Reply To: Be gentle, it's my first time…

[stef]

Your colors are all over the place. Same sheep, same time of day, completely different colors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenfocus/7772953382/in/photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenfocus/7772953476/in/photostream

Looks like you might’ve been processing one with more muted color, but I’m not sure if it was intentional… the second one (Adele_01) color is pulling the eye away from the sheep to the grass behind.

 

This is almost a good picture, but has exposure and color issues, hacked off limbs, and a wonky crop. http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenfocus/7772962710/in/photostream/ But not making it over the hill to good, it rolled back down to bad.

 

More bizarre color treatments: http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenfocus/7772958310/in/photostream

 

This image is nice, but has exposure issues. You blew the red channel, and you can tell by the posterization on the back. It could’ve been a more relaxed pose if she wasn’t hugging herself. http://www.flickr.com/photos/brokenfocus/7772935094/in/photostream/ The one of her standing (Megan_01) would’ve stood alone without the extra hazy, aged processing. Also, I’m not sure if the horizon is straight on Megan_01; it feels off, but that might be an illusion.

 

I actually liked your Michael series, despite the gimmicky processing and artistic license with exposures. It looks like exactly what you were trying to do, not some “throw darts at the keyboard” processing. It looks like a good senior portrait session. I liked the crops, a lot of the processing, and although I’ve seen way too many brick walls, the series just sort of worked well. It could’ve been so much badness, but you pulled it off.

 

My advice:

Stop going overboard on eye processing. It’s ruining some of your pictures. This includes oversaturation in general.

Not everything needs to look like it came out of an Anthropologie catalog. Make at least a few traditional portraits during a portrait session, without any funky washed out, desaturated, aged look. You’re risking being a one-trick pony, and at some point, it’ll be passe.

Get a gray card and use it.

Calibrate your monitor. Some skin tones looked really bad.

 

I had to look at your photostream a few times to confirm, but you are not a fauxtographer. You do need to take your foot off the pedal though, because you’re barely staying on the road.