Lady in Red

[bindows]

I shot this against a wall with water running down it. The sun was about 30 min from setting, and we were at the edge of the beach. I personally like the dark shadows. Does it work?

[AnthonyH]

I think it looks great.

[Ron Kruger]

The rich colors work for me, but I'm partial to that kind of thing. The only thing I noticed was the camera must have been set on auto in auto-focus, because her breasts are more in focus than her face. Try a spot focus setting or MF next time.

[bindows]

Yes, I noticed that too. It's weird though because I do have it on the center focus spot. I focus on her eyes, then recompose. It's also set on "one shot." And I doubt her eyes are on the same plane as her chest right? I'll have to check the exif, but I'm pretty sure I was at 2.8.

[Ron Kruger]

I don't know if you cropped this or not, but her chest probably was within the "center focus" range, which is actually fairly wide, and I've found that whatever AF is set on, it's going to concentrate focus on the nearest object within the spectrum. That's why I've come to not trust AF, except for the simplest shots.
This one is complicated. The f/2.8 and available light meant you have poor DOF, which gives a great effect to the waterfall behind, but makes focus on your subject critical.
Also, the red shirt under these conditions overpowers the camera's meter, so it doesn't meter for the flesh tones. Besides, bright reds or oranges causes some color bleed on a subject's face. Whenever I'm faced with these circumstances, I usually auto-bracket.
Just as it did with Kodachrome, a little red in a shot gives it pop, but too much red overpowers everyting.

[Ron Kruger]

Another thing you could have done, is move close and take a reading off her face, then press AE lock. That way you would have gotten much more detail and highlights in her beautiful hair as well.

[bindows]

Thanks for all the advice Ron. I'm definitely going to try out all your tips today at an engagement shoot...at the BEACH again! I guess that's what you get for living in CA where it's 85 in the middle of winter!

Yeah I adjusted the levels and contrast to kind of give it that darker look. Here's a slightly less red version and a b&w. Do either of these work better?