Photos for C&C

[Jace]

So, the wife wanted to walking today at one of our local preserves. In exchange for getting me out of my cave she agreed to pose for some pictures, though refused to take off her jacket. (I was lucky to get her out of her hat and gloves.) The sun was kind of bright at times, even though it was cloudy. Anyway, I'm a noob.



1:

2:

3:

4:

5:

Oh, and this one. I realize there -may- be too much space to his left, but I just like how it looks.

6:

Any and all comments are welcome!

 

[rambler]

I am a beginner with portraits, but I think you are off to a great start. (I would guess there is color and lighting that could be improved).

#1 Watch out for "tree coming out of the head" syndrome. Blur out the background with a shallower depth of field by opening the aperture. The trees do not add anything important. They are not remarkable. I do like the fence, however. On this page, scroll up the photo until just the top of your wife's head is still in the picture. It makes her stand out more, don't you think? If you want just a bit more showing above her head, just have it be the light brown grass color, no dark tree.

My favorite is #3, not only because of the expression, tilt of the head, but mainly because of the washed out background. You take the importance or distraction of the background right out of the photo, so that the subject, your wife, really stands out. There is nothing else to look at and you have a young lady who is definitely nice to look at. I think you should crop out more above her head, too. Try it by moving this page up just so the large white streak above her head is gone.

#4 Okay. you are trying to get artsy, but does not do much for me. Maybe just crop out most of the background and torso? I do not know

With #5, I really like the hands, one glove off and the ring, the other with the glove on. Nice touch. Your wife, however, is getting cold (note the hat) and looks like she is ready to move on to some other activity.

#6 Cute dog, but why is the person in the photo?

PS You wife is a great model!

 

[Jace]

Thank you for your comments! I plan on working on the others as well, but wanted to throw this retouch up to see what you think as far as the tree being gone from out of her head, and being cropped closer:

Oh, and as far as the dog... it was just a stranger jogging past, but I thought it looked photogenic so asked if I could snap a shot so she stopped long enough for me to do it, lol.

 

[Davor]

I think you really need to work on your lighting and composition, most of your pictures have blown whites and it creates a big distraction from the subject. meter off the sky then use flash for fill light and you will receive more appealing results.

You should also use a larger f number or more zoom and further distance from the subject to create shallower DOF, i don't think the crop helped much.

 

[Jace]

Aye, I'm reading through some things given to me by another member, and that's helping... however, after I got home I was cleaning my lcd screen and turned it on to check the battery, notices my iso was at 400, so I'm thinking maybe that had something to do with it. Where is the idiot smiley?

 

[new photographer]

Thank you for your comments! I plan on working on the others as well, but wanted to throw this retouch up to see what you think as far as the tree being gone from out of her head, and being cropped closer:

Oh, and as far as the dog... it was just a stranger jogging past, but I thought it looked photogenic so asked if I could snap a shot so she stopped long enough for me to do it, lol.

I really like it! But my eyes seem to focus more on her coat than her face. Just saying and people may disagree but I would blur her coat ever so slightly I think that would look nice
Well done!