First time portrait; first time flash

I'm relatively new to shooting photos of people and just want to solicit input from folks who have been doing this much longer than I have. What could I have done to make these photos better? This was my first time experimenting with the flash. I'll spare you the techy details unless you're really interested. Include post processing input as well

Thanks for your input

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Nice portraits. My critique would be that the lighting is quite flat and there is not enough separation between the subject's hair and the black background. Have you considered learning about off-camera flash?

Have a look here

Tumbleweed...
I have considered it. I just don't really know how to use it yet. Are you talking about a hot shoe flash or a portable strobe? I have considered strobe but wanted to make sure I have a first grasp on lighting before I made the investment. How would one go about creating separation. I used the ambient light in the room at the time (sunlight) as a backlight and the built-in flash on my nikon d90. Good call on the lack of an off cam flash

Just saw your link...will check into it

Had a chance to photograph the same gorgeous young lady again over the weekend. I have a couple more photos I will post as I process them.

I'm seeking technical input again. Do the window struts distract from the subject? What do you think of the lighting? How about post-processing?

Thanks for the input, everyone

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Digital Sushi wrote in post #11082778
Do the window struts distract from the subject?

Yes, they do a bit. It's not terrible, though.

Love the light. It's fantastic... how was she lit? Clearly sidelit by natural light, but did you use a reflector or something camera right (it looks like there was some fill on her face... which didn't reach her hair).

About PP, the exposure pops nicely. To me, PP should be kind of like makeup on a girl - either very little/none, or else to the point that you don't notice it unless it's gone. I hope that doesn't get me in trouble.

HeaTransfer...
Thank You kindly for your input. I recently moved into a loft building so I'm trying to take advantage of the Huuuuge windows and natural light they provide. This was shot at around 630pm with light provided by a west facing window and an on camera flash. I'm beginning to think the on-cam flash is simply NOT going to provide the fill I need for correct exposure of hair. (See the initial post up top and comments that follow) I have a hot-shoe flash that came with the cam as part of a kit but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to get it to fire correctly so I can use the light bouncing technique which I know would light her up properly.

PP was simply an adjustment on levels and curves as well as an exposure adjustment on her face. The on cam flash was a bit hot yet somehow not hot enough to highlight her hair

This is a tighter crop of one of the other photos from the same shoot as the color photo above. I wanted a grittier look that gave more character to her than the ones above. Really I'm just playing around with techniques trying to determine what fits and where. I like how this technique seems to "humanize" the subject more than "modelize". Does that make sense?

Having issues with the res upon uploading this image. It's not this grainy.

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Very nice light, but the tilt bothers me a bit.

Thank you very much. I'm glad you like.
Bugs me too. Didn't notice until just now. Doh!!!!

Positioning of the subject is better hence, better light but the frame of the window looks like its growing from her head.

You think maybe I can clone it out? cant hurt to try, huh?

Digital Sushi wrote in post #11104511
You think maybe I can clone it out? cant hurt to try, huh?

I am not good with PS if I were the one to clone it the hair strands will be missing. But then again, It wont hurt if you try.

CS5 FTW content aware makes work easy lol.