amandalockphotography Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I began doing engagement sessions in August, and over the past month and a half had the opportunity to do lots of 'em. I know that I can't get better unless I'm shown what I'm doing wrong, so any critique (lighting, composition, etc) would be greatly appreciated and please (I'm serious) be as brutally honest as possible. I've got a pretty thick skin and I always respect and take into consideration good, honest critique. The ones in my folder are the older ones; I haven't had a chance to upload the most recent sessions. Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can view my pictures by going to my photo.net portfolio. http://www.photo.net/photos/amandalockphotography Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert hall Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I would look for a warming filter in open shade and be very careful of high contrast areas. (direct sun on the face that may or may not include shadow.) I would suggest working more towards the eye level of those you shoot. Try using a fill flash. (do this in pratice before you do it for a client) Try getting just a hair closer to the subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roxyandkaidotcom Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I love the L&B shots ... they're colorful and cute! The others are nice, too, but the L&B's are by-far my faves! I say you're doing pretty good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savagesax Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Maybe it's a guy thing, first the photo's are romantic, very sweet, and I like them with the exception of the very harsh light. But as a guy, I sometimes like to see them play a little. Maybe have him picking her up on his shoulders, or do something fun and silly. Play frizzbe, (spelling?) bounce a beach ball. Another one that gets a few laughs is her looking at her ring and him looking into an empty wallet! Close up shots of this. At the beach I always try to have them run with the waves and of course they get wet and they are laughing. It all depends on the couple and what they like to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Photography is all about the light. Try scheduling your sessions closer to sunset and hope for clouds to difuse the sunlight, add some flash and/or reflectors. Here's a shot from 2 weeks ago with fill flash and a sunset that was behind and over my left shoulder. Vigenetting added with PS to help "pop" the subjects from the background.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_sokal___dallas__tx Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 Overall I think you do a good job of capturing the emotion between the couples, which is the point, isn't it? A few comments. Some need the head room cropped. They look like you focused on the center spot and then didn't recompose. How are you doing your B&W conversion? I'm not crazy about a lot of your skin tones in B&W. Personally, I use a 90/10% red/green mix for skin tones. Everyone has their own way of doing it. Watch the light. A lot of harsh shadows on some and not enough fill on others. Overall the pics look soft which may simply be due to dumbing down for PN, but if they're soft in reality, you need to deal with the cause of that. Poor glass, slow shutter speed, poor focusing, etc. I don't think your pics need PS trickery. They're good enough to stand on their own. One image in particular comes to mind where you blurred everything but their heads. Looks very artifical that the rest of their bodies are OOF. Occasional cropping issue with small body parts amputated. On the whole though, I think your on the right track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mercsadies Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 Hi Amanda - If you want to expand your horizons on the engagement photos, here are my suggestions. Try experimenting with different sizes. What I mean is, get away from the conventional retangular size and try a perfect square. I like 5x5 for smaller images and go up to 10x10 for a large photo. Scenes where a square makes the photo more important are things like: close up faces, a kiss, the hands with the rings. Also, you might try getting fancy with your prints by adding a border. Otherwise, I really like the images you have going on so far. No complaints from me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amandalockphotography Posted October 11, 2006 Author Share Posted October 11, 2006 Thank you so much everyone for all of your help and ideas! Paul, your critique was awesome, thank you for taking the time to help me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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