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August Norman's picture

Tear me a new one, Noob seeking a critique

Last month, I finally started shooting people. I've been doing photography for about 5 years on and off but didn't start taking it seriously this summer. Last month I did my first 4 portrait sessions with 2 pics from each posted here. I want these photos torn apart, I don't learn from people saying, "nice pic".

The post processing has been a struggle since it's the opposite of everything I've done in the past, but posing is the hardest part for me.

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4 Comments

Overall great stuff. Here's my 2 cents for what it's worth.

Photo #1: Technically well done. However, I don't feel engaged with the model, and my attention is drawn to the watch. If this was for a watch ad that would work except that the watch is not in focus.

Photo #2: Again technically well done, The model's head tilt seems a bit extreme, but not horrible . Good tonality overall, and I think the framing works.

Photo #3: May have cropped in a little more, and I'm a bit distracted by the 2 branches. (that's more of a nitpick though).

Photo #4: Looks good.

Photo #5: I'm torn on the hot spot above her head. I think that may need to be toned a bit. However, the bigger thing I see is that her position makes it look like she lost an arm. It makes it appear that her body just suddenly stops on the right side. Also, the glowing bra strap is distracting.

Photo #6: I would get rid of the glowing white orb on the left. Other than that I love the shot.

Photo #7: Great shot, like the framing and composition.

Photo #8: I like it, but it looks like you are losing detail in the hair a bit. I think if that was brought up a bit would be better.

Overall, the compositions are nice. I agree with Mike's observations. I'd like to add:

Image #1: the stray hairs on her forehead are distracting. With stray hairs, especially, it's good to catch them and fix them while shooting. They are a pain to fix in post.

Image #4: The color cast on her skin from the yellow leaves is distraction. It's also pretty obvious in the image because her neck skin does not match her face skin.

Image #5: Same as image 4. The pink color cast from the neon lights is distracting.

Image #7: Have the model look in the same direction as their nose. Too much eye whites looks creepy in a portrait.

Love image #2! Quick tip, coach your subjects to show more of the side of their hands, it's more appealing to the eye.

For example in photo #5, her hand shows the side more and appears more feminine and 'attractive'. Showing the back of the hands isn't as ideal and some say it looks more 'webbed'. Compare the two and you'll see the difference. Hope this helps.

nice job! number 2 is my favorite as well.