I would love a bit of feedback

So over the course of a few months, I've taken a few pictures casually for friends while I've been away at school. It would be nice to know how I could improve upon my pictures and possibly make it a lucrative hobby one day.

Bit more

Last two.

The first image looks like a great promo shot for a wristwatch.

The remaining images can be improved by watching your background and I would put the backside to the sun and use flash on them.

Nice collection of images

I like your photos. That said, you can't turn photography into a lucrative hobby. Make it either a hobby, or a lucrative business. The middle ground is no-man's-land. You won't be happy. Neither will your clients.

Thanks, I guess I'm at the stage where I am trying to figure out just what I want to do.

Thanks for the insight, I really do appreciate it. All my friends like to get photos taken of them after church so I got over there and worked with the scene. But again thank you so much.

Bassat wrote in post #18234831
...you can't turn photography into a lucrative hobby. Make it either a hobby, or a lucrative business. The middle ground is no-man's-land. You won't be happy. Neither will your clients.

That is the absolute truth. Speaking from personal experience, decide right now if you want an enjoyable hobby or a potentially lucrative business. If you try to have both, you may end up with neither.

With that said, I offer some generalized suggestions; learn the basics of light and composition, stay creative and don't be afraid to stray from what you've learned to be "correct", and work on your post-processing abilities.

The main problema with your portraits are the light, composition (they're all posed in the center of the frame), and a lack of understanding of depth of field. You're going to need an external flash and you'll need to learn how to use it, of course, if you hope to shoot portraits.

For your first portrait, you moved the young lady into the shade, which is good, but you didn't add any light to her and your DOF is too shallow.
For the second shot, you have the couple facing the harsh overhead sun. Rarely will you get a decent expression on your subjects under these conditions. DOF is good.
Your 3rd and 4th portraits, you don't have your subjects facing the sun, but you have the sun hitting them on the side of the head with their faces in shade. Get them out of the sun and add a flash.
Your DOF is good for the 3rd shot, but too shallow for the 4th one.
Your last portrait, you have the sun at their back, but their faces are in deep shadow and need additional light on them. Here a shallower DOF would have been helpful to blur the background building.

Except for the last image, you seem to be getting nice expressions from your subjects and most would have made nice portraits with the proper lighting, DOF and a little better composition.
There are a number of inexpensive 3rd party flashes out there that won't cost you a fortune and I think acquiring one should be your first step if you're serious about shooting portraits.
You have a fast lens that can shoot very shallow depth of field images, but make sure to allow enough DOF to keep your subject's facial features in focus.
"Google" "portrait photography" under images to get an idea of compositions you like. You'll probably see quite a few images placed dead center in the image, as you've done with yours, but those won't normally be the best images.

Keep practicing and have fun with it. Don't rush going pro since your clients may not be happy with your current work and that could hurt your reputation for future business, when your photography skills improve. Good luck and enjoy the journey.

BTW, if "John's Creek" is the one in the Atlanta area, I believe they have a number of Photography Meetup groups that could prove very helpful to you. Most Meetup members in my area are always happy to offer help with anything that may be giving newer photographers problems.

I wouldnt get into it bc you think itll be a lucrative hobby. Its just not a great mindset.

If I was going to try to push you to be better I would say that your arnt really exploring any new ideas. You are still in the snapshot phase ie just filling the frame with a person. Theres alot to work on but start with playing around with other elements in the frame.

I appreciate the above advice for what it is. Look at what it isn't. I've been a hobbyist/snap-shooter for just over 50 years. Nothing wrong with that if it makes you happy.

The first thing to understand about the photography business is that it is more about business than it is about photography. The second thing to understand is that, whatever kind of photography you do, you need to find people who budget money for that kind of photography. Then you have to figure out how to appeal to that group of people. Everyone else expects photography to be free.

The difference between a photographer and someone who isn't is that a photographer has a camera. What separates those who make money from those who don't is a certain level of skill which can be repeated on demand and enough business skills to get paid for it. The photography skills level needed depends on the sophistication of the customer. The need to be able to work at that skill level on demand when stuff goes wrong is the critical thing. The business skills needed could easily fill a book.

The final thing I should say about photography is that most working photographers are not making big bucks. Look up the statistics and look at what types of photographer is making how much. Than figure out what that takes. If you enjoy weddings, that is the easiest road into a photography business (regular demand, people with a budget, doesn't require a studio), but the work itself is demanding, requires a broad skill set and make sure you can handle the demands--you only get one chance to get it right.

If you are serious about doing it as a career, take some business classes.

There are much easier ways to make more money

As for the photography end, lighting is the skill you need to learn.

There are many places to find information. Creative Live has some good content and they are always showing something for free.

I suggest you look at the free segment offered with this class:

https://www.creativeli​ve.com …in-kubota#class-materials

Kevin Kuboto is a bit goofy, but he knows what he is doing and works to keep it simple. He has another free video on the B&H event space channel. I would watch the creative live one first.

Creative Live also has a great class on skin, which is what you are trying to light well

https://www.creativeli​ve.com …y-adler?via=site-header_0

This class covers a large range of important topics.

Spend a little time on their free content and I think you will start getting a handle on what you need to learn.

Lynda.com is another good resource. There is some good photo content and plenty of good foundations in software.

B&H content is free and some of it is outstanding. Some of it is meh.

If you find classes you want to invest in on creative live, send me a private message and I'll give you some insight on saving money.

I do recommend you buy a 5in1 reflector. Cheap enough on Amazon.com. Easy to use. Versatile. Even when you have a fancy light setup, you still use them. If you only have one tool, it's a good choice. It can reflect light, block light, act as a scrim. If it's big enough, it can be a background for a headshot.

After that, I would get a flash. One that can rotate and change angle so you can bounce it. And get a cord or trigger so you can use it off camera.

Once you know those tools, you will probably be able to figure out what else you need.

I say go for it, with the understanding of: 1. you need to master photography basics and more before you start charging people 2. The shooting aspect is only a fraction of being a professional photographer.. you are a small business owner first and foremost so you have to have your stuff together to run a good business 3. Put in the work - I see potential here but you have to put in a lot to get up to where you'd need to be 4. Look into IPS (in person sales) before you start, this way you are selling you are setting yourself up for success by offering high end photography products, this is how you'll make good money with photography. There is a FB group for it called IPS Mastermind. Good luck.

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