Senior Portrait

I'm wanting to get into senior portraits, but up to this point I have primarily focused on wildlife/ nature photography. For this reason, I am trying to get some practice in portraiture. These are my first attempts and I would appreciate some comments and critiques so I can improve. Thanks

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …ekphotography/6​579334139/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …ekphotography/6​579337703/

The sun on her face is too harsh. I think if you re-do it with more even light, it will be perfect.

Good shots,bad lighting.

Looks like the picture was taken in the late afternoon.

By taking the picture a little bit later (golden hour), the light might have been better. A light modifier (5-in-1 reflector) could have been used to shade her and soften the light with the translucent option.

Great posing.

cpam.pix wrote in post #13603996
Looks like the picture was taken in the late afternoon.

By taking the picture a little bit later (golden hour), the light might have been better. A light modifier (5-in-1 reflector) could have been used to shade her and soften the light with the translucent option.

Great posing.

+1 on this. If you can't control the light your portrait work will suffer badly.

shane,

perfect example of an assistant holding a diffusing panel right side of frame to cut down direct sunlight on model's face would have done the trick for you.

Like the BG exposure and the setting. A little control over the lighting would have gone a long way in making a GREAT image.

dave

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'll keep these things in mind when shooting in the upcoming weeks. I actually have a large 5 in 1 reflector but I need to purchase a stand since having an assistant to hold it is not always possible.

Like mentioned above, solid poses/background/etc
But the lighting need to be worked on.

I know in lighting situations like this I always use the giant translucent that comes in the reflector kit. Either that or I will position my subject back to the sun (the sun acts a a hair light now) and use a white reflector to bounce light back onto my subject's face. (or lately, fill flash)

Aside from the lighting, you might also want to watch her head tilt. She is leaning it back and it makes her look down her nose at the camera. You might find her more engaging by dropping her chin just a bit. Maybe get her face a bit more square to the camera and then tilt sideways. I also would like to see her eyes a bit more open to grab attention. I am quite certain she is acting very natural and when she smiles, she by nature squints. Yet I find myself looking for a bit more eye contact if she can give you that. The first one caught a better eye placement overall. If you can work with her to get her eyes a bit more open so they can be seen, I think you will see a dramatic improvement. Great location and your model looks very relaxed. Great work and keep shooting.