My frist pregnancy shoot

[tomservo51]

I did this for a friend. It was my first attempt shooting a pregnancy shoot and 3rd attempt at a 'shoot' altogether. I realize shooting a woman at this late stage of pregnancy isnt ideal.

Gear Used : 60D , Canon EF-S17-55mm IS, Reflector, all natural light sources, no flashes or strobes.

All post processing done in Lightroom.

I'd like to know what a professional would think looking at these picture. The "I like this but they should have done this" etc. We all do it when looking at someones work right?

Thanks in Advance.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/joetuna...7627547940125/

[jschugardt]

I think you did a great job for your first pregnancy photo shoot. I love all the variety of images you took. My favorite ones were the outdoor shoots. Very cute!

[tomservo51]

Thanks jschugardt. These were taken in their front yard. Not the most idea location with cars parked on the street etc. If it were a paying gig I would have suggested somewhere with a better background. I wasn't really happy with the indoor shots as the lighing wasn't very good, ie, there just wasn't enough. Again, just taken in their front room so I tried to get the best result with what I had at hand.

[rachb]

I like quite a few of these as well! The one thing that I noticed right away were the cluttered backgrounds that many of them had- You did a good job using a shallow dof to blur, but that is one of the biggest things that (in my opinion) differentiates between casual snapshot and starting to look like a photograph. That's one of the first things I look at in photos- are there things growing from heads? Random background clutter that doesn't add to the image? The other issue I see is the use of special filters and crazy coloring- it's fun to play around with, but a lot of people immediately get turned off by that because it screams that the photo might not have been good enough to stand on it's own. And you have a bunch of different effects that are all over the place. If you want to use them, I'd stick to one or two and do the whole set that way- develop your pp style.

As far as background- my professional friends (disclaimer: I'm not a pro) all have portfolios that look like they were taken in a "studio house" that had 100 different rooms, when in actuality, it was more like 7 or 8 houses. They bring blankets, props, and aren't afraid to ask clients to move things around, take things off walls.... whatever they need to get the shot the client is expecting. As the professional, you are the one that knows what works and doesn't, and I wouldn't be afraid to tell them what needs to happen in order to get the shot. I understand this is a friend, but the more I practice with friends, the easier I think it will be with paying clients!

Good start, there are quite a few shots in here that look well thought out and show that you had a plan in mind while taking them. But from a professional standpoint, the snapshot-like photos mixed in kind of bring the whole set down. I'd narrow it down to the best 6-7 and just show those off

[tomservo51]

Thanks Rachel. This was exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I agree with everything you've said.

[rachb]

You're welcome! Keep posting on C&C, and I am positive that the advice you get will really help strengthen your photos. Can't wait to see more of your shoots!

[windrider86]

Any chance of you posting your photo here for us? We actually prefer it and also makes it much easier for folks to critique if they dont have to go back and forth from one page to another. Thanks!!