Beginner...Please C & C

Just a few pictures I took of my daughter this past weekend. I've only been doing this for a few months, and I figured the next step would be to get some insight and advice. These were taken in our backyard, no flash, just using a reflector to bounce some light. The one of her in the chair was just the light coming in thru the window...it just worked out. Any thoughts?

What a beautiful little blue-eyed girl you have. In all but #5 she looks too bright, so you might try reducing exposure in those. Hopefully you shot in RAW so you will have an easier time of adjusting exposure after the fact.
Did you do any post processing? IF not then you might sharpen them too.

I like 5 the best. Sort of a shy pose and I get whats she is thinking, if that makes sence.

I'm new to this also, so I am interested in what the pro's think on the lighting. I took some the other day with to many face shadows, now you have no shadows, so I'm torn with it.

Personally I think I like a little shadow on the face here and there, but I haven't accomplished that yet.

I wouldn't think your a beginner. At first I thought too bright, but now after looking at them for some time I'm not sure. So no help from me.

Maybe the pros will help.

Thanks for the input!

I played with the brightness/contrast and exposure a bit in Photoshop. I brightened them up because on the computer I was editing with, they looked too dark. But now that I'm back on my computer, they look too bright! Lol. So maybe they were fine to begin with? I'm gonna blame the monitor (but only slightly). I haven't really shot much in RAW, but I'm thinking of changing that. And I will definitely sharpen them up!

The fifth image is completely untouched, as is. I think it turned out the best and its my favorite. Funny how that works...

It's a good idea to check your histogram. When you see a lot of colors bunched up on the right margin then you are too bright. The little triangle in the upper right also tells you that you have crossed the blow-out line.

I think these shots are a great start. I agree with comments on the overexposure. It also looks to me that the outdoor shots are a little out of focus (the indoor shot is nice and crisp though). Two possible culprits: with a shallow DOF and closeup subject, your autofocus may be locking in on the wrong focus point, instead of the eyes where you want it; or, since you are relying on entirely natural light, your shutter speed may be a little too slow and you are getting some blurring from camera shake.

Qbx wrote in post #14477946
It's a good idea to check your histogram. When you see a lot of colors bunched up on the right margin then you are too bright. The little triangle in the upper right also tells you that you have crossed the blow-out line.

Great post!

When shooting light skinned subjects check your red channel specifically. If it's pushed out to the far right (especially if it's peaked at the extreme far right) you're losing detail and color in the skin tones.

I definitely think it was autofocusing on the wrong focus point. I'm gonna go check the original files and see what my shutter speed was at as well. Thanks for all the advice! This is great.

What would you suggest is the best way to fix being over exposed? Thanks again!

Just check my shutter speed. They we're all at 1/250 and f/2. So i'm thinking it was an autofocus issue. Thanks again!!

Yeah, at 1/250, shutter speed would not be an issue. Do you have your autofocus set up so that it just focuses on one point (e.g, the middle focus point)? If you have it where it can pick between any of the 7 or 9 AF points, it won't always focus where you want. That can be an issue when you are shooting at f/2 up close.

Yea I had it set so it would be between the different AF points. Didn't even realize it lol. Thanks for pointing that out!

Even with f/2, it may be difficult for you to focus on her eyes when she is so close to the camera. She could be moving around as well as your camera throwing off the very shallow DOF that f/2 offers. Try shooting something that is not moving where you can test how accurate focusing is instead of a young, probably energetic, girl.

Yea, she is definitely energetic lol. I'll definitely try on a still subject next time.