more amataeur

CC please!!

My take.

The first shot would have been a better shot if your friend face was exposed better. She looks good taking photo's. Also it looks like you weere too high and should have bent down for the shot.

The 2nd shot is over exposed or too much contrast. Her left arm is blown out. A nit pick, I would also make sure the horizon in the back ground is level.

The 3rd look like you were a little too far back and just slightly under exposed.

The last is not a bad photo over all. Just the contrast or exposed seems a little off. I would have moved in a little closer or a tighter crop so your friend is more focuses as the subject.

With your friend as your model you can get lots of great shot with her. Just keep reading and learning about different pose.

Keep shooting.

I like the last one. Did you mean for the first one to be underexposed and the second to be over exposed? You (or your camera) have metered for the light coming from the water in the first one, and as such your subject is quite dark. If you exposed correctly for the subject (the female), you may well have found the water/sky to be blown out. To balance it your need a flash (or other lighting) to fill your subject. Personally I think I would have also left shot 1 in colour, but I am by no means an expert at any of this.

Here is shot 1 in color:

Yaamon wrote in post #10094958
My take.

The first shot would have been a better shot if your friend face was exposed better. She looks good taking photo's. Also it looks like you weere too high and should have bent down for the shot.

The 2nd shot is over exposed or too much contrast. Her left arm is blown out. A nit pick, I would also make sure the horizon in the back ground is level.

The 3rd look like you were a little too far back and just slightly under exposed.

The last is not a bad photo over all. Just the contrast or exposed seems a little off. I would have moved in a little closer or a tighter crop so your friend is more focuses as the subject.

With your friend as your model you can get lots of great shot with her. Just keep reading and learning about different pose.

Keep shooting.

Thank you. And I will pass along your compliments to my friend/model!

Agree with the 2nd shot being a bit over exposed. The more you shoot, the better you get. Keep it up.

First of all, which mode did you taking these pictures in? The first two pictures were taken in difficult lighting environment as both are backlit. Because they were both backlit your subject ended up being underexposed in pic #1. In pic #2 your subject's face is better exposed than #1 but because she was backlit the entire background is completely blown. Her face is a bit overexposed as well.

3rd pic is better exposed but the overall composition needs a bit work.
4th pic is a bit overexposed. This could be because the white brick wall in the background fooling your meter.

I don't know why the original version of your pic 1 turned out to be such weird colour. What white balance did you use?

I'd recommend you reading up on some tutorials on exposure. "Understanding Exposure" is a good book to read. There are also lots good tutorials on POTN.

What equipment do you have available?

Keep in mind that shooting in the middle of the day with strong sun is not typically the best time to shoot. You will get warmer colors and nicer contrasts near the sunrise and sunset times. The over/under exposure comments provided are important to consider in your pix.

Also, your backgrounds and compositions are far too cluttered. Bring your human interest element closer to the camera and decide what you want your viewer to focus on. Then set the aperture and focus point to defocus the lesser elements in your frame.

You would do well to pick up some photography books at the library that discuss composition and exposure, a good place to start. If you have already done that, find some that provide lessons in shooting and get to know what you and your camera can do. The learning curve can be pretty steep, meaning you can make significant improvements to your technique very quickly.

Ok guys, I read the adive here, read up a lil in some books and gave it another try this past weekend. Any better????

same girl/pose, different tones

Much, much better in color and lighting.

Still very soft focus in the eyes in all these new shots, too. Can you change your focus point to make sure the eyes are crisp and then let the background become less of the subject? (Again, what camera are you using?)

The girl sitting on the rail is best IMO. Focus is best but not sharp and there is less going on around her due to the better crop.

Keep shooting and watching the comments on this board.

RickRitz wrote in post #10113655
Much, much better in color and lighting.

Still very soft focus in the eyes in all these new shots, too. Can you change your focus point to make sure the eyes are crisp and then let the background become less of the subject? (Again, what camera are you using?)

The girl sitting on the rail is best IMO. Focus is best but not sharp and there is less going on around her due to the better crop.

Keep shooting and watching the comments on this board.

Thank you. The girl sitting on the rail is actually met. I used my new tripod to set up the shot, pressed self timer, and ran into position. haha.

I am working, but I'm still getting mixed review. I felt like the coloring and lighting was better this time, but I'll keep working at it until I get it right!

EricaRie wrote in post #10114273
Thank you. The girl sitting on the rail is actually met. I used my new tripod to set up the shot, pressed self timer, and ran into position. haha.

I am working, but I'm still getting mixed review. I felt like the coloring and lighting was better this time, but I'll keep working at it until I get it right!

Is there some secret to what type of camera you are using? Much advice can be predicated on your camera settings. Without that knowledge, you are limiting how people can help you.