nicolerenee

The light is fantastic. Lovely.

So much better for her! This angle and pose really showcase her beauty, the smile is soft and the light is very flattering.

Nice light, great detail and sharpness. I don't mind the hair over the eye, but I don't find this angle to be the most flattering for her, her head seems to be pressed down into her shoulders. Maybe moving the hair aside so the line of the shoulder up to the neck is visible? Other than that, nice studio portrait.

What lovely directional light!

Was this candid?! What a great shot, the color and positioning is really lovely and eye catching. I love the positioning of the kids against that swirl of red and yellow. The different body language and kids leading out of the frame is really nice. Great shot!

I like the lighting for his physique, but it is doing something a little funny to his chest hair. On his left pectoral, it looks as if he hasn't got any hair or else very little in comparison and that is kind of distracting. The only other thing I could think of is that maybe a little bit more negative space could have worked, but that's just my own preference.

Jeremy,

You're using open shade, which is great for portraits when the sun is out, to avoid hard light. You've used a shallow depth of field, which is also nice for portraits to seperate the subject from the background. You're down at eye level to the subjects, which is also a good way to put the viewer on a equal footing. There's some nice contrast in color as well, so good job on those points!

Here's what I would suggest...

1. I agree with the previous poster that the skin tones are ever so slightly over-exposed. For portraiture, unless you've got something else in mind, expose for the skin tones.

2. Use the correct white balance. The skin tones are just slightly cool, and adjusting the white balance to account for the cooler temperature of light in the shadows would warm them up.

3. Compose the subjects in such a way that you aren't cutting off limbs (see the feet) and aren't cropping too close to the top of their heads. You want a little bit of negative space up there so the composition doesn't feel cramped.
It wouldn't have hurt to zoom out just a little bit (or take a couple of steps back) to get a wider frame.

Personally, I would have let the shape of the lady in the pink top be the anchor for the left hand side of the frame (so that the L shape of her posture acts as a frame for the left hand side of the image), and open up  more negative space to camera right. This would balance the composition, give a sense of place and not crowd the righthand side of the frame.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

Nicole

I really like the shape of the negative space here.

This is really stunning, her connection with the camera is outstanding. Great job keeping just enough light in her back eye. The tonality is gorgeous. Great shot!

This hard light works beautifully with her facial structure!

Bahahahahaaa!!! I love this. Great technically, and FUN! Love it.

Simple, elegant composition, lovely creamy water, nice ambient light, very soft and dreamy, really lovely! Well done!

All the best!

Thanks :-) I hadn't considered it, actually, but now that you mention it, I believe you are right. Will have to give that a try!

Great choice of composition here, the only small thing is I wish the left side of the tree could have been included but you don't always have that option :-) Nicely done.

again, great light and you've captured the color and repeating lines really well.

Really lovely light and nicely saturated colors, great detail in the shadows and I like your composition choice as well. Nicely done!

No, the double catchlight is perfect, and absolutely lovely portrait.

I love this. Those are a pair of happy dogs. It's a good life in the flowers under a blue sky. Great shot.

Hey, the mountain is out!

My favorite shot in your portfolio, the lighting is great, the treatment is spot on...it's more like a bodyscape. Really nicely done!!

I think it could be a very strong portrait but a few details are too distracting for me. The blown skin makes it hard to concentrate on her face the way I should for a portriat, the contrast is so high. There is a lot of possible visual intrest here and I have an inkling for where this was going, I think, but in my mind it didnt quite make it. Her eye contact with the camera was great and I even kind of like the reverse open space (to the right behind the subject instead of the usual to the eye side) because the subject seems fairly non conformist and that feels like it fits. But the super high contrast and blown skin are holding the shot back for me. I think with a couple tweaks it could be much stronger.

Hope that helps :-)

All the best!~

I think it's a fun angle and interesting scenery and your idea for the shot was good. I would have framed the sun out of the shot and composed her face in the upper right for a more even balance. Unfortunately her skin has been blown by the flash so the planes in her face are lost and her chest ends up looking like a big bright flat space. The flash from strait on also creates really hard shadows, you can see them under her chin and nose. A flash diffuser can help soften the light, or an indirect light source like a reflector or even bumping the flash off something close (i.e. the wall of a building, ect) with give more depth to her skin and softer, more complementary shadows. Sometimes, when all I have to use is the on  camera flash, I put a tissue or something over the flash so it doesnt blow everything out. I personally like the lens flare when the sun is directly in a shot and I think you've got the right idea. I'd say go out there again when you can, try this shot with several different compositions, dial down the flash, try it with only a reflector, vary the depth of field, do a lot of things different and see how they affect the look of the shot.

Hope that helps some, I know it was crititques like this that went miles to helping me improve. Good luck with future shots!

All the best!~

Love the warmness of the tones

Very classic and painterly, lovely tones!

great mood and impression.