Engagement Photos
AnotherWannabe
Registered Users Posts: 29 Big grins
It seems I'm striking out in scenery. How did I do with people? (#3 has hair in face. I can take that out)
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Second - the conversions are looking very nice, but you have some hot spots that need to be toned down just a bit.
I really like #1 but it looks like her left hand is blown and that is, for this shot, the one area that MUST contain detail. Her shirt also appears to be blown a bit - but that's more acceptable. The pose and composition are spot on.
#2 - a little more fill would finish the photo!
#3 - This is the winner of the set. I LOVE her expression - peaceful, supremely happy, etc. It just doesn't get much better than that. Maybe clone out the hair across her face and burn the hot spots in the background?
Last one - Love her expression of surprise. crop a bit from the left and burn in some of the hot spots?
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Honestly,
#1. Her pose isn't very interesting. Nothing grabs my attention!
#2. Nice shot, but the hair is very muddled. Some women are sticklers for detail as I have found out (many times the hard way). Women = details.
#3. Your best shot because there is a sense of sincerity about it and the "informal" posing doesn't show through as much.
#4. Another nice shot, but the desaturation treatment doesn't work for me here. Also, I see her taking control, whereas I would prefer the man to take control and hold the woman's head.
#5. Great moment! Nice posing here. If you shot RAW, then try increasing the exposure a little more(I'm Canadian) in the man's shirt.
What lenses are you using? There appears to be quite a bit in the background of these shots (especially #4 and #5). Shoot wide-open if possible to separate the background. If you have 2.8 or lower lenses the better (else... you'll have some post-processing work)!
Take everything here with a grain of salt. I get tons of criticism as well!
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I appreciate both the good comments and the bad. I am such an amateur. I got sucked into photography in a weird way. I took my daughter for senior pictures years ago. When we got home, I took some shots of her too. We liked mine better than the professional ones that cost a fortune. Two years later, I did my other daughter. Then my sister asked me to take senior pics of her daughter and her friend asked me to do her daughter and so on. Before I knew it, I had people asking me and found that I loved it.
I took senior pictures of the girl in these photos...she is easy. She wanted me to do her engagement pictures also. Her fiance' was a bit stiff and wouldn't just play around, but she did. He only wanted posed shots.
I feel a bit more confident now hearing some positive.
This is a senior picture that I took of my niece - go at it! I know #1 problem is that I cut her feet off.
Who told you that? Most women I know would NEVER want their bare feet photographed, so in my opinion what you did was a good thing. They should also have told you that a womans hands shouldn't be displayed so prominantly in a photo (it works here though as an informal portrait). Also, I like the tight crop in this one.
BUTTTT...... (you knew it was coming didn't you!)
Did you by any chance convert this to black and white because of the blown highlights in the photo? This would be much better in colour, especially with the clean skin this girl has.
I usually try and coincide any shoots I do with early morning or during late afternoon, early evening as the light is much softer and more even.
Could you post this in colour?:D
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Feet are a touchy subject. I have ugly feet and wouldn't want them in a picture. Some people, on the other hand, have nice feet and in that case, they could be included. I have a problem with cutting off body parts in a weird way and I do think this was a complete accident that I should have avoided. But if you think it's better, I'll try to overlook that one.
I switched it to b&w because she looked so reflective that I thought the b&w added to the mood. I don't have the original anymore....it got lost on my old hard drive (which I still have and need to pull things from).
This is another one that includes the feet. The reason shoes are off in these shots is because we all had to wade in water. This rock is popular for pictures.
Of the shots you've chosen I do like the concept of the first one in the engagement set but like Scot mentioned the ring hand was blown and so the focal of the shot was missed. I normally am a fan of color and think people overuse b&w but I like the treatment where you left just a touch purple on the flowers.
I also will say I also have learned my lesson about time of day effecting the shots .
The very last shot you posted is my favorite, I'm assuming it was a senior shot--again, I'd prefer to see it in color and I think the cropping could be tightened and you could bring it all the way down to the top of the fence. You have a big white barren spot in the top of the picture which doesn't need to be there. She is the focus of the shot and her eyes should be in the top third of the photo. I personally like feet in a shot and try to get people to take their shoes off if I can. Generally shoes are ugly. Ha!!
In my humble opinion of course......
Alice
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I agree - but I have a hard time with how much scenery to cut out. On the one hand, the person is the focus of the shot, but on the other hand, you want some of the scenery since that's why you went there in the first place. I usually give the people several different crops of the same shot and let them choose.
You do have a point about all of the white at the top. I do have a lot to learn. I wish I had more time! I prefer b&w's, but do take color too of course.