So this is my first try shooting people

[DevC]

Advice on how to improve is appreciated (these are wayy too many in a set to critique each so i don't expect that)...or any general comments or anything....whatever

More learning and practice is the way to go for me from here...

I want to improve on my lighting and focusing definetly. I threw out many shots that had awful lighting.
Jamie 04 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr


Jamie 02 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr
Converted this one to simply BW and I liked the effect...but IDK...the model says it looks like it came out of A&F so i was like...eh
Jamie 02 BW by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr

Renee 01 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr
I do have a photo of her looking at me, but I felt a better feel of her looking away...infact here is a link to that one...
Renee 02 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr.

.Jamie 02 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr
and heres a final one or 2
Janeth 03 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr
Janeth 03 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr

 

[tirediron]

Some general thoughts: Avoid posing subjects (especially female) square to the camera. This is known as 'football shoulders' and is rarely the best look. 30 degrees to the camera, weight on the far leg, is always a good place to start.

Try and bring a reflector or flash into the equation to get a little light into the eyes. Many of these suffer from 'racoon eyes'.

Watch the cropping and avoid 'chopping' off bits of hands/fingers/arms/legs. If you must crop a limb, that's fine, but do it boldly and never at/near a joint, nor along the lateral axis.

 

[keyseddie]

The first image of the first girl has good composition, except for the burglar wires. The posing on first girl is too angular, straight on and her clothing is distracting. What did you do to piss off the 2nd girl? Bike image not too bad but too much head tilt. Last one is scary and another bad outfit. All in all, pretty good for the first time.

 

[DevC]

Thank you for the tips. They are greatly helpful. I had to google what racoon eyes are...and yes it was quite difficult. I actually baught a reflector post this shoot (man reflectors can be expensive 50 bucks??!?!...i baught a cheapo one for 18 bucks) and I still gotta learn flashing (wow that sounded wierd).


About the posing "Square"...is this a pose based issue or some faulty thing i've done with my camera technique. I had a limited ability to change poses on people here since I was shooting with a meetup group and was limited in what poses i could have the models do. Although I do see what you mean in a few of the pictures

 

[tirediron]

...About the posing "Square"...is this a pose based issue or some faulty thing i've done with my camera technique. I had a limited ability to change poses on people here since I was shooting with a meetup group and was limited in what poses i could have the models do. Although I do see what you mean in a few of the pictures

The first three images are "square", that is the model has her body square the lens axis and you're seeing her as wide as possible. #6 is much more appropriate; she's turned slightly and off level. In general, if the model has two of them (eyes, arms, breasts, etc) the shouldn't be on exactly the same plane.

 

[DevC]

The first image of the first girl has good composition, except for the burglar wires. The posing on first girl is too angular, straight on and her clothing is distracting. What did you do to piss off the 2nd girl? Bike image not too bad but too much head tilt. Last one is scary and another bad outfit. All in all, pretty good for the first time.

Thanks for the comments and the critique for improvement. I really liked her clothing. Maybe I could desturate it a bit? The second girl...actually she didn't look happy through the whole shoot lol. But she is a very good model and i am happy she worked with a noob like me. I should of captured a happier moment with her but she was busy with the other photographers. I have a few more pics of the bike...
The problem is although all of them, her eyes stuck out to the side...
For example here and here:
.Janeth 01 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr
Janeth 02 by Dev.Chatterjee, on Flickr

The makeup artists used alot of black makeup which made these all difficult to touchup. I'm not sure what was going through the costume selection and I unfortunately hadn't had a choice with it.

The first three images are "square", that is the model has her body square the lens axis and you're seeing her as wide as possible. #6 is much more appropriate; she's turned slightly and off level. In general, if the model has two of them (eyes, arms, breasts, etc) the shouldn't be on exactly the same plane.

Ahh ok understood. Thank you for the info, it makes quite sense. Does this posing work better for males (i.e we want to show males being masculine with wide shoulders?). I should of controlled the posing a bit more....