Reply To: I really hope I'm not…

[stef]

Your exposure is off, but it’s consistently off except for one image. That’s a good sign, because that means you probably weren’t stuck in automatic modes. It’s also okay, because that means you shot to the right, and can bring down the exposure without issues of noise. For the most part, it doesn’t look like you blew the whites but there are a few where you did.

 

You have some basics of portraiture, but are missing a few things. First, you need a scrim. Nothing destroys skin like direct sun.. a scrim will turn the sun into a big softbox. Next, you need a reflector. Lacking a scrim to reduce the light on the shoulders and arms, a reflector can put extra light into the faces. Last, you need to FIND THE LIGHT when given the opportunity or CREATE it yourself, instead of trying to make do.

 

This shot is squinty, with a furrowed brow http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q613/AGloverPhotos/Hedeen%20Family%20Aug%2012th/2b3b1598.jpg That’s because you aimed her face into the sun. You’re also too close, causing the shoulder to be all distorted and huge.

This is a better shot, but with a reflector to your right for some directional light to create modeling on the faces, it would been really good, except for the oversaturation you added. http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q613/AGloverPhotos/Hedeen%20Family%20Aug%2012th/da9414f7.jpg

This shot is completely blown. http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q613/AGloverPhotos/Hedeen%20Family%20Aug%2012th/1115c493.jpg If you can’t fix it by healing it from another image, it should be discarded. If you had nailed the exposure, it would’ve been a nice picture. Proper settings and a reflector would’ve saved it.

 

You avoided some of the most common mistakes of having tree branches coming out of dad’s head or missing focus, or overprocessing with filters to try to save the images. You failed on camera handling for exposure, and people handling of posing in poor locations.

 

 

So here’s my advice:

Avoid direct sunlight, or mitigate the issues with a reflector, fill flash, shady tree (without beams of light blasting through), or a scrim.

Keep your hand off the saturation knob.

Nail your exposures.

 

You need some practice, but you are not a fauxtographer.