Sunset gazer...

[Brookeabee123]

Hello again! Yes another post by the noob! Anyways I asked a friend of mine to pose for me and take a few shots today. She agreed and we met at this beautiful little white church where we took some cute pictures in a cute outfit of hers! After that we drove a little ways down the road to a great spot where the sunset was still shining. She insisted on changing her outfit and this is what I got. OU. Don't get me wrong! I don't hate the Sooners or anything... but well I feel like it killed the sort of look I was going for. How do you get around this? I mean I know it's one thing if it's their portraits they want done, but what do you do if someone is playing model for you?

Also I was shooting for a sort of golden light. Did I get it? Anything I could improve on?

-1/13
- f4.3?
-800 IOS



Oh and one more thing! How do you get people to relax??? This girl is one of my best friends and at times she looked... well something similar to a gopher. Her eyes were wide and smile tight. I took this picture at a point when I told her I was going to fix the exposure!!! Help!

[Doug Sundseth]

First, I really like the lighting here. The time of day you chose resulted in excellent colors and tonal contrast, and your camera angle caught a very flattering mix of highlights and shadows.

I don't much care for placing the model in the center of the frame. If you were to frame this with her just a bit more to the right, you would give her more space to look into and improve the dynamic balance of the image.

I don't like the out-of-focus grass in the foreground. I suspect that you were thinking of framing her, but it doesn't really work for me as it makes the photo more cramped, IMO.

For costuming issues, I'd recommend setting expectations ahead of time, especially when you're not paying your model. "I'd like to shoot this sort of look. What do you have that you think will work?" It keeps the drama and discomfort out of the equation. And if the model isn't interested, you know that ahead of time.

As far as getting natural looks, it's one of the things I struggle most with. Lame jokes ("Give me your best DMV smile! No, not the mugshot smile, the DMV smile." ) sometimes work. Talking about things unrelated to the photo shoot sometimes works. Discussing specific posing details sometimes works. Asking the model not to smile sometimes works. Music seems to help.

And complimenting your subject more than seems sane at the time usually helps. As does showing off the shots that really work, to act as positive reinforcement.

IMO, it comes down to the interaction of your personality with the personality of the subject, and that's going to be different with every shoot. Start by doing "lighting checks". When you get a nice look, show the model that she looks better than she thinks she will, and start the real shoot.

One last thing I'll say is that taking your time with a session is useful. For many subjects, the start of a session is much more stressful and awkward than the end.

Hmm, that's sort of scattered, but I hope there's something in there that's useful.

[Brookeabee123]

Thank you for your advice!!! It was all very helpful! I agree, I should have put her more off centered to the right. Is that the rule of thirds? I'm still really new to photography, in fact I've only had my camera now for 4 days , So I wasn't intentionally thinking of framing her. Mostly I was just trying to get on her level and the grass was so thick I was having trouble getting a clear shot!

I'll definitely have to practice your techniques for helping people relax and be natural! Thank you for responding! Lots of very useful advice!

[Ekir]

Hey,
I think you got the lighting beautiful and as pp said, a little more to the right would have been nice.
I don;t mind the grass in the forground,and I agree about the outfit, I think a white floaty short dress would go lovely in this setting, andthing but bold colours in such a pretty setting!

If you are only a newcomer you are doing fantastic work!
Keep posting an learning, cc is where you learn the most!

[Brookeabee123]

Thank you so much I'm glad I nailed the lighting cause that's something I'm working hard at getting right without using any of the cameras automatic modes. You wouldn't even believe how much studying I've done these past 4 days! If I had tried this hard in school I might be going to Harvard right now I wish I would have taken a photography class when I had the chance, but so far the internet is doing a decent job. Thanks again for all the advice! It is much appreciated!

[SGToliver]

Did you happen to get any shots with this light with her looking at the camera? I imagine a shot with her in this position and you in front of her would have turned out rather nice.