My first portraits Part One

SLRdude

Hello

I started taking pictures about 3 years ago as a result of my other passion, wrist watches.

This Suday I did my first portrait photography and it happened to be the bridal kind, for a friend that is getting married.

Your comments and feedback is appreciated. Also, please take a look at Part Two here as well. Thank you again!















http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=1183479#post1183479

torags

I gotta say I don't like the sepia treatment. The gal has nice coloring and you've captured that nicely (which can be problematic)

Did you try selective color? with her in color and the older house in sepia?

#4 has a little reflective glare from the stone walk that diminishes the contrast with the bride (correctable maybe in pp?)

Great first effort

jeffreaux2

It would be easier for folks to make comments on particular photos if they were numbered.:D

It appears youve used a shoe mounted flash in many of these, and its too strong for my tastes. I find them to be very flatly lit.

Wil Davis

The backgrounds are a bit distracting if the purpose is to depict the girl; the problem is that the backgrounds are interesting and have some great textures, and in most cases you have them in focus, and this competes with the girl; I'm guessing that you used a wide angle lens, although #3 would have been OK if you'd framed her better; in #3 the background is out-of-focus (just the right amount), she's better lit, although diffuse light would have been much better, but she's looking at something, and I'm thinking "I wonder what she's looking at?" and there's that big space on her left…

Avoid distracting, fussy backgrounds by using a longer lens and a wider f-stop.

#4: Nice job! Great pose and expression, but need more contrast (difficult as it's "contre-jour")

#5: I don't like the plant thingy in the foreground (looks like an accident) and all that dark space behind her! (I keep expecting someone to reach out and grab her from behind… )

#6: Better, but I don't like the wall lining up with her head. Also the light is a bit harsh, look at the shadow on her left arm; would have been better if you'd used a diffuser. Great expression though, and she's looking right into the camera!

#7: My eye is drawn away from her, moving from her face to the right, following that line of interesting balconies and doorways; if you used a wider aperture, they would have all been thrown out of focus and my eye would have stayed on the girl.

#8: Nice but still have the harsh shadow… More of the veil please, less of the wall…


As to the sepia thing; I've mixed feelings; I like the colour in #3, but the sepia thing has a certain atmosphere, although in #1 & 2 the flowers look kind of weird…

Pretty girl!

- Wil

SLRdude

Thank you for your input.

Like I said in my reply to the second thread, this was really my first time ever doing portraits and I have NO clue what I am doing.
I THINK that for my first time, they are... decent (I'm trying to keep my confidence at an acceptable level lol) although it is obvious that I have much much to learn.

As far as the sepia thing.... Those were just lazy filters. More of an experiment than anything else as those pics are straight from the camera more or less. There is no real post processing in them. I was planning to go to PS and fix things once she picks the images that she likes the most.

Thanks again for your input. I think that the pics in my second thread are much better, as I was becoming more and more confident and adventurous.

bendruckerphoto

#3: Never have your subject looking out of the frame.

SLRdude

bendruckerphoto wrote:

#3: Never have your subject looking out of the frame.

that one was actually a candid shot, and it's one of her favourites.
Other than that, I do agree with your comment.