My first shoot. Are they good?

[rateeg]

i think all are underexposed

 

[bleeblu]

2 and 4 were great!!! Very good...I'm impressed!

Thank you!

 

[bleeblu]

That is why they are all underexposed.

What metering mode did you use?

you can get well exposed pictures with all metering modes. it all depends how you use the meetering mode you choose, so saying that its underexposed because he used a different metering mode is irelevant.

He could have used Aperture and point meetering, meter for the face and shoot a well exposed shot, or use matrix. metter for the background highlights use AE lock and add + 2 to the exposure compensation and get the same result.

Yes, exactly so that is what I wanted to see if he did... or did he just let the camera choose?

I think point metering is the camera's default option. I honestly didn't know much about metering until you mentioned it to me. I'll look into it. Thank you.

 

[joanna_d1576]

I like the second one and the fourth one...looks like you may need some post processing done and add some light and contrast. But that's just MY 2cents.

 

[deathdealer]

good shots all above is good feedback. However you must remember these are your visions, now with that being said, you should learn the following concepts to make your vision "on purpose", exposure, white balance, lighting, metering, reflectors, reading your histogram. read and practice you will get worse b4 you get better.

 

[bleeblu]

good shots all above is good feedback. However you must remember these are your visions, now with that being said, you should learn the following concepts to make your vision "on purpose", exposure, white balance, lighting, metering, reflectors, reading your histogram. read and practice you will get worse b4 you get better.

Thank you for the tips. Someone said the white balance is off in the first picture. Do you agree? I think her shirt looks very white.

 

[dots]

A bit of exposure correction. Green and Blue channels seem to benefit from a 12% reduction, using Levels. T-shirt and skin color look a bit more natural to me.

 

[KmH]

Someone said the white balance is off in the first picture. Do you agree? I think her shirt looks very white.

It looks gray, not white.

White Balance isn't really about white, it's about the color temperature of your light source. Many things we perceive as white, aren't actually white at all.

The first shot is under exposed (1.25 stops), which is why the shirt looks gray.

You have not chosen an editing preference in your profile, like My Photos Are OK to Edit or My Photos Are NOT OK to Edit.

Your avatar photo has a severe case of 'raccoon eyes' (dark eye sockets) and the photos you have posted indicate you know little about photographic lighting. Light Science and Magic, Fourth Edition: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting.

 

[netza]

They are better than my first shots.

 

[Leftyplayer]

You've gotten some great feedback and I agree - fill flash and don't cut off limbs. But, for your very first time going out and shooting, I think you did a good job. I think you have a good eye, just keep learning so you can make good use of it (them?). I like 2 and 4 best (minus the problem areas already critiqued in them). Good job. You did way better than I did on my very first shooting adventure.

 

[bleeblu]

Thank you. I appreciate all the help and feedback. It sounds like I have to be very nit picky with my shooting and post processing.

 

[photo guy]

I agree #2 and #4 are the better of the four. #3 would have been better with more light on the body not just spots. A little more centering in the photo on #2 would have been better though as she is a little off to the right for such a nice shot. You could have had less road shown that way and more of a nice photo of her with the nice outdoor scene.

 

[Leftyplayer]

It sounds like I have to be very nit picky with my shooting and post processing.

No, don't nit pick yet! (that's what we're here to do for you LOL). Seriously, you're just starting out and while you need to keep learning, you don't want to go out shooting and be second guessing and obsessing about it as you're doing it, as it can inhibit you too early in the process. When you go out to shoot, go with a sense of play and adventure. Explore. It's when you come back and look at the photos that you should tear them apart - don't just love them because you took them. Examine them heartlessly and figure out what worked and what didn't. Combined with reading up on basic concepts such as aperture, shutter, ISO, white balance, metering, fill light, etc, you will slowly see an improvement in the photos you come home with. Eventually, you'll be able to get nit picky, specific and obsessive about a certain shot or concept that you want to implement. But, I'm of the belief that doing that too soon can thwart the learning process, which begins by going out and focusing on the most important parts of a photo: what is it trying to say? why does it matter? what does it have to offer the photographer and the viewer? Also focusing on composition: how do I want to present this object? what happens when I present it this other way? what would be a good/ traditional way of representing this scene? what would be an experimental way of representing this scene? what would be MY way of representing this scene?

My point being that I think it's really easy to get bogged down in the technical too early on the process and to skip right over what's hardest about photography - developing your eye for a good subject and how to present it to the world.

So learn the basics in a book or internet over morning coffee. Do some shooting that's specifically to practice the concepts you learned. But, when you grab your camera and head out in to the world to photograph it, don't nit pick and obsess. Play!

 

[MelissaP]

The composition isn't to bad, but the use of light in them all is.

Here is a helpful tutorial: Making the Most of Natural Light in Photography

And some somewhat more advanced stuff: Introduction to Portrait Lighting

Portraits with Two Lights: Adding a Fill Lighthttp://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/tutorials/portrait-fill-light.htm

I love the first tutorial so much !

 

[MelissaP]

I keep referencing back to these like crazy