Senior Prom 2014

I posted these on the wedding forum, no feedback. Realize now I should have posted here.

I took prom pictures for a good friend. It was her daughter's senior prom.

Any feedback, the good and the bad, would be greatly appreciated!!

1

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nrdL​ix

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nnMK​Bh

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/npQL​oF

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nm2J​Fs

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/npQJ​qc

First, I'm not an expert on outdoor portraits so take my ideas with a grain of salt.

Midday sun is not flattering... I would have put them under that gazebo that is in the first picture.

you seem to have shot most of these at something like f22, there's no background blur... the people are the subject not the background.

some ideas:

#1 - his blue vest is totally blown out... move into diffused light if possible here. Shadows in their eyes ruin the moment for me
#2 - the background just overwhelms - I know they're on a 'picturesque' bridge, but there's just too much foliage that is in clear focus to make this interesting
#3-5 - crop more tightly - much of the background adds nothing here...

#1 is badly blown out; look at the male's forehead and the girl''s chest. It look like this was shot in bright sunlight at high ISO. In these conditions you need to set the camera to base ISO (ISO 100), expose for the backgroud, then use a flash (preferably off camera) to expose the subject.

#2 suffers from most of the problems of #1 (look at the girl's right arm) and the background is way too busy.

#3 is the best of the lot. Judging by the softness of the shadows it looks like you use the on-camera flash (perhaps by accident )

planet5D wrote in post #16870786
First, I'm not an expert on outdoor portraits so take my ideas with a grain of salt.

Midday sun is not flattering... I would have put them under that gazebo that is in the first picture.

you seem to have shot most of these at something like f22, there's no background blur... the people are the subject not the background.

some ideas:

#1 - his blue vest is totally blown out... move into diffused light if possible here. Shadows in their eyes ruin the moment for me
#2 - the background just overwhelms - I know they're on a 'picturesque' bridge, but there's just too much foliage that is in clear focus to make this interesting
#3-5 - crop more tightly - much of the background adds nothing here...

PixelMagic wrote in post #16870920
#1 is badly blown out; look at the male's forehead and the girl''s chest. It look like this was shot in bright sunlight at high ISO. In these conditions you need to set the camera to base ISO (ISO 100), expose for the backgroud, then use a flash (preferably off camera) to expose the subject.

#2 suffers from most of the problems of #1 (look at the girl's right arm) and the background is way too busy.

#3 is the best of the lot. Judging by the softness of the shadows it looks like you use the on-camera flash (perhaps by accident )

Thank you both! I appreciate the feedback

None where shot at f22. All EXIF is there in flickr. I never remove that info.
1. f5.6
2. f5.6
3. f11
4. f6.3
5. f6.3