Better photo shoot?

Question

Okay so ive been on a bad luck/ mal-informed streak of taking bad photos of my friend. Its really my fault and I really want to capture a nice photo for her. This will be the fourth time around, and this time, a lot of things were taken into consideration, from lighting down to what was more flattering (her clothes) to the background, since we were limited to resources. I tried (and hopefully at least sort of got the idea) of the composition key but some photos just I guess fell into those “dead” zones horizontally and vertically. I have been reading/learning(and hopefully showing growth) about photography, I’ll never give up, but I would like some(at left if any) progression in my photos. (coninue onto the details section please)

(continued....) (yes I know this will take years but a nice photo wouldn’t kill me from here to there) if you see problems im still repeating let me know what it is because, “its not right” well never help me learn, get into detail & why, thanks, so please let me know which photo is the best for her portfolio(if any) and let me know why…..thanks so much!(ps. no retouching has been done! :) _)

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1932/shot1cq3.jpg

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/8793/shot5pt9.jpg

http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/5710/shot3tk5.jpg

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/4747/shot4ck5.jpg

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/5384/shot2cs1.jpg

Answer 1

Hi again :-)

Well, you have improved since the first offerings. The first one, she has an absolutely awful expression. She is a pretty girl, how does she manage these grimaces?

You do have some nice back light apparent in a couple of them, where it is highlighting the edge of her fur wrap. Her face is still too much in the dark, though. Try using a silver, white or gold reflector to throw some light back into her face.

Are you blurring the background by using a large aperture, or through PS? (It has a Photoshopped look.) It still needs to be more out of focus and less distracting. Also, in this case, it doesn't go with the winter outfit she is wearing. Maybe try again with a white bg. You will probably have to adjust your exposure, though, to avoid underexposing her face.

I thought the last two were better. In the one with the feather, try closing in on her face, particularly her eyes, and have her look up at you for a couple . She has amazing eyes, I think if they were lit with a good catchlight they would be her best feature.

Also, her expression is downright painful in some, particularly the first one. I realize you don't want a big, cheesy smile all the time, but it would be nice to see one at least sometime. She can practice faces in the mirror to see what looks good to her.

You have made some improvement. Keep practicing and keep us informed. :-)

Answer 2

Couple of things -

The white thing she is wearing isn't flattering to her. It is too white, washing her out, and too big. Try to focus on her face. Don't be afraid to move around. She's got her head down - shoot from a lower angle into the hood so you can see her.

Shoot early or late in the day (it's called magic hour for a reason) the light will be softer, there will be no really contrasty spots, and the angle will be better.

You're right to shoot her in a solid color that doesn't blend into the background. Ask her if she has other solid colors that aren't white or green.

Set your camera so that the depth of field is more shallow. This will blur the background so it isn't so distracting. I have a 50mm portrait lens that I use for this when I take pics of my kids. It's really shallow, but if I focus only on their faces, the background totally disappears. It takes fabulous pictures.

Keep going. The old saying used to be that if you got one fabulous shot a roll, you were doing great. In the digital age there's no excuse - just keep clicking.

Bring an extra card and don't delete as you go. Download all of the images and look at them - you won't learn what's wrong otherwise. Check the back of the camera for composition and light and move on. I try not to look when I'm shooting.

Keep practicing, you're doing well.

Answer 3

Is this at the North Pole, Alaska or where were these taken? I am left wondering why the heavy fur coat . Are you trying to advertise the coat or your friend? With that kind of cover up you would need a spotlight for lighting. You need to show some ingenuity. IF you must have the coat then get innovative. I am assuming that this friend is female. It's hard to tell from the photos. Have her place the coat hood further back on her head, like as far back as it can go without falling off. Have her open the coat. She should have a binkini top underneath or nothing and open the coat enough to expose enough to tease but not enough to show but the full front of her belly and between the breasts should be fully exposed. Or you can show a side view flirting with one breast, etc. Why the coat?

Answer 4

I liked the shot of her with hand holding her jacket at the top by the neck. She looks like she might have nice eyes but you are not zooming in on her.

Also she does not really smile get her to smile.

As stated you are showing to much background and the emphasis is not on the model. You were shooting in the shade so your images look flat, put her into something more summer time wear and not winter.. background does not match with that outfit.

Try again...
Kevin

Answer 5

okay...dude....your photographs are nice...
take care of these things....
which i feel can make photo very nice...

1 take snaps at morning time or evening time....

2 do not get your subject to cut from one side....it will always look bad....

either make close up only of main person...or take full snap of area u want
take care that there should not be a cut from one side....
it should be both or none....

3 expression missing....make her feel confortable....
first discuss with her in detail that what you want to take out of that pic...
decide first that what type of pic you want thn take that pic

4 background...
it plays big role.....
choose it as per ur theme....

second last and last one are nice snaps...
you will improve with prectise...
all the best....