new to portrait photography - any feed back would be great

[tvbvt]

So this weekend I had the opportunity to shoot some outdoor portraits. I'm fairly new to this and was wondering what everyone thinks. Any criticism, constructive or not, is greatly appreciated, whether it's composition, post processing, anything really. This is my first time shooting portrait using real amateur models.

All images were either shot with a 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2.8L Macro w/ Canon 7D. The 85mm images were shot using a reflector, from 9am-Noon. The 100mm f/2.8L images were shot from 4pm-7:30pm with no reflector.

When processing the images, my philosophy was less is more. I tried to keep it as 'real' as possible without overdoing the vibrant/saturation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85388926@N06/show/

Thanks in advance

[tx8koibito]

not sure how good you are with Photoshop, but I would reduce the amount of warm tone via curve and color balance, also try increase sharpness using curves and levels etc. other than that nice shots for first time. Also try not to cut out the model body, there is a lot of chances for a nice shot if only you didnt cut out the model body

[tvbvt]

not sure how good you are with Photoshop, but I would reduce the amount of warm tone via curve and color balance, also try increase sharpness using curves and levels etc. other than that nice shots for first time. Also try not to cut out the model body, there is a lot of chances for a nice shot if only you didnt cut out the model body

Thanks. Really appreciate it. I've uploaded the images onto flickr, i think there might be some lost of resolution with facebook.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85388926@N06/show/

As for the reasoning behind the warm tone, I thought it brought the images to 'life'. With lesser warm tone, the images appear 'flat'. i'm still developing my photography eye, so i'm probably not seeing the images correctly.

Thanks for the advice on keeping the body in view. next time, i'm going to shoot multiple shots from different distance so I can have up close ones and full body ones.

[tx8koibito]

Warm tone work better for background so the subject stand out, but for skin i normally preferred a less warmer tone to bring out skin feature as too much orange wont make skin pop. I then add warmer tone to the background to increase pop.

[Menace]

Well done for your first attempt. My advice is to practice and more practice.

Watch out for light burn outs on the model such as photos 7 & 8 - shoulders on both.

Apart from that - have fun 

Cheers

[RLPhoto]

So this weekend I had the opportunity to shoot some outdoor portraits. I'm fairly new to this and was wondering what everyone thinks. Any criticism, constructive or not, is greatly appreciated, whether it's composition, post processing, anything really. This is my first time shooting portrait using real amateur models.

All images were either shot with a 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2.8L Macro w/ Canon 7D. The 85mm images were shot using a reflector, from 9am-Noon. The 100mm f/2.8L images were shot from 4pm-7:30pm with no reflector.

When processing the images, my philosophy was less is more. I tried to keep it as 'real' as possible without overdoing the vibrant/saturation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85388926@N06/show/

Thanks in advance

BIG SOFT LIGHT.

There is many ways to achieve it, Large scrims are a cheap and good way, Flashes and modifiers are a more expensive way to get it.

[tvbvt]

So this weekend I had the opportunity to shoot some outdoor portraits. I'm fairly new to this and was wondering what everyone thinks. Any criticism, constructive or not, is greatly appreciated, whether it's composition, post processing, anything really. This is my first time shooting portrait using real amateur models.

All images were either shot with a 85mm f/1.8 or 100mm f/2.8L Macro w/ Canon 7D. The 85mm images were shot using a reflector, from 9am-Noon. The 100mm f/2.8L images were shot from 4pm-7:30pm with no reflector.

When processing the images, my philosophy was less is more. I tried to keep it as 'real' as possible without overdoing the vibrant/saturation.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/85388926@N06/show/

Thanks in advance

BIG SOFT LIGHT.

There is many ways to achieve it, Large scrims are a cheap and good way, Flashes and modifiers are a more expensive way to get it.

Thanks, it was a really dumb move of me. I actually had my 600ex-rt with me but it never crossed my mind to use it as a fill light and expose for the bright background to get even lighting. A newbie mistake.

[tvbvt]

Warm tone work better for background so the subject stand out, but for skin i normally preferred a less warmer tone to bring out skin feature as too much orange wont make skin pop. I then add warmer tone to the background to increase pop.

Thanks for the tip.

[tvbvt]

Well done for your first attempt. My advice is to practice and more practice.

Watch out for light burn outs on the model such as photos 7 & 8 - shoulders on both.

Apart from that - have fun 

Cheers

Thanks. After I read your comments. I started to google overexposed background portrait images and came across some very good advice with bg explosure and using flash for fill light. wish i had thought of it during the shoot.

At first, I thought the images came out pretty good for my expectations, but after reading the comments here. I now know there's much more that could have been during the shoot (exposure & composition) and in the post processing.

Thanks for the invaluable tips.