Dear Dave: You asked for some comments on your images. From a family oriented casual photography situation that anyone in the family would like, they are just great. They are happy and not posed to death. My comments however will be from a professional portrait point of view. I just wanted to make that distinction.
Image # 1
First comment is that the background of dark tree trunks against a very light sky is extremely contrasty and distracting. Possible solutions would include selecting a different location with more of a solid background that won’t distract from the subjects. If you wanted to stay in that location, then select a longer lens, move the camera back a bit and elevate the camera enough to make the ground cover the background rather than the trees against the sky. In other words, the camera will be looking more downward at the couple. With a wider lens this would be a problem but with a longer lens, it works just fine. The longer lens will help you isolate the subjects from the background by showing the same amount of subject while showing less background at the same time. A longer lens has a narrower field of view. Throwing the background considerably out of focus with a larger f stop would also help.
Other general portrait issues would include the choice of clothing. Selecting clothing wisely can make the difference between amateur looking and professional looking images. In this case, the man is in a black top and the girl is in a white top. Also note that the white top is showing little detail in the flat lighting of the scene. White requires directional light cutting across it to create texture. White also makes you look larger. Dark makes you look smaller. She is wearing blue jeans while he is wearing wrinkled light color pants. Turn your images upside down and study them from a distance. Notice how the light areas are the first areas your eye lands on. Let the faces be the lightest area and watch what a difference it makes. Try using deeper colors and solid colors. Dark blue denim is excellent along with long sleeve shirts. Perhaps maroon, deep blue, teal green or other muted colors. Using these colors will let the faces stand out as the subject while the clothing frames and supports.
Notice that in all 5 images we see the full width of the girl but only a fraction of the man’s width. Who looks bigger? A pose where the man was seated with the girl to one side slightly behind him perhaps with her hands resting on his shoulder would present him as the larger one of the two. In this pose the man would be the larger person while the girl with less of her body in view would look smaller. This technique is excellent for helping over weight people look a bit smaller. Place a portion of them behind another person and try to only show one arm and hand.
While the light is by no means bad, it’s not really portrait lighting. It has very little direction and what it does have comes from directly overhead as is evidenced by the shadows under the chins and cheeks and dark eye sockets. Would it sell? Certainly it would but if professional portraiture is our goal it is good to look for soft, directional light that will light the faces just like in the studio with slenderizing direction, brilliant eyes and texture to the clothing. Flat lighting that lights the subject evenly from ear to ear adds weight to the subject. Flash fill would open up the eye sockets but it would not have the direction we are looking for. Flash fill looks more like vacation snapshots in most cases than it does directional portrait lighting.
In images 1 and 2 notice that the heads are almost on the same level. This should be avoided to create more dynamic lines within the composition. Images 3 through 5 are better. Try to get at least a half head differential between neighboring heads. It creates diagonal lines that add to the interest and drama of the image.
Avoid having fingers, hands, arms, legs, and feet coming toward the camera. It truncates them giving a stubby and somewhat deformed look in extreme cases. Also, when a leg is coming toward the camera, it is now closer to the camera and optically larger. Especially the feet. Most folks don’t want larger feet. Anything closer to the lens will look larger. Try to fold the legs and arms to the sides rather than toward the camera. Stretch the body out from side to side rather than sitting vertically. It’s much easier to create diagonal lines this way.
On images 1 and 3 we have a classic case of the “can of worms” hands and fingers scenario. Especially in number 3, look how much is going on with the hands and fingers. Number 2 also suffers a bit from this problem. Try to always hide one hand behind another person (IF possible) . It simplifies the image and also reduces weight. Keep any limbs, or fingers pointing to the side rather than at the camera. Try not to show the palm of the hand or the back of the hand but rather the side or edge of the hand. This view will reduce the business of the fingers by hiding them one behind the next.
Images 4 and 5 show the girl’s hand in somewhat awkward positions. In number 5 the limp wrist is also in the negative column. A very minor issue is the wear of wrist watches by women. It’s no great sin but many watches tend to look a bit masculine on a ladies wrist. Most of the time it’s better to simply remove them. Simple jewelry is pretty much the best choice for most portrait situations.
I hope you find this helpful and that I didn’t hurt any feelings.
Best wishes,
