Just got a new lens...

Looking for some feedback. Don't be too harsh please. I'm not a professional. This is my first time having people model for me (they are my family but hey, it works) In the first I do think the eyes could stand out more and maybe I could make the face a little smoother and as for 4 and 5 I couldn't decide which one I liked better but it was my favorite shot. 4 being the edited one, 5 being the origional.

i like number 4 on how it was composed

Thanks! That one was my favorite but I couldn't decide if I liked the edited or the origional better. 4 being the edited one.

may its just photobucket but they look OOF?

I think they are all a bit soft. Did you use manual or automatic focussing? And if AF then with one or more points? Either manual or AF with one point is best in this sort of situations.

Composition is nice and although family they make good models!

2 & 4 are winners to me!

I love 4 and it's pp.
They all seem soft to me though, check your camera for back-/frontfocussing problems if you're using AF.

They are all OOF to me?

vk2gwk wrote in post #9264270
I think they are all a bit soft. Did you use manual or automatic focussing? And if AF then with one or more points? Either manual or AF with one point is best in this sort of situations.

Composition is nice and although family they make good models!

I actually used it on manual focus because I haven't been able to get it to work on auto focus (or at least not well). It also doesn't have image stabilizer but, I am trading it in for one that does. It's not a fancy lens at all but I'm glad to have something better than my kit lens.

I had it set up on a chair so that I could keep it from blurring whenever I moved. It's hard to hold it steady without image stabilization.

robertn wrote in post #9264413
I love 4 and it's pp.
They all seem soft to me though, check your camera for back-/frontfocussing problems if you're using AF.

I don't know if it's my camera or my lens that is preventing me from using the AF. I think it said that I can only use AF up to a certain point but I can't get it to work at all.

I like the series and as a beginner I think you did a great job. Now comes the time to fine tune and perfect the vision and that comes through observation and experience. If you can find a good teacher with a background in natural light portraiture I think your lighting of these images will improve. Make sure to be aware of how you frame a subject on a backdrop. In general it's not likely a good idea to have a hot bright backdrop for a olive skinned subject unless the subject is equally lit or lit in a way that balances subject to background. More work is required to get faces sharp starting with the eyes. This is fairly standard fare for portraiture.

I like number 2, a little soft, but well composed.

jetcode wrote in post #9265626
I like the series and as a beginner I think you did a great job. Now comes the time to fine tune and perfect the vision and that comes through observation and experience. If you can find a good teacher with a background in natural light portraiture I think your lighting of these images will improve. Make sure to be aware of how you frame a subject on a backdrop. In general it's not likely a good idea to have a hot bright backdrop for a olive skinned subject unless the subject is equally lit or lit in a way that balances subject to background. More work is required to get faces sharp starting with the eyes. This is fairly standard fair for portraiture.

Thank you! I totally agree about finding a teacher. I hope to have saved up enough money by next fall to take some classes at a local art school called Glassell. I hear the photography program there is great and classes are fairly cheap. I've never shot portraits but I think it's my new favorite thing to do so hopefully I can get into the flow of things here pretty quickly and improve on my work.

Here's a few more:

#2 for me. The framing completes it. Many of them do seem a bit too soft, though.