Theresa Bridal (please critique)

[arich]

This is a random shot my first ever bridals from yesterday. Not sure why I PP'd this one first as it really isn't my favorite. Definitely want to hear people's thoughts though.

[bthompson]

I think your color looks pretty good and exposure looks pretty good. On the negative side, too deep depth of field contributes to a snapshotty feel and the pose and angle gives her a weird body shape.

[Tom]

To add to that, using a wide angle lens is unflattering to the subject. Try something longer than 50mm. 85-200mm is ideal.

[sn805619]

+1 to depth of field.

What is the shadow of (on the ground behind her)? Diffuser?

[arich]

Thanks everyone.

Brandi: good points, thanks

Thomas: So if you want to do a full-body shot I assume you just back up far enough?

Scott: Yeah, one of the reasons I wasn't really planning on using this shot lol.

I'll post a few more once I finish going through them and would love more critique, definitely want to get better!

[MicWayWal]

Andrew,
I am not sure why you picked this image either. It appears this is the test picture that you take to check your settings before you start taking real images.
The pose is very, very static and rigid. She is standing with her weight equally on both feet, her shoulders are slumped down, her arms are hanging straight down showing flab under her arm pit, she looks like a wide shapely pole. Her eyes are cut too far to the right so no white is seen on the far side of each eye and no catch-lights are visible in the eyes.
Subject placement on background is distracting. Her head is cut by the line of the concrete coming in from the side causing the flower to be lost. The lines of the walkway railing is cutting her body in half. The white tree trunks in the background are too bright and very distracting.
Angle of view is too low especially at 17mm zoom. Wide angle lenses distorts elements in the middle of the view to be ballooned. This will make her tummy look larger, not a good thing with a bridal. It also gives you a great view of the underside of her chin and nose.
Your Main Light is the best part of this image. It is very nice and flattering on her face, body, and dress. Too bad you can't see it in her eyes. However the glow around the bride caused by the darkening of the background is distracting.

In my view there are too many negative elements for this image to be usable image for your portfolio but if the client likes it, I would sell it to her without mentioning any of these comments.

[arich]

Originally Posted by MicWayWal

Andrew,
I am not sure why you picked this image either. It appears this is the test picture that you take to check your settings before you start taking real images.
The pose is very, very static and rigid. She is standing with her weight equally on both feet, her shoulders are slumped down, her arms are hanging straight down showing flab under her arm pit, she looks like a wide shapely pole. Her eyes are cut too far to the right so no white is seen on the far side of each eye and no catch-lights are visible in the eyes.
Subject placement on background is distracting. Her head is cut by the line of the concrete coming in from the side causing the flower to be lost. The lines of the walkway railing is cutting her body in half. The white tree trunks in the background are too bright and very distracting.
Angle of view is too low especially at 17mm zoom. Wide angle lenses distorts elements in the middle of the view to be ballooned. This will make her tummy look larger, not a good thing with a bridal. It also gives you a great view of the underside of her chin and nose.
Your Main Light is the best part of this image. It is very nice and flattering on her face, body, and dress. Too bad you can't see it in her eyes. However the glow around the bride caused by the darkening of the background is distracting.

In my view there are too many negative elements for this image to be usable image for your portfolio but if the client likes it, I would sell it to her without mentioning any of these comments.

Haha I really have no clue why I did

Here's another one, I already know all of my own issues with it but I'm completely open to more critique.

One of my biggest struggles is posing and communicating to the model/bride/whatever how I want them to stand, I've just never had a chance to observe another photog interacting with their subject.