these pics.

NateS · Mar 19, 2009

sarahp said:
You have some very nice shots here. First, LOVE the location - it's beautiful and looks very European. I didn't find it gloomy at all. Excellent posing of the couple - great job of showing their closeness & connection without getting too cheesy.

I don't think the first picture is particularly flattering to her. While I like the idea of her sitting on the wall, it makes her legs look rather large. Add the placement of the guy, with his body being partly concealed by her legs making him look smaller, therefore it appears that she is much larger than he is.

Overall this was a great job for a first couples session. I'd say work on throwing in some different posing options - as it is there are a lot of the same type of pose in different locations, so you'll want to figure out other things you can do to set the images apart. Really, though - any couple would be thrilled to have these pics.

Thanks. The first shot.....well, I was hoping that his arm would help "mask" the leg some. I thought about having them switch positions but because of the height difference that would have had her staring into his crotch. I do see what you mean though and I was going to have them sit next to each other on the wall but was attempting some different "poses".

I definitely need to work on posing and get some new poses worked out before the next one. Since I'm doing their wedding (outdoors) this was really good practice for me for more than one reason. I'll try to do some research on posing.

Thanks for your tips and comments. They are much appreciated.

Curtis Copeland · Mar 23, 2009

Nice work! Looks good. Work a little on the posing. With women it is typically best to have them behind the man to look smaller. Other than that - great engagement photo session!