Bridal Critique

The first time the image did not show up on here like it did in Lightroom. So here is goes again. I would like to know where I should have cropped this. Next what did I do wrong with composition, color and overall image quality?

One of the first things I notice is your attempt at blurring the back ground.

Yikes, very poor blur masking. If you didn't get in the camera you probably arent going to fo a good job in post

Light looks decent. Ratio of subject to background ambient looks decent.

Blurring looks weird. Her eyes look closed. Her smile looks goofy, which I'm not sure suits the scene. You have her standing squarely to you. These are all problems.

Christopher Steven b wrote in post #17269793
Light looks decent. Ratio of subject to background ambient looks decent.

Blurring looks weird. Her eyes look closed. Her smile looks goofy, which I'm not sure suits the scene. You have her standing squarely to you. These are all problems.

Blurring sucks to be honest....eyes were tough because she took something so she would not be nervous. I really struggle to get this much smile.

Working with our models / subjects is one of the things that can seem difficult no matter how many shoots you do. It gets easier, but the challenge is always hovering around.

mdaddyrabbit wrote in post #17269932
Blurring sucks to be honest....eyes were tough because she took something so she would not be nervous. I really struggle to get this much smile.

Did you use any fill flash? She is bright enough against the drop that I thought she was, but the post processing may be the cause of that. Her eyes are dark which leads me to believe that no fill was used or if so it wasnt directed where its needed most.

I probably would have taken about three steps to your right and had her look at you while keeping her body the same direction. The cross light has left some nasty shadows on the right side of her face. This is not the way a woman wants to look on her wedding day. The attempts at darkening and blurring the background definitely make the issue much worse. You can see at the bottom where you did a line, but did not do anything below that line, and then you can see the non blurred area around here all the way back in the image while you attempted to blur outside of that, and there is even a tree at the top where you did not blur the top of the truck.
She has a tree growing right out of the top of her head, which might still be an issue with all the trees in the background, but try to never let the tree come right out of the top of the head.
And definitely would have warranted a reflector or light on her right to get that some liveliness in her eyes and open up the shadows in her eyes. Also take a quick look at her right hand. Next time, give her something to hold, or put it on her hip or put her hands together in front of her. Something so she does not clench her hand into a fist.
Just keep working on your poses and learn lighting as quickly as possible, even if it is just with a white foam board from Walmart. That extra little bit of light makes a HUGE difference in shots like these.

I used a off camera flash through a umbrella.

mdaddyrabbit wrote in post #17270298
I used a off camera flash through a umbrella.

Next time you need to make sure the flash is lighting her face. Dark lifeless eyes can ruin an otherwise good shot. In this shot it appears that her eyes were hooded if not closed, but had they been open they would still have been shadowed.