E-sessions from last week

elizabeth_Luna

Hello all - well I guess the only way to learn is to get peoples constructive criticism so here goes! :lust These are my first paying customers - they were very pleased but I can see how I can do better next time. I used my 17-85 and 28-300.

CC welcomed!

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elizabeth_Luna

Never mind got it fixed forgot to click on external links.

mmmatt

Hello Elizabeth. A few things I'm noticing here... The first is from the standpoint of color. You need to work on your skin tones. I assume you are shooting raw, and if not... shoot raw! White balance adjustments are your friend and will allow you to adjust your skin tones without too much effort. 2 and 3 are way off.

As for composition there really isn't anything here that makes me go WOW. 5 in particular is a big miss since you chopped of the bottom of the basses and their feet. You can't whack off such an important part of the composition like that! It is a good idea but not well executed. in similar veign, 4 would have been better including her fingers and you should have repositioned yourself so that the garbage can was behind the tree.

Don't be afraid to shoot some of these vertical or wider to include the entire subject. Don't just always center the subject, don't just use the small end of the aperture. When there are things behind the subject that you don't want to be the focal point of the composition blur them using your longer lens and/or larger aperture setting but include them in the composition. Tree's and bricks and garbage cans and people can then turn from distractions to texture if you do it right. Shoot 2 pictures at one time... the primary subject and then the secondary subject which is the park or trellis or whatever.

If you don't know how to make your camera do these things you need to learn, a photo 101 class at a comunity college is wonderfully educational and books can be helpful also. Scour this forum for the work of others and see how they did what they did!

On a positive note your lighting is pretty good. It is flat but no harsh shadows or hotspots! If you were using flash it was subtle enough to go unnoticed and that is what you should be trying for.

Good luck!!

Matt

elizabeth_Luna

Matt Thank you so much for your input I will look into that - WB etc... I have learned that photography is something you continue to learn not just point and shoot.

mmmatt

elizabeth_Luna wrote:

Matt Thank you so much for your input I will look into that - WB etc... I have learned that photography is something you continue to learn not just point and shoot.

That is most definately true Elizabeth. Good attitude!

Matt