Sierras Senior Session

[travelguy92]

Did a senior session today with a young lady whom I have known for a lonnng time. We had a lot of fun on this shoot. I would love any critique/feedback that may come to your minds. This is a branch of photography that is still relatively new to me and im in the middle of a learning curve. Would appreciate any and all feedback!

1. Sierra_23 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

2. Sierra_18 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

3. Sierra_16 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

4. Sierra_13 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

5. Sierra_11 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

6. Sierra_10 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

7. Sierra_6 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

8. Sierra_4 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

9. Sierra_2 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr


ANNND an obligatory last photo of the pup, mostly because it was a great surprise shot

Chunky_02 (1 of 1) by Houston Brooks, on Flickr

 

[tirediron]

A nice set, with very effective use of ambient light, but a few things like the cropped hand(s) in #s 4 & 7, and the blown or nearly so highlights in the clothing of #5 need attention. I think the use of a strobe to bring in a little fill and knock down the background highlights a bit would have taken the set from god to outstanding.

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

1 and 8 are my favorites.


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[DGMPhotography]

I agree with John. Very well done for only using ambient/natural lighting. But I do think you could stand to bring the highlights down a bit.

#1 is cropped too tight on the bottom.

#2 the hill line is driving right through her head. Shoot up or down on her more, or reposition her.

#3 I don't really like the structure in the background. A bit too phallic, imo.

#4 and #5 would have gone to the bin, for me.

For the jumping photo, I would have taken a few more to get a more flattering pose.

Also, in general, I would clone out distracting branches.

And this isn't relevant to the photos, but your watermark is uneven. It has space below it, but not on the side of it, away from the edge of the frame.

 

[Eze]

My favorite is no 5 it's the best in all set.

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[Designer]

This is a branch of photography that is still relatively new to me and im in the middle of a learning curve. Would appreciate any and all feedback!

What branch is that of which you speak? What skills are you attempting to learn?

Help me out here.

IOW: Is it HS Seniors, or casual portraiture, for instance? Outdoor ambient light? Posing a human subject?

 

[travelguy92]

A nice set, with very effective use of ambient light, but a few things like the cropped hand(s) in #s 4 & 7, and the blown or nearly so highlights in the clothing of #5 need attention. I think the use of a strobe to bring in a little fill and knock down the background highlights a bit would have taken the set from god to outstanding.

Thank you much! A strobe is next on my list, I have yet to get one as I have never needed one in the past- having never really done people photography, mostly landscape!

1 and 8 are my favorites.


Sent from my iPhone using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app

I appreciate the kind words!

I agree with John. Very well done for only using ambient/natural lighting. But I do think you could stand to bring the highlights down a bit.

#1 is cropped too tight on the bottom.

#2 the hill line is driving right through her head. Shoot up or down on her more, or reposition her.

#3 I don't really like the structure in the background. A bit too phallic, imo.

#4 and #5 would have gone to the bin, for me.

For the jumping photo, I would have taken a few more to get a more flattering pose.

Also, in general, I would clone out distracting branches.

And this isn't relevant to the photos, but your watermark is uneven. It has space below it, but not on the side of it, away from the edge of the frame.

Ok, I can take critisim, I appreciate it. I never would have thought about your number 2 or 3, so that definitely opened my perspectives there. The jumping photo was a spontaenous one that turned out fun but next time I'll definitely see about reworking it. I appreciate your pointing out the flaws as it helps me recognize and correct them. And I can fix the watermark, thanks. As far as cloning out branches, photoshop it not my friend but im learning, so eventually hopefully I'll get there.

My favorite is no 5 it's the best in all set.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

I appreciate that thank you!

This is a branch of photography that is still relatively new to me and im in the middle of a learning curve. Would appreciate any and all feedback!

What branch is that of which you speak? What skills are you attempting to learn?

Help me out here.

IOW: Is it HS Seniors, or casual portraiture, for instance? Outdoor ambient light? Posing a human subject?

All of the above! For the last 10 years or so I have mostly shot landscape/travel (location, landmarks, etc) and nature type photos. This last 6 months or less has been my first real trek into all of the above skills. Posing a subject would probably be my #1 concern but learning more about each of those listed skills is desired.

 

[Derrel]

I agree with John. Very well done for only using ambient/natural lighting. But I do think you could stand to bring the highlights down a bit.

#1 is cropped too tight on the bottom.

#2 the hill line is driving right through her head. Shoot up or down on her more, or reposition her.

#3 I don't really like the structure in the background. A bit too phallic, imo.

#4 and #5 would have gone to the bin, for me.

For the jumping photo, I would have taken a few more to get a more flattering pose.

Also, in general, I would clone out distracting branches >SNIP.

I mostly agree with DGM's C&C on this set, with a few exceptions, such as his comment on #2...I disagree, and think the hill line/head makes visual sense, yet I understand that some people would not like that compositional device. As to #4 and #5 being binners...I agree 100% on 4, which is OOF...I think #5 desperately needs to be re-processed. As to the phallic nature of a classic silo in shot #3...well...it is a silo...I agree on the jumping photo, maybe more frames would have produced a better, cleaner, more-impactful image.

 

[travelguy92]

I agree with John. Very well done for only using ambient/natural lighting. But I do think you could stand to bring the highlights down a bit.

#1 is cropped too tight on the bottom.

#2 the hill line is driving right through her head. Shoot up or down on her more, or reposition her.

#3 I don't really like the structure in the background. A bit too phallic, imo.

#4 and #5 would have gone to the bin, for me.

For the jumping photo, I would have taken a few more to get a more flattering pose.

Also, in general, I would clone out distracting branches >SNIP.

I mostly agree with DGM's C&C on this set, with a few exceptions, such as his comment on #2...I disagree, and think the hill line/head makes visual sense, yet I understand that some people would not like that compositional device. As to #4 and #5 being binners...I agree 100% on 4, which is OOF...I think #5 desperately needs to be re-processed. As to the phallic nature of a classic silo in shot #3...well...it is a silo...I agree on the jumping photo, maybe more frames would have produced a better, cleaner, more-impactful image.

Ok thank you! How would you suggest #5 being reprocessed? What would you have done differently?

 

[Derrel]

Ok thank you! How would you suggest #5 being reprocessed? What would you have done differently?

I think that her hands, her right elbow, and the sweater, and to a slight extent her face, are all overly bright. Highlight Recovery is one possibly software tool that could lessen the burn-out on the hands and sweater. Also, the background appears pretty bright to me.