SENIOR PICS

I AM A NEWBIE (HATE THAT) BUT I'M HERE NOW PLEASE C & C THIS SENIOR PIC

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HERS THE OTHER ONE I COULD NOT MAKE UPLOAD! OH WELL LIKE I SAID NEWBIE

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I definitely like #1. Color, light, background all work well. Not crazy about the striped shirt. #2 is a bit cluttered for me. There is just too much going on back there to allow me to focus on the subject. Perhaps move forward away from the books and try to use DOF to isolate the subject.

(edit) Sorry, welcome to the forums.

I like both of them. I reckon the second one might have been better with the first one's background, but have the table there and have a book on the table?

#1 has too much room above his head.

#2 the white at the bottom left should have been out of the shot.

Overall the face shouldn't be so centered in the frame. i.e. twist the shoulders more.

I just don't like the chair in #1. It covers up his mid section and the way he is sitting on it is the way that a 5 year old sits in a grocery cart. Maybe a different chair that he could straddle might give him a more natural appearance. Definitely too much room above his head. In my experience photographing dark-skinned people, they have always benefitted from a strong right or left light source. I rarely do portrait work however and I prefer strong shadows and candid expressions.

Handsome kid. Keep working on it.

What is your lighting setup?

I AM USING A DOUBLE UMBRELA ON A SINGLE STAND AT ABOUT 70 DEGREE'S TO THE LEFT. I SHOT AT F16 AT 1/80

It's my understanding that the shutter speed shouldn't really matter because normally the ambient light is dark enough that the only information that the camera is recording is when the flash fires which is really quick. F/11 is plenty for the aperture. Keep the Shutter on 1/60 or 1/30

I think that the image could have more depth, which will make it look much more interesting... perhaps a fill light next to or behind you and one unbrella off to the side will help.

Also, the lower shoulder of the model should be further away from the camera.

Are you using a light meter?