My first E-Session

So my best friend is getting married in a couple of months, and she really wanted me to do her Save the Date shots. Like usual, I was nervous as heck, having never done an e-sess.

I searched the web for inspiration but it ended up being more like copy-cation (remember folks, imitation is the greatest compliment). I tried different looks, and found quite a few of my own mistakes, but I figured I'd put them out here for yall to critique.

Go ahead and give me your best. I appreciate comments like 'watch your light' or 'this crop is too tight' for the next time I do one of these. But if you could focus on things I could actually fix, so their Save the Dates could look the best possible. Thanks yall!

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http://farm9.staticfli​ckr.com/8002/710500603​7_3289fcf69b_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com/7239/710500736​3_e9ef28d6e8_c.jpg

And these are sort of all over the place, but they're the 'typical' e-session ones it seems

http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com/7212/695890059​4_f754cfd0f7_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com/7260/695893112​6_84297baf39_c.jpg

http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com/7041/710501034​3_6f3eee3497_c.jpg

I'll await your suggestions!

My bad! Sorry, I thought that rule was per post, that's why I split them up.

No pointers yall?

First off, you obviously have done portraits before, so you shouldn't have been worried

#1 - Nice shot - a bit of extra light on the left by his face - makes it look just a tad too hot, would like the framing to be a bit better - i.e. see her whole arm, and maybe a bit more headroom at the top, but otherwise great shot.

#2 - Angle is a bit odd, and I think your DOF made the guys eyes just a bit too OOF compared to hers. I'm digging the light patterns on the sidewalk - I would try to make more use of those. Great exposure and color.

#3 - Maybe zoom out just a bit. Seems just a tad overexposed.

#4 - Nitpick is the rope, blown sky but it doesn't seem to be too distracting.

#5 - Looks a bit overexposed to me.

#6 - Looks fine.

#7 - Looks fine.

#8 - I am not a fan of flare.

#9+ - They are private and I can't look at them.

My one suggestion is that I really really like natural and emotion-filled shots for e-sessions. I do posed stuff, but I also at times just have the clients talk to each other and be themselves and I'll stand back and just try to capture the emotion. I worry less about the technical aspects on these shots - there may be a few flaws here and there, but when the emotion is there they don't really matter.

Previous portraits? Negative, I've done 2 weddings in February, a Quinceanera in January, and a children session in March, all since I bought my 5Dii. Before then it was a year with my T2i, using it about once a month for family parties and my sister's at home cake business.

GREAT suggestions, I'll work on 3 and 5 tonight. And the rest are public now, if you have more pointers

CanonGrl01 wrote in post #14314508
Previous portraits? Negative, I've done 2 weddings in February, a Quinceanera in January, and a children session in March, all since I bought my 5Dii. Before then it was a year with my T2i, using it about once a month for family parties and my sister's at home cake business.

GREAT suggestions, I'll work on 3 and 5 tonight. And the rest are public now, if you have more pointers

You did 2 weddings, a quinceanera and a children session and you didn't get portraits at any??

#9 - Good shot, perhaps a touch hot, maybe a bit cool?

#10 - Zoom out a bit - that tiny bit of his head that is cut off is bugging me. Good emotion. Not a fan of flare...again that's personal though.

#11 - Zoom out a bit. Her hand is just slightly cut off, and I find it strange that I can see both of her legs, but the guy is cut out some. Also, if you wanted his foot to be resting on the wall, I want to see all of the shoe.

#12 - Wonderful shot, I really like it.

#13 - This one is too overexposed, also the guy is squinting. Sun in his eyes. I prefer to keep the sun behind people.

#14 - Zoom out just a tad! Fingertips are cut off - give them some room.

#15 - Fun shot, love it! Background might be a bit hot but doesn't bother me here.

#16 - Same as the B&W version of this shot (or the similar one in B&W) - Notice the really harsh shadows from their noses that is from the harsh side lighting. Doesn't look very good.

Overall the couple should be thrilled, you got some great shots. A lot of the stuff I'm pointing out is nitpicky and most clients wouldn't notice as much as another photog

Numenorean wrote in post #14314571
You did 2 weddings, a quinceanera and a children session and you didn't get portraits at any??

Touche, I meant not really. Your 'obviously' made it seem like I do it often, I wouldn't consider three events enough to be comfortable with them. And honestly, those other ones didn't come out too well lol (except for the kids ones, I liked those). Live and Learn and Keep shooting right?

The ones cut off were shot like that unfortunately, but I'll look at the ones that are too hot. My biggest issues seem to be overexposing and not being able to get a consistent white balance so I'm trying to get comfortable with that.

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

CanonGrl01 wrote in post #14314601
Touche, I meant not really. Your 'obviously' made it seem like I do it often, I wouldn't consider three events enough to be comfortable with them. And honestly, those other ones didn't come out too well lol (except for the kids ones, I liked those). Live and Learn and Keep shooting right?

The ones cut off were shot like that unfortunately, but I'll look at the ones that are too hot. My biggest issues seem to be overexposing and not being able to get a consistent white balance so I'm trying to get comfortable with that.

Thanks a lot for your feedback!

No problem. White Balance can be troublesome at times, especially with changing light. I usually group my photos by location, get one really good as far as WB and then copy/paste that to the rest of the group - this is with Lightroom.

One thing that I tend to do is leave a good amount of room in my photos - because I do print quite a bit of 8x10's for people. So I need to have enough room to crop a bit off the sides and still have everything look good. If that isn't something you do, then you don't have to worry about it.

If you don't do this often, try to remember what the light was like, what settings you used, explore why things did work and why they didn't. Remember that for the next time. Over time you get used to shooting in just about any light, but if you have the choice, the 1-2 hours prior to sunset are the best for portraits. Or ditto that after sunrise.

One thing to try that I really like to do is when the sun is brighter, keep it behind the subjects - this will usually create a rim light on their hair/face/etc. You will likely need to fill in a bit with flash on their face, but if you can position so that your background is darker than the sky at that time, the rim light will look great. If you position with the sky behind them - the sky is blown out and the effect of the rim light is lost. You definitely want to shoot with a lens hood like this though, and sometimes you have to find a spot where you are in shade but your subject isn't unless you want flare.

I like them... What did you do for PP?

Numenorean wrote in post #14314648
One thing to try that I really like to do is when the sun is brighter, keep it behind the subjects - this will usually create a rim light on their hair/face/etc. You will likely need to fill in a bit with flash on their face, but if you can position so that your background is darker than the sky at that time, the rim light will look great. If you position with the sky behind them - the sky is blown out and the effect of the rim light is lost. You definitely want to shoot with a lens hood like this though, and sometimes you have to find a spot where you are in shade but your subject isn't unless you want flare.

This snippet is full of such good advice, very helpful (even though I haven't done it yet, the logic makes complete sense, I definitely think it's something I could remember for next time). Thank you

Ryan, I started with a couple of presets in lightroom, and then adjusted each one as needed. I can send you the ones I have if you like

CanonGrl01 wrote in post #14314914
This snippet is full of such good advice, very helpful (even though I haven't done it yet, the logic makes complete sense, I definitely think it's something I could remember for next time). Thank you

Ryan, I started with a couple of presets in lightroom, and then adjusted each one as needed. I can send you the ones I have if you like

Whats your email, I will happily trade you 2 workflows that I have.