Newbie Introduction

[KachinaDesigns]

Hi everyone! My name is Jackie. I am new here, and wanted to say I love reading this forum. Have been lurking for quite a while. Right now I am an amateur photographer, and would like to some day do semi-pro outdoors portraits. Right now I can't afford a good SLR camera, So I just enjoy doing what I can with composition, lighting, and background idea's. I figure practice can't hurt- LOL. I have always had a strong interest in photography, but never really pursued it until not too long ago, when my daughter asked me to do some shots of her for her Senior Pictures. They turned out BETTER than at least half the portraits being done by some "so-called" local pro's. I feel like I have a natural sense for composition, and I can't wait to get a nice pro camera and see what I am *really* made of LOL. Here are two pics that I am pretty proud of, simply because they were not painstakingly staged, we just walked up and said "hey that looks like a cool place for a shot" and they turned out pretty great considering the limitations I have in regards to equipment.
http://members.aol.com:/kachinadesigns/forum1.jpg
http://members.aol.com:/kachinadesigns/forum2.jpg

[jjackflash]

Hello and welcome.....nice shots... she has great eyes...keep it up

[led hed]

hi! nice photos.

#1 you cut her elbow off.

#2 the pipe is not all there on the right side.

welcome! keep shooting :)

[KachinaDesigns]

Smucker,

Yes, you are right on both counts. The pipe was intentional. I didn't want a "perfect circle" in the pic. On the other hand, the elbow cut-off was not intentional. I would have liked to have her place that arm more across the front, but she doesn't like her hands, and wanted me to pose her so that her hands were not in the shot. Another critique I have of my own is that she had her finger hooked kindof funny into the button of her jacket. LOL Thanks so much for the constructive criticism, I welcome it :)

[disneydork06]

nice shots. love her eyes. did you do any pp to your shots? assuming they were taken in az...where was ur location? just curious :-)

[TSEE]

Nice shots and welcome.

[KachinaDesigns]

Disneydork, Yes I did fix a little dark circling under her eyes, and quite a bit of acne touchup. Unfortunately as you may have noticed it did "flatten" her complexion a bit. The eyes are all hers though! And it was in a little area outside of Flagstaff, in the fall.

[jackies35]

Hi Jackie!

Great Shots! Love the color, contrast, and the composition! Keep it up!