portraits...

NateWagner

Here are some portraits I recently took in some park in Virginia (not sure which one) please leave C&C as I am really trying to improve. Thanks
1.



2.

3.

4.

5. (does the hay by hair detract from the image too much?)

6. ( I need to clone out the band-aid)

7.


and finally, she wanted me to put one of myself up here that she took.


again, comments and critique are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Nate

Agnieszka

Oh, I like 5 & 6. I think #6 could maybe use a bit color correction (warm it up a bit)

joshhuntnm

Nice shots

2. smile is a little contrived. I am reading a book that offered these three suggestions for getting a good smile: 1. let's see some teeth! 2. smile with your eyes 3. that looks terrible!!! (hopefully they laugh and you get a good smile) he also pointed out you don't always need to smile, which you did great at in this series.

I like the color in three better than four. But, then, I tend to like warm.

The expression is better in three than four. The mouth is a little. . . something in 4

5 is great. hay doesn't distract me. I wonder what it would look like to blur it a bit.

I like the color in 5 better than 6. again, I like warm. It would be nice if photoshop had a quick and easy way to say, "match this skin in this picture to this skin in that picture and I don't care what it does to the rest of the color balance."

7 seems a bit dark, but it might be an illusion from the bright background on our right

last one: stick with the pictures of the girls; she is prettier!!!

Again, great series!

NateWagner

First of all, thanks for your comments.

I think I took a little too much saturation out of 6, I was struggling cause there was a lot of red in the photo. I think I went a bit overboard, easy enough fix (I think) I'll try to show a touched up version in a bit.

Second, I completely agree, she is much prettier than I am
And you definitely won't hear me complaining about that wink

jeffreaux2

You have some really odd crop ratios here. Even the ones that at first appear square are not square. Are you not planning to print any in standard sizes, or were you cropping to make up for compositional blunders?

It appears the pose for 3 and 4 are the same. The angle on 3 works better although both appear a tad awkward.

NateWagner

well, the pose is pretty much the same, I was trying a few different angles so that I could look at them later and see what I liked better. I haven't really decided yet.

As far as odd crop ratios, yes you are correct, I wasn't really trying to keep them cropped in a specific ratio at all. I can go back and do that, but she doesn't really want to print any more of herself, so... I was just playing around.

Does the fact it's not actually square bother you, I mean... is it distracting to you (on number 4)

jeffreaux2

NateWagner wrote:

well, the pose is pretty much the same, I was trying a few different angles so that I could look at them later and see what I liked better. I haven't really decided yet.

As far as odd crop ratios, yes you are correct, I wasn't really trying to keep them cropped in a specific ratio at all. I can go back and do that, but she doesn't really want to print any more of herself, so... I was just playing around.

Does the fact it's not actually square bother you, I mean... is it distracting to you (on number 4)

Actually I don't like #4 at all. The pose almost appears as though she is about to be arrested. The ratio is out of what I am used to seeing...is why I even noticed. I do think the ratio in #3 is distracting. I was just curious why you decided to veer away from traditional ratios.

NateWagner

yeah, it definitely wasn't because of compositional blunders. The only one that I was using a crop to cover anything up was #3. There was light coming from the back, but I could have still used a traditional crop. Maybe they would look better or more professional if I used a traditional crop I dunno.

By the way, if I were to use a traditional crop, what would you recommend cropping to? I mean, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14.

Nate

beetle8

NateWagner wrote:

yeah, it definitely wasn't because of compositional blunders. The only one that I was using a crop to cover anything up was #3. There was light coming from the back, but I could have still used a traditional crop. Maybe they would look better or more professional if I used a traditional crop I dunno.

By the way, if I were to use a traditional crop, what would you recommend cropping to? I mean, 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14.

Nate

I think you can crop to any ratio you want to for web posting as long as it works for the shot. but I would stay away from free form that seems odd. I agree that the crop and pose in 4 is odd. it looks as though she's laying down but you rotated the image.
#5 is great, everything works and works well in this shot, the hay is fine and wouldn't have been noticed had you not mentioned it.
#2 Looks like a smile I get from my kid after asking them to smile one too many times

evoryware

I like the exposure for her face in all but #7.
I see what you were going for in #4, but I'm with jeffreaux on that one.
I like 5 and 7 the most.
She does not look comfortable with being photographed.
Get her out there again!
Shot of you isn't that bad either.

mbg0333

Me personally, I like your ideas but the execution seemed a little lacking.

I think it may just be the subject, she doesn't look like she thinks shes pretty. So some of the picture are....blah

But I like where you are going with it! Maybe a different model might help!

Im no expert! Just my honest opinion!

lisap

I like 1,5 & 7.

I don't find the hay in 5 distracting at all, but I did notice the lighter part of the wall in #1 that's by her right ear. I kind of like #6 as well, except for her facial expression.

Thanks for sharing

-- Lisa P.