First timer...looking for constructive criticism

[calemjess]

Hello all, This is my first time to post a photo for constructive criticism, but I'm really ready to improve!

This is my daughter who was like "gosh mom, I have no makeup on, messy bun and you want me to pose?? Are you serious??" Gotta love teenagers!

I was trying to achieve the blurred background and the photo was taken with my canon 60D & Kit lens 18-200mm

These are my settings: ISO 400, 110mm, f5.6, 1/60 sec

I took about 20 shots, playing around with the lighting and this particular shot was one of my favorites as far as seeing the light come through the trees.

I'm also new at editing in LR so it is sort of slow process for me. I'm still educating myself on all the sliders and terminology. But if you have any post processing critiques, please let me know how I can do better there.

I'm still so new at this stuff, I'm not even sure where to begin to start asking questions, but what about composition, lighting? any suggestions?

Thanks for any insight on how I can improve!!

[calemjess]

Here is a link to 2 other photos taken in the same session.
that I forgot to include in the first post

Pictures by calemjess - Photobucket

[Hill Country Hack]

Welcome to DPS! Nice shot of your lovely daughter. A thoughtful and at peace pose. These are my general observations. The real pros can give you more detailed critique. The good thing about Lightroom is you can play all you want with the buttons and sliders and not make any permanent changes to the original file and you can always "undo". Play with it.

-You did well with the bokeh to have her pop in the image.
-Can you rotate the image to portrait? I think you would like that better.
-I would have loved to see her eyes open looking out to the distance in the current pose or slightly looking at the camera.
- Her eyes are dead center. Try cropping to have them above or below the center of the frame
- She has fair skin and maybe a darker blouse would be better?

[calemjess]

Thank you for taking the time to give feedback. I will definitely try the crop you suggested.

Yes I agree about her eyes. In the other two that I linked to you can see her eyes better, but I was not as pleased with the lighting and they didn't seem as sharp to me.

As for the shirt......I totally agree. Like I mentioned earlier it was a "hey......sun is setting, would you go pose a minute?"

Thanks again!