Mind giving a critique?

[steve149]

The first set (engagement) ... subject composition is getting very good, though I think there's too many shots where the couple are a small percentage of the shot (too much background) and too many of basically the same image. Also, color temps vary all over the board. It's fine for color to be off in the sun (as there will normally be a yellow tint to things), especially near sandy soils, but even in shaded ares the skin colors vary too much and need to be corrected to a common color in post. Focus also is still off on some of the shots, but is getting better overall. Same with making sure background objects with straight lines stay straight in the picture (unless going for effect) .. getting better there as well. I think some of the images would benefit from a little fill lighting and highlighting in post-processing.

Second set (quince) still really needs more light for the pictures. The image composition is fine, but many are dark and you can tell ISO is way up. The 430 on the camera should be enough. Maybe the metering is set incorrectly?

Also, for posed table shots, she need to close down the aperture to get everyone in focus, which unfortunately calls for more light still. The focus from the 24-105 just seems really soft, even the images in focus. Maybe she should try a 50mm 1.4 prime lens .. my go to indoor lens when I have minimal lighting.

 

[rickryan.com]

The first set (engagement) ... subject composition is getting very good, though I think there's too many shots where the couple are a small percentage of the shot (too much background) and too many of basically the same image. Also, color temps vary all over the board. It's fine for color to be off in the sun (as there will normally be a yellow tint to things), especially near sandy soils, but even in shaded ares the skin colors vary too much and need to be corrected to a common color in post. Focus also is still off on some of the shots, but is getting better overall. Same with making sure background objects with straight lines stay straight in the picture (unless going for effect) .. getting better there as well. I think some of the images would benefit from a little fill lighting and highlighting in post-processing.

Second set (quince) still really needs more light for the pictures. The image composition is fine, but many are dark and you can tell ISO is way up. The 430 on the camera should be enough. Maybe the metering is set incorrectly?

Also, for posed table shots, she need to close down the aperture to get everyone in focus, which unfortunately calls for more light still. The focus from the 24-105 just seems really soft, even the images in focus. Maybe she should try a 50mm 1.4 prime lens .. my go to indoor lens when I have minimal lighting.

Thanks Steve. Great points. Not sure I understand all of them but will do some homework. Lots more homework to do but I think she's off to a good start. She better be, I just got paid for a 12/13 date that includes photography. We have a 1.8 50mm and I may pickup an 85mm when we get some more bucks in. At present, I've got 2 of the YN565s and 1 EX430 but decided last minute to use the Alien Bee B800. Much stronger strobe but I'm pretty sure it wasn't getting TTL from the radio unit as I was manually adjusting brightness all night. I still am trying to get her to cull more shots. Too many dups and several that had lighting and focus problems that she wanted to leave in because of the content. I'll also mention the subject/background balance to her. Probably should have done more cropping to get a better balance of looks. I was just thrilled with how many different scenes we were able to get out of the engagement shoot. For all my griping it is entirely cool to get to come to work at a 200-acre plantation. Lots of streams, plants, old buldings, etc. I can walk across the campus and back and I've gotten in a mile of walking.

 

[steve149]

Thanks Steve. Great points. Not sure I understand all of them but will do some homework. Lots more homework to do but I think she's off to a good start. She better be, I just got paid for a 12/13 date that includes photography. We have a 1.8 50mm and I may pickup an 85mm when we get some more bucks in. At present, I've got 2 of the YN565s and 1 EX430 but decided last minute to use the Alien Bee B800. Much stronger strobe but I'm pretty sure it wasn't getting TTL from the radio unit as I was manually adjusting brightness all night. I still am trying to get her to cull more shots. Too many dups and several that had lighting and focus problems that she wanted to leave in because of the content. I'll also mention the subject/background balance to her. Probably should have done more cropping to get a better balance of looks. I was just thrilled with how many different scenes we were able to get out of the engagement shoot. For all my griping it is entirely cool to get to come to work at a 200-acre plantation. Lots of streams, plants, old buldings, etc. I can walk across the campus and back and I've gotten in a mile of walking.

The 50mm f1.4 is a far better constructed lens than the 1.8 and is one of the sharpest Canon lenses. They have a f1.2, but unless you're doing studio work, I don't think it's worth 4 times the price. The 1.4 is usually sold for less than $400. The composition is definitely getting better.

I know Canon does in the field training .. I was registered for an event in NYC last fall but had to cancel because of work. Links to some of the training types are here: http://www.learn.usa.canon.com/live_learning/workshop_main.shtml

They have a set of seminars in play now through November .. closest to you is in Atlanta, Sept 27-28 ( http://inactiontour.usa.canon.com/ ) Saturday is SLR basics day and Sunday is Flash intensive and/or video day. You can register for each session separately. Costs are $99 for the SLR day and $299 for the Flash day (models are involved). I might do the SLR day in NYC in Nov.

 

[dunlopj]

The depth of field is so shallow that on a few guest shots, only one person is in focus.

Other than that, great work!