First Senior photoshoot! C&C

So I did my first senior shoot and i'd like some feed back. We could only schedule for the middle of the day, so I know that theres some harsh shadows but I did the best I could. I didn't use any strobes just natural light and I don't have a major editing program yet just iPhoto.
1.

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1) high's are blown out

2) WB seems cool and looks like her right arm and hands are cut off.

3) again blown out and shadows on the face.

4)WB is off and again the highs are blown out

Being able to adapt is the key to any good photographer. To read the surroundings and the subject and know, "hey, it's really bright out. Maybe I should shoot in the shade a bit more." I know it's easier said than done and a million things are going through your head while shooting but this will ultimately make or break your shots. Do you shoot RAW? You should be able to recover some of the blown highs in ACR.

Why were you using ISO 800? Shooting wide open at 2.8 at ISO 800 is going to give you crazy background blowout like you have in your pictures. In that situation, you should have lowered your ISO to 100 (it's super bright outside, no worries about light) and used an ND filter with a flash on the subject if you really wanted to capture the background without blowing out your subject.

I concur with ni$mo above. There are a ton of things to remember that aren't yet intuitive when you're just starting out doing portrait/headshot/mode​ling type shoots. You'll eventually get the hang of it the more you post back here and refine your techniques based on input.

yea I know I made the mistake at shooting at ISO800. was in the shade so i bumped the iso up. i really need to invest in ND filters. any suggestions?
and thanks guys its really appreciated!

ND filters won't help. Your metering mode and paying attention to detail are the key. You might also look into a good flash.

But....shooting in mottled light very seldom turns out well. Find full shade or full sun.

thanks titus!

location location location
even at noon there are fully shaded shot or try back lit
and i wouldnt consider iphoto photo editing software,
i might recommend light room $300 and well worth it that is if you cant afford photoshop
or try elements i hear people like it
and check out lynda.com great online tutorials for cheap

The only time sun on faces works is close to dawn or dusk. And dappled light never works. Other good advice has already been given.

Titus213 wrote in post #13184781
ND filters won't help.

How else do you not blow out a very bright background in this situation? Even lowering th ISO to 100 will still blow it out with that powerful sun. An ND filter will bring your shutter speed down. They are shooting with a 50mm so they are close enough that the flash will still be effective. The reason I know is because I just did a shoot with the same lens in the same conditions outside.

Stopping it down and increasing the flash power will yield a proper exposure over the entire shot. I often shoot without a filter in midday sun at f/8-11 with my strobes to balance the ambient with the flash. This is only one of many options though..

Yea, if you have strobes, and I guess the OP does since he mentioned it although I'm not sure why he didn't use them. My shoot was just with an OCF, so there's not a lot of options with that.

I would use an ETTL flash with high speed sync to light the subject if I was FORCED to shoot in these conditions. If that wasn't enough I'd change location. My point is that selection of location is far more important than the equipment you can use.

Agreed on location selection, I was just curious how you would deal with that situation if you were in it, having just done the same myself.

I've always figured that as a photographer I was hired for my photographic expertise (whatever level that might be). Part of that is selection of time and place. If the client is obstinate then I have to deal with the type of issues presented in these images. If I know I can't deal with these issues I would suggest they select a different photographer.

OB BOY..I think it's all been said already. Bad location..bad lighting..bad posing.. I would offer a reshoot or their money back..