Chef Portraits one week from Friday

Sorry I haven't gotten back hear sooner. I had the photo shoot, and then came down with the worst flu ever! Better now though. The pictures didn't turn out as I would have hoped. The day of the shoot someone booked the entire banquet room, so that left us taking pictures outside; which wasn't awful because it helped with the lighting, but ... I'm just not thrilled with these. Let me know what you think. This is the first time I've taken portraits for someone other than myself, so it would be nice to hear constructive comments. Thank you in advance!

After uploading, I've noticed they do not look as sharp as they do on my computer. Also, her uniform needs to be cleaned up. I have others, but I could only load two pictures.

Portraits should tell a story or reflect the personality of it's subject. Make it visually interesting through perspective, lighting or action. I would have taken them back to the kitchen and let them do their thing. It's digital, crank up the ISO, shoot a color card and deal with the fluorescent lights.

It seems to me the whole purpose of creating and displaying the portraits Is to project an air of class and sophistication. Most people don't care what their chef looks like. So if you are going to do this it needs to be done well. A snapshot in front of a tree sends the message that you do things half assed. I don't mean to be harsh about your photos, simply that they reflect little effort and zero creativity due to the circumstances placed upon you. My point is if you are going to do the project, do it well. Do it with style and don't make it look like an afterthought.

I appreciate the constructive feedback. I agree with both of you, and I'm just not feeling these pictures at all. Pictures in the kitchen would have been a challenge because it's a working kitchen with no background potential at all. I had plenty of other places to try, such as the bar or even the hallway, but at the last moment the owner suggested getting a holiday theme going, hence the pines. I guess I allowed the tail to wag the dog on this one, as well as dropping the ball myself. I may try again this spring after giving it more thought and purchasing more equipment. I probably shouldn't have tried this to begin with, but they were ready to settle for cell phone shots, and I thought I could bring more to the table ... but maybe not. This is not a feel good moment. Lesson learned. Thank you again.

I'm confident that you can bring more to the table than cell phone images. You probably need to be clear with the owner that bad marketing is worse than no marketing in this case and build an argument for doing it right.

Are the chefs into having these portraits done? Having cooperative subjects can behalf the battle.