First E-Session - need C&C

These are just a few shots from my first real e-session (I'm more used to family type portraits). Looking for C&C please on whatever you can throw at me to make these better. Thx!

I like all of them, but it seems like #1 might be 1/2 stop under exposed (maybe less?)

I have to agree, 1 and 2 are dark, #3 is way too contrasty.. #4 is okay, I like the idea of it I'm just not a big fan of sepia-ish tones.

In #1, his face is in focus but her's isn't

The last photo is great. the composition, the light is .... great.

Great insight from all...thank you!

I agree with elrey, something is up with #1. It's as if she was cut out of another image and pasted into this one. She should have been sharp, considering the other areas in focus. Did you do a bunch of skin smoothing on her?

#1..Not a fan of the angle. Something odd going on with the color too. Her eyes area bit dark
#2 The pose really looks awkward and their mid section seem to disappear in the trees.
#3 Too contrast fro my taste
#4 Love the ring shot

1-flash is not as hot as it should be resulting in underexposed subjects. The ambient (background) looks good though. Also--their expressions aren't matching up well. His smile renders her expression almost as a sour one.
2-pose looks awkward--seeing her arm 'cut off' reads oddly to me.
3-this experiment in contrast doesn't leave them looking very good in my opinion.
4-good.

First Photo: In the first picture the sun is fighting for my full attention due to it being so bright compared to the man and the women should have smiled more as her facial expression is emotionless, I would of also of had her relax her left hand more as her thumb looks rigid and it takes away from that soft emotion look you're going for.
I like this photo though I get the vibe that hes there to protect her and his hand being rigid on the thick tree branch shows this....this is my personal interpretation of the photo. Her face is also too soft and the lighting almost looks too soft in my opinion.

Second Photo: They're underexposed. My eye keeps wandering off to the bright sunlight on the water and the bright sky to the left of the photo. I would have raised my shutter speed/aperture and kicked the flash up a notch or two to make them the brightest object in the frame and slightly underexposed the backdrop. Also, his legs and stature is too straight I would of had him gently lean on her
bending that right leg possibly even slightly kneeling and I would of had him put his right hand around her hip.

Third Photo: Lighting is way too harsh, too much contrast, looks like a picture from a horror movie with the man being the protagonist.

Forth Photo: I would have cropped it slightly tighter.

Really superb comments...thank you. I really liked all of these photos, but I needed other's eyes to help point out items I've stared at for too long. Still working on making everything tight. For example, with shot #1, the eyes on both when editing are in-focus, but with several comments stating the young lady looked perhaps out of focus made me realize my fill light on her was lacking. Overall composition might be ok on another, but the bride-to-be's arm in the wrong spot taking attention away from other parts; and so on, and so on.

Long story short, I posted these for a reason and I sure am getting that help I need. Thanks!

Was she preggers? I would actually have liked to see them at more of an angle. the lighting was well-done though. i'm not too crazy about the sepia as it's a little too green, and the high contrast shot is a bit too much for me as well.

Number one has lighting issues. Did you use flash? Either way, here's a tip I learned that really helps in these situations...

1. Set flash on top of camera, ETTL.
2. Set camera to Aperture Priority Mode and dial in the aperture you want.
3. Take a shot. The aperture/flash will expose the subjects and the shutter speed will expose the ambient. Look at your background... if it needs more exposure or less exposure... step 4...
4. Use the camera exposure compensation (wheel on the back) and underexpose or overexpose the ambient light to get your desired look.

This way you can be sure that your subject exposure will be pretty much spot on and you can control the background light easily with the back wheel. As it stands, your image is really underexposed, there is no pop in their eyes, she is out of focus... give it a try because if I can do it with half decent results so can anyone!

RangersForever wrote in post #15251942
Number one has lighting issues. Did you use flash? Either way, here's a tip I learned that really helps in these situations...

1. Set flash on top of camera, ETTL.
2. Set camera to Aperture Priority Mode and dial in the aperture you want.
3. Take a shot. The aperture/flash will expose the subjects and the shutter speed will expose the ambient. Look at your background... if it needs more exposure or less exposure... step 4...
4. Use the camera exposure compensation (wheel on the back) and underexpose or overexpose the ambient light to get your desired look.

This way you can be sure that your subject exposure will be pretty much spot on and you can control the background light easily with the back wheel. As it stands, your image is really underexposed, there is no pop in their eyes, she is out of focus... give it a try because if I can do it with half decent results so can anyone!

I used a speedlight bounced into an umbrella and back to the subjects - camera right. I shoot most everything in manual, this time exposing for the sunset, then attempting to dial in the off-camera flash to get just enough fill. Perhaps the same set up camera left would have helped. Thanks.