My Cousin

[TwinsInParadise]

Hi! I'm a newbie looking for feedback on some photos from a shoot I did with my cousin a few weeks back. I'm trying to improve my portrait-taking skills. This is the first time I have ever put my photos out there to be critiqued and it's pretty scary, but I look forward to any response. Thanks for your time! (Now I just hope I actually managed to attach them to this thread....)

[SunnySideUp]

Okay, I am not expert, but here are my thoughts...
Left top - Not sure if I like all the like coming through the hat and the tree. I think it makes a little too much distracting light... Though if I looked at it longer, I may end up liking it.
Right Top - I think that part if overexposed, it is too blown out.
Bottom - Here what is most disracting is her posture... pet peeve of mine so take that with a grain of salt.
Since I am learning portraits myself, I don't know what would make them better. Hope this helps.

[TwinsInParadise]

Okay, I am not expert, but here are my thoughts...
Left top - Not sure if I like all the like coming through the hat and the tree. I think it makes a little too much distracting light... Though if I looked at it longer, I may end up liking it.
Right Top - I think that part if overexposed, it is too blown out.
Bottom - Here what is most disracting is her posture... pet peeve of mine so take that with a grain of salt.
Since I am learning portraits myself, I don't know what would make them better. Hope this helps.

Thank you for replying! The funny thing is, the things you didn't like, are some of the things I like about them, lol. I like the light splashing across her face through the hat; I like the overexposed quality of the one picture... it was actually waaayy more overexposed than that and I played with the colors; and I even like her posture in the last one, because she's very shy and it was as if she was shying away from the camera. I like the colors and lighting in that one a lot, too, but I don't mind the posture.

Those are all really good points though for future shots. What I may find interesting and artistic, my subject may find distracting or sloppy. I appreciate it!

[adina]

Turn off your date/time function!!!!!


Okay, now that I've got that out...

On the first one, the light thru the hat doesn't bother me. But I think that maybe a reflector would give you better light in the eyes. It looks like you used your on camera flash. It might also lighten up the shadow from her hat.

On the second, I don't mind the blownoutness. But it looks like your exposure was off, not like you were trying for a specific look. Also, her skin looks really reddish in this one, and it seems a little soft.

On the third, I like the color of the wall and the color of her shirt. The posture doesn't bother me so much, as the fact that her knee is sticking up. To me, it looks a little odd. Also this one looks a little soft too. But I think if you cropped this one closer, and sharpened a little, you'd have a nice portrait.

On all three, I think your really close, just a few adjustments....

keep in mind I think I'm sleep deprived.....

adina

[shesells]

Twins: Ack! take it from me, turn off the date! You will find a big discussion in viewfinder about how to clone that out..unfortunately it was my photos that were messed up. here's the link.

To see why I'm pissed, look here---->



Now, as for your photos, I just love the first one.The lights coming through the hat are very attractive and playful. BTW your cousin is very attractive too. Yes, you could have used a bit more light on her face but it's not bad. Beautiful pose, beautiful smile. #2 What I don't like about the lighting in this one is that her face and left arm look white and her neck and back look tanned. It comes off kind of weird. I also don't think it's flattering to her. #3 I like it. It's completely comfortable, completely natural look of a teenager on a bed. It's a beautiful photo but to be a portrait, it should have more proffessional looking background. Maybe not so close to the wall, so the wall would be out of focus.
All in all, they're nice. keep at it.
Kit

[TwinsInParadise]

Turn off your date/time function!!!!!


Okay, now that I've got that out...

On the first one, the light thru the hat doesn't bother me. But I think that maybe a reflector would give you better light in the eyes. It looks like you used your on camera flash. It might also lighten up the shadow from her hat.

On the second, I don't mind the blownoutness. But it looks like your exposure was off, not like you were trying for a specific look. Also, her skin looks really reddish in this one, and it seems a little soft.

On the third, I like the color of the wall and the color of her shirt. The posture doesn't bother me so much, as the fact that her knee is sticking up. To me, it looks a little odd. Also this one looks a little soft too. But I think if you cropped this one closer, and sharpened a little, you'd have a nice portrait.

On all three, I think your really close, just a few adjustments....

keep in mind I think I'm sleep deprived.....

adina

I meant to acknowledge the date/time mistake in my original post. I realized it was on about 2/3 of the way through the shoot and turned it off in time for the last few pictures. At any rate, all of the pictures were taken with a digital point and shoot and whatever light source, including the flash on the camera, that I could find. Most of the time I used natural light by opening all the blinds in the room. That's all I have right now, but I'm looking for better.

I will try editing them some more and see what I come up with. By the way, the second picture was already edited a lot. I didn't mean to overexpose it the way I did, but I liked the effects I got when I started messing with the original shot (below).

Thanks!

[TwinsInParadise]

Twins: Ack! take it from me, turn off the date! You will find a big discussion in viewfinder about how to clone that out..unfortunately it was my photos that were messed up. here's the link.

To see why I'm pissed, look here---->



Now, as for your photos, I just love the first one.The lights coming through the hat are very attractive and playful. BTW your cousin is very attractive too. Yes, you could have used a bit more light on her face but it's not bad. Beautiful pose, beautiful smile. #2 What I don't like about the lighting in this one is that her face and left arm look white and her neck and back look tanned. It comes off kind of weird. I also don't think it's flattering to her. #3 I like it. It's completely comfortable, completely natural look of a teenager on a bed. It's a beautiful photo but to be a portrait, it should have more proffessional looking background. Maybe not so close to the wall, so the wall would be out of focus.
All in all, they're nice. keep at it.
Kit

Thank you for the input! I will check out the link you sent. I have a lot of pictures I'd like to edit the date out of. Obviously, the overexposure rubs most everyone the wrong way, so I'll work on that too.

One question: what exactly is considered a portrait? I like taking natural looking pictures like these because they show more personality, I think. I guess I've been calling them portraits for lack of a better word....

Adina.... you mentioned two of the pictures looked 'soft.' What does that mean? How can I change that?

Thanks for your help!

[FadderUri]

[QUOTE=TwinsInParadise]
One question: what exactly is considered a portrait? I like taking natural looking pictures like these because they show more personality, I think. I guess I've been calling them portraits for lack of a better word....

[QUOTE]

por·trait ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pôrtrt, -trt, pr-)
n.
A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer, for example.
A verbal picture or description, especially of a person.



I think what's being referred to here, though, is the classic formal portrait. What you have shot are portraits, just very casual ones.

[SunnySideUp]

Okay. So I have been looking at photo one some more... I actually do like the subject, but I don't like the back ground... The third photo, I would agree that cropping would help...

[adina]

Thank you for the input! I will check out the link you sent. I have a lot of pictures I'd like to edit the date out of. Obviously, the overexposure rubs most everyone the wrong way, so I'll work on that too.

One question: what exactly is considered a portrait? I like taking natural looking pictures like these because they show more personality, I think. I guess I've been calling them portraits for lack of a better word....

Adina.... you mentioned two of the pictures looked 'soft.' What does that mean? How can I change that?

Thanks for your help!

If you are shooting digital, you can do a slight unsharp mask in photoshop.

[christopher_platt]

I like the third one, though I would crop it just a bit to eliminate some of the empty space. . .I like the second one too, it's artistic. BTW, tell your cousin she's a knockout .
;) .

[TwinsInParadise]

Thank you, Adina.... I will have to get Photoshop. I've been using the software that came with my all-in-one to edit my pictures.

Thanks for the input, Christopher.... I've told my cousin she's a knockout, but she's one of those shy, unassuming types. She doesn't know she's beautiful, lol!