I'm jumping in-for critique that is

Gretchen

I shot these on Saturday-practicing! I asked the girls to bring something which reflected their interests to use during our shoot. These were taken around 6:15 with the west light behind me. The sunset was filtered by bushes along the fence line. The first example was almost right out of the camera, I think I did some minor adjustment. The second version of course is adjusted.

I struggle a bit with "finding the light". I actually like the first one. For the edited version I adjusted the exposure, messed around a little bit with the other settings in lightroom.
Give me what you've got! Thanks!

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anonymouscuban

I guess I get first crack.

I'll start off by saying that overall, it's a fine shot. Your technicals (exposure, sharpeness, whitebalance) are great. I think the pose is OK. Could be better but it's not bad at all. The only thing I try is raising the black point a bit. That will add just a bit of contrast. Not too much though. However, that is personal since you may want a very soft, washed look. Oh, and I like #2 the best.

Couple things that I don't like is the blanket and the hotspots on the fence. I would have ditched the blanket and just sat her in the grass. If you're going to use a blanket, use something darker/more neutral. The brightness of the blanket draws too much attention. The hot spots on the fence also draw the eye. Watch for those when you're composing the shots.

One question... do you happen to have flash or something that you can use as a reflector? I ask because if you do, you can use the sun as a light source. When I shoot my outdoor portraits, I almost always place the person with the sun behind them and use it as a rim light. I look for a spot where the sun is peaking through the trees and place them so the light is hitting their hair. Then I use my flash, placed at 45 degrees to one side and high for fill light. Alternatively, you could use reflector to reflect back the sunlight onto the subject. This give photos a depth and a very vivid look.

Hackbone

Look for shadows.......if you can bring a ping pong ball and hold it and turn around in a 360 circle staring at the ball. You will see a shadow somewhere on that surface and stop when it hits a 45 degree angle and put your subject there. The light will be about the same on her/his face.

The blanket if offensive as it draws your attention away from her face. A higher camera angle would have put the fence as your background. Try not to shoot directly into the shoulder as it causes a stagnant straight line.

Violins are meant to be played and that would have automatically corrected some of the problems.

Keep posting to learn.

Qarik

its a pretty decent shot..lots to like about it.The one thing I can point out for next time..the fence line. the top of the fence line is "crooked" and slightly distracting. I think if you just changed your shooting angle so you are shooting perpendicular to the fence (straight on) then this would resolve itself. It's a small nit and one you don't really notice until you are processing..but you see it enough and next time you may account for it.

anonymouscuban

Like Hack's suggestion of the pingpong ball, I use my fist. Makes it easy to see where the light is coming from.

Gretchen

Thank you for the great advice and will certainly use it in the future.