please, tear me a new one, must learn

[The1]

Originally Posted by TL

i see, i find it a bit annoying attaching images to each website so i just load everything to Flickr and then copy paste the BBcode all the forums/website i'm on

I would do the same if i were on many sites. This is pretty much it, and the occasional link i send to someone on facebook, but that's really rare.

[dcstep]

Beautiful woman. Your images are effective enough that they make me want to see a lot more of her.

IS does NOT soften your handheld images. Be aware that it can take a moment to spool up and you don't want to jab the shutter fast and catch it in the middle of its spool up, but, otherwise, it's a positive. I shoot lots and lots at high magnifications hand held and, believe me, IS is a positive for hand held shots.

You had her at ease and she posed very well. You missed some potential sharpness due to occasional slow shutter speed and/or too open an aperture. Try to think about your setting on every shot. Bracket not just shutter speed, but DOF (aperture) when you're playing it close and tight. That shot of her behind should have been in focus everywhere with a much smaller aperture. When you have her eyes, make absolutely certain that one (usually the nearest) is totally sharp.

I don't know how well you knew the model. If it's a GF, then it shows. If you just met her for the shoot, then I'm very impressed with her generally good posing, which reflects on you ability to put her at ease, one of the most important elements.

Keep at it and keep reminding yourself to pay attention to details. Look at your images at 100% and be hyper-critical of yourself. When you blow her eye up, it should be very detailed and sharp.

Nice effort.

Dave

[The1]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Beautiful woman. Your images are effective enough that they make me want to see a lot more of her.

IS does NOT soften your handheld images. Be aware that it can take a moment to spool up and you don't want to jab the shutter fast and catch it in the middle of its spool up, but, otherwise, it's a positive. I shoot lots and lots at high magnifications hand held and, believe me, IS is a positive for hand held shots.

You had her at ease and she posed very well. You missed some potential sharpness due to occasional slow shutter speed and/or too open an aperture. Try to think about your setting on every shot. Bracket not just shutter speed, but DOF (aperture) when you're playing it close and tight. That shot of her behind should have been in focus everywhere with a much smaller aperture. When you have her eyes, make absolutely certain that one (usually the nearest) is totally sharp.

I don't know how well you knew the model. If it's a GF, then it shows. If you just met her for the shoot, then I'm very impressed with her generally good posing, which reflects on you ability to put her at ease, one of the most important elements.

Keep at it and keep reminding yourself to pay attention to details. Look at your images at 100% and be hyper-critical of yourself. When you blow her eye up, it should be very detailed and sharp.

Nice effort.

Dave

Thanks... work in progress... I'm familiar with her, we've hung out a few times, so i have some things i can talk with her about and and get her mind elsewhere, she's easy to make laugh, so there's lots of pictures where her expression meets her eyes. The shot of her derriere was shot very quickly and i was probably too close for my 70-200 to focus fully on her resulting in that image not easy to walk behind and shoot at the same time, will get more practice with those shots though!!!

Thanks for the critique, I definitely let the shutter speed get away from me on a few shots and forgot to compensate shutter speed for focal length. ie 1/focal length for your minimum speed.

interesting info about the IS system spooling up, will have to play with that and see what i can do with it.

[UdubBadger]

Well even though it's been said, the 1st thing I noticed was framing. I'd suggest not using so much leading space all the time. Sure negitive space can be good when planned, however ESPECIALLY with portrait photos, space above or below the subject just makes it look weird. Leave a little room when you can. I would tell you this one needs at least a 1/4-1/2'' more space on the left.


If you want to shoot close ups, don't be afraid to let parts fall off the page either, this is a good example of that with her shoulders being cropped (even though there is still a bit too much space on top IMO).



I think I'd try something like this (attachment 1) where there is less lead above her head but you still get the space needed to make it look like she's looking off somewhere.

Or if you want a close up you can even crop further like this (attachment 2):

[UdubBadger]

Also, once you get comfortable, in these locations a fill flash would have been a lot of help. Getting your composition, framing and technical aspects down will make you a good photographer, but I have recently discovered if you want good PHOTOGRAPHS, it's all about the lighting and how you use it.

[The1]

Thank you, very usefull info and visual help.

Hopeing i'll have lots more opportunity in the near future to get more practice. It's mostly been playing up until this little shoot, so bit learning curve hit all at once.

The flash is definitely something that's going to be used a bit more in the future, i'm probably going to pick up a second flash, and likely a couple of pocket wizards. I'll also grab some tripods with hot shoe connections so i can experiment a little further.

Lamps will be down the road as i want maximum portability for the time being. I think....

[UdubBadger]

grab a good omni bounce or some type of flash diffuser too... nothing like a nice softly lit portrait

[The1]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

grab a good omni bounce or some type of flash diffuser too... nothing like a nice softly lit portrait

i have a small flash mounted soft-box, but it has to be pretty close to the subject, which i find imposing and annoying to work with if i want soft light.

I also have a Gary Fong light sphere, which i need to spend some more time with, haven't really given it much opportunity yet.

I'll have to bring that a long with me next time out and see what i can do with it.

[The1]

Originally Posted by UdubBadger

grab a good omni bounce or some type of flash diffuser too... nothing like a nice softly lit portrait

grabbed an omni bounce, ready for my next shoot, just gotta find another victem... i mean model....

I'm sure she'll do it again, but variety is good, time will tell.

[UdubBadger]

Originally Posted by The1

grabbed an omni bounce, ready for my next shoot, just gotta find another victem... i mean model....

I'm sure she'll do it again, but variety is good, time will tell.

nice bud, looking forward to seeing it.

[bosstones]

Good critique and tips so far, guys. Keep tearing him a new one! lol

[The1]

Please do!!! Very informative.

[BillLee]

i'm not very good at taking portraits myself, don't think i can help much. Just keep shooting!

[The1]

Originally Posted by BillLee

i'm not very good at taking portraits myself, don't think i can help much. Just keep shooting!

see!!! that's advice!

[rodi]

when i get a minute today, i'll take a stab.

[The1]

I don't need to be stabbed.... Just criticised

[chili555]

Originally Posted by The1

at the very least, put more faith in my image stabilizer and actually turn it on....

Even better, have faith in your tripod and use it!

[The1]

Originally Posted by chili555

Even better, have faith in your tripod and use it!

should invest in a better tripod i think. Might encourage me to start carrying it around more...