Catherine Photo Shoot

I used to sway away from portrait shooting but things have changed. I recently landed a photography job shooting weddings, commercial work, etc. My boss has taught me a lot about my Nikon D200. I have had my D200 now for 3 years. I shot mostly my girlfriend, and nature shots. I hated auto focus, and anything really auto. With shooting weddings, I need to learn how to depend on those auto functions, or I will miss out on capturing the moment. So I have been practicing a lot. Before this photo shoot “Catherine” I didn’t have my camera calibrated. I recently just had my camera calibrated and computer calibrated. So I am really excited about my next photo shoot, hopefully this sunday.

Here are a lot of photos I shot recently. I loved them at first, now I am kinda “eh..” about them. So critiquing and any comments would be greatly appreciated. Pick a favorite, or your top 3. I am still new to editing photos. I kinda just go for what I think looks good. If your have suggestions, let me know how you would edit that particular photo. Thanks for your time and comments!!

Specs: Nikon D200, Nikkor 17-55mm 1:2.8G

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

11)

12)

13)

14)

15)

Hiya Dylan,

I can’t see any of those images, and this is the case for a lot of RB members [depending on their Operating System]... I suspect you have linked these to another site.

May I suggest you upload them to RB so we can all see them, its a bit bad taste to ask RB members to comment on images from another site.

Can I also suggest that you only post 1 image per forum thread – it makes it easier for us to comment.

It really is best to only upload 1 image at a time for critique.
My fave would be 8. I like the composition.

1 is nice but im not liking the colour-too drab sort of thing?
2 not sure about the crop or comp. Maybe needs to be landscape mode not portrait and not so cropped on the left
3 nice eye contact
4 i find the hand distracting in this(like shes on an invisible mobile phone)
5 blurry
6 nice framing
7 need to try some skin smoothing techniques to fix up imperfections of the model
8 my fave
9 add some fill light onto her face as her hair has made it too dark
10 fun and cute
11 ‘big head’ syndrome never really make for a flattering portrait, unless thats the look you are trying to achieve
12 her smile looks to fake in this one
13 too close a crop. May had been better with eye contact
14 ok
15 I’m not a fan of the shadows all over her

just my opinion :)

i really like number 13 :D

Hi Dylan,

Great shoot… I’ll give a bit of a critique on what I like, and what I would have done a little differently – hope it helps :)

1: I like the angular pose, her face is a little strained but the framing is done well. For B&W, it might to be a bit more “contrasty” so it jumps out a bit more

2 & 3: Shot 2 has a weaker composition than 3. In shot 3, the model is working with the same vertical lines, but in a much more natural way. The framing of 3 makes it a lot stronger than 2

4: Great moment, shows that the model is comfortable with you… a huge plus

5: That’s a tough angle to shoot a portrait from… it’s not always flattering, and is better with the subject stretching their neck out a little. The shot also looks over exposed, which may have been from the suns direction

6: Fantastic shot – well framed! A touch too much contrast perhaps, but still a very strong image

7: Tack sharp, but a little dull around her face. Perhaps a layer mask to lighten her skin would make this jump out

8: & 9: I think 9 is the better composed of the two images, with the hand working much better. A little fill flash would have done wonders to bring out the eyes a bit more behind the hair

10: Great fun image, well composed and wonderfully captured

11: This is a victim of how the 17-55mm collapses perspective… the cartoony proportions require a very flattering or powerful facial expression to work well. In this case, it looks a little “off”.

12: When compared to a natural moment like in 10 and 4, it is a bit more “forced” from the model. Too bad, because it’s a nice looking shot

13: That’s a very close shot, from an odd angle. You have to be wary of how the features will look from an angle like that.

14: Wonderful, soft portrait

15: Great smile and look from the model, but the scattered light detracts a little from the photo. Some work to bring out the highlights in Photoshop would make this a lot stronger. Those sort of shadows can be very tough to work with, because the unusual casts across the face can alter facial features in places… not too big an issue here, but with her eyes looking so wonderful, you want to bring them out and make them as much of a feature as possible

Hope that helps!

Shoots like these are a great way to look back on how you shoot, and where you can improve. I found that slowing down while I was shooting helped a lot. Instead of aiming for a full portfolio, preplan 4 strong images that you can visualise. Then you can loosen up and work with the environment and light as you find it. You’ve clearly got a great manner with models, as she looks very comfortable and relaxed. Even when shooting friends, that can be difficult to learn.

You’ve got a beautiful lens there (I loved it on my D300), and you’ll find great ways to make use of it for shoots like these in the future. Sometimes, it can give you too many options, so try to keep the composition strong while you test out alternate angles.