First try at portraits, Kalli

I've been into sports photography for years and car photography for a little over a year, but now I have seven friends asking for senior portraits. So my friend Kalli offered to help me out by 'modeling' for me. Mainly I'm looking for tips on editing techniques, as I have little experience with portraits.

Here's one of the shots that came from the practice shoot.

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As a new dad of a cute little baby girl I would hurt you for this photo (if I was her dad)...as a photographer I think you did okay, maybe a tighter crop so that there is minimal grass to the left of the face. Just my thought...get closer!

Great job, I don't really know what to critique, the pose is a little boring because it's used sooo much (JMO). I would have warmed the picture up a bit.

Lose the bright area in the upper right. Lose the shoes altogether. Vignette the edges.

Lighting looks flat. Left arm - camera right - makes her appear like an amputee, and you have a 255 white area top right.

Agreed with Dermit's comment on the shoes. They are competing for attention with the subject's face.

jerefish wrote in post #12997006
As a new dad of a cute little baby girl I would hurt you for this photo (if I was her dad)...as a photographer I think you did okay, maybe a tighter crop so that there is minimal grass to the left of the face. Just my thought...get closer!

I'm not sure I follow your comment about "I would hurt you for this photo." I see nothing obscene about it. If you have an issue with her bare middrift (which isn't really showing) then that is something her parents should have with her, not the photographer...

Anyway, on to the image.

The expression is genuine enough, but maybe a little forced. The other comments are dead on. The shoe color and blown corner are distracting abd her left arm shouldn't be hidden. You could either crop in from the top right of try to clone/content aware fill the white area. Then some curve adjustments on exposure and contrast with a slight saturation and/or vibrance bump overall, but bring down the magenta.

Still a good first practice session and I think you will improve quickly.

I would crop the top just a bit and add a little vignetting to the edges to help with the sky in the back, or do what moeronn suggest and clone. Shoes must go, a little distracting.

Looking forward to seeing future shots.

moeronn wrote in post #12997657
I'm not sure I follow your comment about "I would hurt you for this photo." I see nothing obscene about it. If you have an issue with her bare middrift (which isn't really showing) then that is something her parents should have with her, not the photographer...

Um...Maybe try reading my full comment: "I would hurt you for this photo (if I was her dad)"

Now read your comment: "If you have an issue with her bare middrift (which isn't really showing) then that is something her parents should have with her, not the photographer." LoL

My comment is a typical dad comment that has been used as a joke for years and years and years…please try not to be so touchy.

jerefish wrote in post #12997995
Um...Maybe try reading my full comment: "I would hurt you for this photo (if I was her dad)"

Now read your comment: "If you have an issue with her bare middrift (which isn't really showing) then that is something her parents should have with her, not the photographer." LoL

My comment is a typical dad comment that has been used as a joke for years and years and years…please try not to be so touchy.

Maybe you should read my complete statement?

"If you have an issue with her bare middrift (which isn't really showing) then that is something her parents should have with her, not the photographer."

I read and understood what you wrote, but I still don't see what issue you (as the parent of the girl being photographed) would have with the photographer. He's not the one that let her out of the house dressed like that. Like I said, if anything the parent should have a discussion with the daughter, not the photographer.

Not being touchy at all, just not sure what a parent could fault the photographer for.

Anyway, sorry for the hijack.

Thanks for the input everyone.

I had a feeling that the area on the top right would be distracting. Seems like it should be a pretty easy fix though. As for the shoes, I didn't catch that one when I was taking the photo but now that it's been pointed out...wow! Definitely something I will watch out for next time. Also the arm placement, another good catch. Thanks again everyone.

Sorry moeronn didn't mean to cause an issue, just joking around.

Anyway - OP, you need to brighten the photo and again work on the crop. Fill flash in a reshoot would really make the picture pop. Maybe use dodge function in lightroom to work on the minor raccoon eyes you have there while sharpening and lighting they eyes themselves. Look that up on youtube, you will find a ton of helpful stuff but make sure they still look natural. You can also whiten the teen a touch.

The bare midriff does not work here, now that others brought it up for other reasons.
First thought is she is wearing what looks like a T-shirt and since she is laying down and we do not see the transition from T-shirt to midriff it makes me feel like maybe the shirt just rode up on her when she got on the ground. The next thing is that it looks like it would be uncomfortable on the grass and therefore just does not seem like a good 'fit' for the pose and environment. Maybe in studio, or on a beach, etc., but this much skin on the grass just does not read well for me. Maybe a different top, in a different environment with the same pose, but this is not working.

moeronn wrote in post #12998044
Maybe you should read my complete statement?

"If you have an issue with her bare middrift (which isn't really showing) then that is something her parents should have with her, not the photographer."

I read and understood what you wrote, but I still don't see what issue you (as the parent of the girl being photographed) would have with the photographer. He's not the one that let her out of the house dressed like that. Like I said, if anything the parent should have a discussion with the daughter, not the photographer.

Not being touchy at all, just not sure what a parent could fault the photographer for.

You know I've seen photos from a senior portrait session, either here or elsewhere, of a girl that dances. Most photos had her in very tight very short cut off jeans and a bikini top spreading her legs in the splits position in nearly every photo and nobody made a mention of the clothing or the provocative poses at all. She was jumping for some and others she was just standing with her other foot pointing up over her head like she was raising her hand high.

My critique of this photo, she seems casually dress probably how she was dressed for the day normally. But the color balance seems greenish as she's in the shade so some tweaking is needed. As others have said the sunlight in the background needs to be avoided next time. And I find her big shoes to be a bit distracting way up in the air.

She's a beautiful girl.
- Framing just need a bit more crop
- Good ambient light but you could play a bit to add more pop to the picture.
- She look amputated as other have mentioned.
- The bare back skin doesn't work here. It give the impression of her upper half body and the lower half body of someone else....