weekend portraits for a friend at Balboa Park (C&C / opinions please!)

[xzyragon]

Hey guys! Just looking for some C&C on some portraits I did with a friend for her birthday this weekend. I spent some time after looking through a bunch of posts here and other places after, and realized I have a LONG way to go before I get the lighting down, but any tips are greatly appreciated. Plus i'd love tips on general posing and composition too!

Anyways, PICS:

#1 (one of her faves, i just didn't like the shadow on her face, and couldn't bring it out in LR)
IMG_0348 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#2 (another one of her faves)
IMG_0384 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#3 (we both liked this one)
IMG_0409 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#4 (she didn't pick this as a fave but her friends and I liked it)
IMG_0401 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#5 (i liked how dramatic it looked. She doesn't even know how to play piano)
IMG_0337 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#6
IMG_0514 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#7
IMG_0581 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#8 (I know it's super distorted but i kinda like how it turned out, and she liked that it made her look taller)
IMG_0617 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

#9
IMG_0462 by christophercoxphoto, on Flickr

Thanks in advance all! And sorry if I dumped too many pictures on ya

 

[FITBMX]

I like #4 because it is just her! It really conveys that she is just happy!
As for more detail c&c you will have to look for one of are wise photographers to answer that!

 

[SoulfulRecover]

1-4 really dont do anything for me. Snap shot esque, cant see her eyes at all.

the others are much better however keep an eye on her hands and feet. try not to chop them off with the frame. Also your post processing is a bit odd. The white of her eyes are very blue and in #8 it almost looks like your tried to do a little HDR or something. The angle is interesting though but makes her look short.

youre on the right track though so keep shooting. If its a bright sunny day, put her in the shade and expose for her. Maybe try a white foam board to bounce a little light too

Are you using the cameras flash?

 

[xzyragon]

1-4 really dont do anything for me. Snap shot esque, cant see her eyes at all.

the others are much better however keep an eye on her hands and feet. try not to chop them off with the frame. Also your post processing is a bit odd. The white of her eyes are very blue and in #8 it almost looks like your tried to do a little HDR or something. The angle is interesting though but makes her look short.

youre on the right track though so keep shooting. If its a bright sunny day, put her in the shade and expose for her. Maybe try a white foam board to bounce a little light too

Are you using the cameras flash?

Yeah I noticed the eyes too. I'll see if I can go in and try and whiten those up. And a mixture of my camera's onboard flash and an off camera speedlite.

 

[Trever1t]

too many to give a detailed critique but a few general observations.

1) awkward use of space. Subject framing could be much better.
2) Exposure of subject is off, as you mentioned. Use a different metering method or at least expose for your subject and damn the rest.
3) Mixed lighting is usually not a good idea. On camera flash isn't either.

She's a cutie for sure. The images are fun and colorful. Keep at it!

 

[xzyragon]

too many to give a detailed critique but a few general observations.

1) awkward use of space. Subject framing could be much better.
2) Exposure of subject is off, as you mentioned. Use a different metering method or at least expose for your subject and damn the rest.
3) Mixed lighting is usually not a good idea. On camera flash isn't either.

She's a cutie for sure. The images are fun and colorful. Keep at it!

Well I get to try again next weekend so I'll keep that in mind. I guess I'm trying to hard to expose for the background and then try and get her exposure right, instead of doing it the othe way around. And I kinda get what you're saying. I'm not close enough for a head shot, but too close for a full body shot. Or at least that + the fact that there's too much background in a couple of the shots when there doesn't need to be, at least in 3 & 4.

 

[Trever1t]

Well I get to try again next weekend so I'll keep that in mind. I guess I'm trying to hard to expose for the background and then try and get her exposure right, instead of doing it the othe way around. And I kinda get what you're saying. I'm not close enough for a head shot, but too close for a full body shot. Or at least that + the fact that there's too much background in a couple of the shots when there doesn't need to be, at least in 3 & 4.

Some of the shots have an unnecessary amount of heaspace, empty space above the subject. Crazy as it sounds I'll spend 30 minutes tweaking my subject location within the frame.

 

[xzyragon]

Well I get to try again next weekend so I'll keep that in mind. I guess I'm trying to hard to expose for the background and then try and get her exposure right, instead of doing it the othe way around. And I kinda get what you're saying. I'm not close enough for a head shot, but too close for a full body shot. Or at least that + the fact that there's too much background in a couple of the shots when there doesn't need to be, at least in 3 & 4.

Some of the shots have an unnecessary amount of heaspace, empty space above the subject. Crazy as it sounds I'll spend 30 minutes tweaking my subject location within the frame.

I'm thinking I just need to pay more attention to it. I mean the hands thing makes sense. I was struggling in #3 and #4 though because her dress was coming up, and I didn't want that to be showing in the frame, which subsequently cropped out her hands (she was trying to hold it down). I get a do-over on Saturday (day party in Santa Monica for her birthday), so I'll have tons more stuff to keep in mind. It does make me want to get my hands on a 35mm prime to get the full body in frame easily while still getting some nice bokeh in the background.

But thanks for the C&C so far. Really helpful and making me excited to try again at my next shoot!