My First Engagement Shoot

[CosmoKid]

I'm assuming these were done for friends. Just keep shooting and keep studying how to shoot portraits.

A lot of people in your position worry so much about getting enough shots that they are just constantly shooting so they have a ton of photos but not a ton of good ones.

A shoot like this you need to go to the location, even if its just your first time and you're with the couple, and look for light. You have to be able to scan your surroundings and understand where the good light it and how to make it work to your advantage. You have to be able to see where and how to place your couples to take advantage of this light.

Every shoot I go on my couples always comment how they can see my brain working because as we walk around I am constantly scanning my scene to see how it can work for me.

Dont just go to a location and fire away. Place your couple where you want them. It doesnt mean the shot needs to be set up. If I have good light in a walking path I might start them 20' away in bad light and not start shooting until they walk to where I want them to be.

[whmeltonjr]

As someone that is going to attempt to be engaged in the next two weeks, I'll be looking for a photographer to snap some engagement photos. If mine came out like these, I would ask for my money back. Not trying to be rude when I say that, but they are all way over processed and they are OOF as well.

[HiepBuiPhotography]

Originally Posted by KA | Photography

Honestly, they loved them.
Like I said I took 400~ shots and about 80 of them came out the best. I've never favored in portrait photography but I figured I'd give it a try with this couple.

Oh, and I did not use any type of flash for these photos. All natural sunset lighting. (besides LR4)

If they loved them, I guess you've accomplished the task. However, I agree that there is room for improvement (especially with focusing), whether you do portrait photography or not.

Best of luck to you! Keep shooting!

[Numenorean]

Originally Posted by KA | Photography

Honestly, they loved them.
Like I said I took 400~ shots and about 80 of them came out the best. I've never favored in portrait photography but I figured I'd give it a try with this couple.

Oh, and I did not use any type of flash for these photos. All natural sunset lighting. (besides LR4)

Well for the lighting you were in, you needed to use flash or compose completely differently.

If that's how my engagement photos came out, I certainly wouldn't have used the same person to shoot my wedding, and I would have had the engagement shots redone by someone else.

[CosmoKid]

also, number your photos here and people can be more specific with the C&C

[KA | Photography]

The way it went down, was we parked in the park and just walked all over the park. It took about an hour and a half to go from trail to lake to trail to park, etc. I did some candid shots when they weren't expecting it and also told them to do this and pose here, etc.

I am however, investing in a flash soon.
I do appreciate the CC folks, I guess it just takes practice, and eventually practice makes perfect.

[12Rock]

Most of these pictures are out of focus & lighting is off . Sorry

[spesmeadeus]

I have to chime in with a similar tone here. These really missed the mark, if you have lenses that auto focus then you should use it. The processing is all over the map and frankly the processing isn't very romantic or interesting its actually unflattering. I think most of your pictures could use some greater depth of field, the backgrounds are too visible for me. I recently wrote a blog post about taking portraits and even at f/4 with the right selection of focal length you can get a nice blur, check it out maybe you will get something out of it.


Keep learning and keep shooting but I would say you are not quite ready to charge people yet, it would probably hurt you in the long run charging now. I remember going back to some of my old shots and asking myself how did I ever think those looked good. The joy is getting to the point where you are growing and seeing dramatic improvements.

Cheers

[FerozeK]

If i can give you a suggestion, set your camera to use the center focus point, use the 50mm, focus on the eyes, lock the focus and re compose and fire. The eyes are the most important focal point in a portrait and none of the pics you posted have that. Practice with one person using F5.6 which would give decent DOF first and then work out how much you can use to balance the parts in focus and how much is out. Then work your way up to 2 people. HTH

Feroze

[KA | Photography]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll check out that portraiture blog, thanks!

[nicksan]

Agreed. Most of them look soft but what really kills them is the processing. Some of these are absolutely salvageable, but yeah, a lot of them are just not really there.

It's good that the couple liked them and yes, that's the most important. But there's a lot of room for improvement.

[scorpio_e]

^ I have to agree with Nick 100%.. The processing really kills it for me. Many of them look soft.

Good luck

[KA | Photography]

I appreciate the replies...
I guess portraiture seems what I lack in when it comes to my photography. Just one more thing to practice on.

- I do favor in close ups, landscapes, and black & white here lately actually.

[scorpio_e]

Shoot what you are passionate about.

[shawncorson]

These have so much potential. I think just a tad more research on the lenses you're using, lighting and DOF and you will be set! Great start!