First Portrait Shoot Ever...

[zero9046]

Took my brothers and their families to a local photo hotspot and took some portraits of them today. I'm an amateur photographer and this is my first foray into serious portrait photography. Any critiques would be greatly appreciated!



Feel free to make comments on any of my other flickr photos too from the same shoot.

Thanks!

EDIT:

Exposure	0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture	f/4.8
Focal Length	42 mm
ISO Speed	100

[Zachquiel]

I like your composition and general tone.

I feel your subjects look a little bit uncomfortable looking at each other though. She's looking too far back and his looking very down, creating a double chin.

I think that's all I can see right now.

[MargaritaH]

Their pose seems a bit unnatural. Her face is looking up too much and his looking down has created maybe more 'underchin' then when he would have had his face differently. Just my first thought... only a beginner myself too

[BigFuzzy]

Hiya Zero,

First, I added your EXIF info to your post for you, but please do it next time as per the forum rules, thanks!

As for the photo, I agree with Margarita that the poses feel a bit forced.. he's looking down and having to tuck in his chin just to see her and she's a bit awkward at that angle as well.

Though all these types of shots are posed by their very nature, it's the goal to make it look as natural as possible and they just don't feel too natural.

What I tend to do is say something along the lines of "Hey, I want you to sit on this step and you to sit on this other one and get comfortable yet close" and see what they come up with on their own.. tends to be more natural than if we say "sit here, move this, put arm here, shift foot here"... have them get into something natural/comfy, THEN make the small adjustments from there.

This shot, though I like the idea for the pose would possibly(I want to say probably!) look better if you shot them from more of an above angle with them looking up at you a bit. Try that next time if you get the chance (and it's physically possible)

Skin seems just a tad reddish, did you boost the saturation? Could just be their skin naturally or my eyes hah.

I did a literally 30 second check of some of the other photos, and all I'd say is that you need to start trying some different compositions as pretty much all of your shots have the subject dead center. Look into the Rule of Thirds as a starter. I'd just say to get creative and change the angles and perspectives..

All-in-all, not a bad 1st effort, really, I've seen a lot lot worse. And with a bit of tweaking, the next ones will be even better. Keep posting!