Professionals - will you guys please critic my work?

DonnaCPhoto

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Hello everyone!!

I would describe myself as a beginner/amateur photographer shooting as a hobby right now. I recently shot my first engagement photoshoot (for my friends and I did it free of charge!). I was hoping that the professionals on this forum can help critic my work and tell me how I can make it better. I am shooting another friend's engagement in a couple weeks and would love to get some pointers.

Please view below link of my slideshow on Youtube. Please make sure to set the pixel setting up to HD (from 360p to about 720HD or 1080HD) and view in larger screen to get true effect.



Again - all comments welcome - positive or negative but please provide constructive criticism with explaination on how to make better!

Thanks!
-D ;)
 
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BTW - i am shooting with a Canon 7D. The lens I used are following:

Canon 24-70mm
Canon EF 50mm
Sigma 10-20mm (fisheye)
 
Thanks Erose -

Here we go with a couple..
Image00001resize.jpg
 
Excuse my feet in that one - i meant to crop it out! YIKES!
 
They're soft. That's probably photo bucket's fault though. It ruins good images.

The first is off from the rest of the photos as well as the 6th. The 1st looks like you were playing with a Lomo camera and the 6th is desaturated, which goes against the rest of your photos being so lively and vibrant. It just looks out of place compared to the rest.

And as far as cropping your feet out, I'd rather you didn't. Clone them out instead.
 
C&C per req:

1. As mentioned, this one doesn't really fit with the rest of the group, but it is an interesting image, and I rather like the lomo effect, but I would suggest cropping a good chunk off the LH side of the image as it doesn't really add much.

2. This one really needed more light. Given how bright the sun seems to be, even a reflector would have helped. The under-exposure of the skin tones and CA are really ruining this image.

3. This would have been much stronger image were it not for the large OOF portion of the leave below/right of the ring. I think a crop to take the ring out of dead centre would help as well. Also, be cognizant of the shadows.

4. A classic pose, my only thought is that the positioning of her hands are more appropriate for a materinity shot.

5. Well done and nicely composed. I like the effect here, but I think there's way too much empty space in the image. A much tighter crop all around the couple I think would help.

6. Another "classic" - not a fan of the desaturated look in this case however. I would have picked a different time of day for this particular shot as the long shadows of the railings are very distracting.

7. Unless this location has special significance, I would bin this image. I looks like he's about to be carried off by a giant, angry pigeon.

Overall they're a nice set, but you need to pay more attention to your point of focus and DoF - there are several in which focus is missed, nearly missed or DoF is insufficient (2, 3, 7).

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John
 
I watched the ENTIRE video. wow thats long, I had to pop a few ritalin, but I stayed focused (its alot for a person who isnt looking for a photographer & doesnt know the couple). My overall opinion is; the photos individually looked good, but I could really tell that you didnt seem to get to far out of your safety zone (it looked like you safety zone was standing up looking thru the viewfinder.) you gotta break that mold. Shoot low, shoot from his legs straight out up to their faces, PUT THE CAMERA WHERE YOU WOULDN'T PUT YOUR FACE!! Then your photos are unique and make people want to study them longer. See a few of my wedding photos like that here. Since you are doing engagement photos, most likely your clients will be younger I.E. under 50, you need to keep a modern feel while still covering the classics.
The 2nd thought is: dont rely so much on locations, yall hit like 30 places but they look almost the same in each photo. Their mom can do that. Use 1 location and get creative with the camera. Get way WAY closer and dont center them quite as often.
Overall good photos, and in all honesty, better than my first set :) I'm sure you are gonna keep rocking it!
 
Thank you guys so much for the feedback! This helps me tremendously!

Tirediron - I realized my mistake that for these shots I should've been using a single focus point vs. the multi/zone-focus i had my 7D on. Thank you for pointing out, i'll definitely be using single point/and recomposing for the still shots.

David - Thanks so much for viewing my slideshow! I know it was soo long! After looking at my set a few more times, you are right - I was way too safe. I'll definitely try to step out of my comfort zone a little more on my next shoot. Your photos are amazing btw! I've been viewing countless photographer blogs to get inspirations for shots and yours will definitely be one of the them! I hope to someday be good enough to shoot photojournalistic (is that a word?) wedding photography.
 

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