Home Forums Photography Showcase Constructive criticism please! looking for ways to improve.

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  • #17262
    laurel238
    Participant

    Hey everyone!

    I just discovered the forums on this site, but have been enjoying the content for a while now.  The only “training” in photography I have had was through high school courses, but I am planning to begin a digital photography minor program at my college soon.  I am not looking to become career photographer, but I discovered that photographing people is something I love to do and would like to continue pursuing on my own time.  Here’s my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/118576465@N06/

    Please let me know what you think and where I can improve! Please keep in mind that as a full time broke college student, buying new gear and programs is pretty much out of the question.  I am currently shooting on a Canon 7d with a 50mm 1.4f lens and use lightroom 5 to edit. I shoot exclusively in available light, mostly because I can’t afford to purchase external lighting equipment at the moment (there is one shoot on the page using an external flash – at the time I was able to check it out from my school).

    Thanks for your time and helping me improve- I’m excited to hear your feedback!

    #17270
    iliketag
    Participant

    I’ve been a little MIA here in the last 6 months, but I’ll chime in.

    Your shots overall are mostly clean and well lit and for the most part your white balance is fine. There are a few that are either too warm or a little too cool.
    For instance, this one is slightly too peach colored:
    Twin11-2
    Their skin tones may be pretty close to correct but it’s the background and the fact that their clothes have warm hues that cause it too need a slight tweaking.

    This one here is slightly too cool:
    Jessica8-2
    A little extra warmth would help the blue cast from the shadow on the right side (left side of her face). Due to the lighting on the right side of her face, white balance might be trickier there since it seems like there is a little bit of detail lost in that portion of her face.

     

    I would remove this set entirely:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/118576465@N06/12739132154/in/photostream/

    While it may be difficult to let images go, this set does not fit with your overall feel and quality of your flickr and is largely out of focus. You have some truly great work but this could cause someone to second guess.

    It seems you’ve been given a lot of opportunity for artistic shoots and ultimately they look really good. Your edits are mostly clean (with the few exceptions, well, a couple others as well) and other than some chopped limbs and soft focus issues, you’re work is a strong quality.

    The other thing I want to ask about is the most recent shoot – the girl with the long brown hair posed in front of the brick wall. Did she seem relaxed or maybe not feeling the shoot? Her poses and expressions come off as rigid – and not in the model-y way. It seems forced, like she might not have been having a good day. It’s in stark contrast to the photos of the three girls together and the redhead who was blossoming with personality. Likewise, some of the clients have super cheesy smiles; I’m not saying this is bad! It just doesn’t fit the flow in some places. Perhaps consider rearranging the photo stream for some better flow.

     

    In response to the thing about lighting equipment – buying or making reflector’s is very easy and beneficial. If you aren’t already, consider building some to get some more controlled catchlights in those eyes!

     

    #17276
    laurel238
    Participant

    Thanks so much for the feedback! Upon second look at those photos against the brick wall, I can see what you mean the expressions looking stiff.  She seemed plenty relaxed to me while I was shooting- we had a blast.  That is probably the set I’ve received both my most positive and my most negative reactions to.  And  yes I did recently purchase a reflector, and it has been a huge help.  I did not have it for all of the sets posted though.  Thanks again, this has been very helpful!

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