Individual Pic for Softball Team

Looking to improve so I thought I'd post a pic and see if you guys can make some suggestions to help out:

I've done a few T&I pics this summer. This one was right after the girls finished a game, late evening.

I used 450d/ 70-200 f4 on a tripod, with a little fill flash from a 430ex.
We were outside the playing field where there were a few trees. The sun was poking through a little so I posed a few girls where the sun would be the backlight.

I used DPP for RAW conversion--adjusted white balance and a little contrast.

Then used Gimp for a smart sharpen.

Any thoughts to improve upon?

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Guess the first thing I need to improve on, is how to get images on this forum without losing the detail. This 119kb image doesn't look like the one I was looking at before uploading ... LOL

I would say the background is a bit underexposed if you ask me. What was the ISO setting on the camera for this shot? Were you flashing directly at the subject from a distance?

Clint3200 wrote in post #8304074
Any thoughts to improve upon?

IMO the subject lighting needs to be improved a bit to provide a bit more contrast. It almost looks like her shoulders are exposed more than her face. Was the flash aimed too low?

I'd try to put more light on the players to de-emphasize the background and try to position them so there are no bright spots in the distance, if possible.

It can be done in post but it's easier at the shoot, no?

The rest of the shot looks great, though.

Honestly, parents usually buy this stuff up anyway. It doesn't have to be perfect. I know you want it to look the best it can, but sometimes it can be just good enough.

Thanks for the input. I think ISO was 200. The lighting where we were was changing quickly. The shadows were starting to really darken from when we started the shoot. That is why I moved her into the backlit spot.

I was using a 430ex for fill and was afraid to overdo it. I'll try a little more next time.

This was only the third team we shot and was at a new location. Trying to get a whole team together for pics has meant taking right before or right after a game so far, which can make for some quickly changing lighting. It is going to take more practice for me to be able to adjust as quicly as the lighting is.

I was using manual mode with FEC at -1.5 to -1 range on these.

Thanks again for input. This is a great place to learn