Fall Portraits

[LGM]

Hit me with some feedback. Good or bad, it will always help me improve, and that is why I made this post.

[Gilbert]

When did you earn enough $$$ for teh operation?2?




Just kidding of course.

The photos look nice, I can't say much as I'm no good in these sorta stuff, but the bouncy one (the third from the bottoms) gave me the impression that she's being hung from the tree...

[LGM]

what a strange impression... though I can now see it.

[Gregjazz]

The very first one is the best IMO. It has great motion and great colors!

To me it describes Fall the best. Whatever that means...

[Nacho]

I am not an expert at all, and probably an "expert" (Andail or Dominika?) would come and crush me... But as you want help, I'll try to say what I see, knowing for sure that you, more expert in photos than me, and mature enough to use critics for improve, will react well.

I think they need more flash because I see some shadows in the front take "items" (the girl, in this occassion) that I am not completelly sure if they should be there... And I am not totally happy about constrast, maybe a little less would be more suitable.

But, as said, if you trust me you could piss it off, I am not an expert. 

[InCreator]

I like first one...

...though you could focus onto face, not breasts, and so have more leaves on picture

And the last one...

...though the background got a bit too defocused and could be more visible/ shoot a bit more right so half of photo wasn't a tree

[Fizzii]

I think they are quite good! Especially the colours.

The light is quite good, though maybe you should watch it on the first one, where it also falls below her neck, and seems blown out in comparison to the rest of the picture.

In general, I'd say flash isn't needed for these types of photos - in a studio, maybe. Flash tends to make everything in focus, and tends to take away from the atmosphere (Light and shadows help add to atmosphere if done right). The only thing is is that without flash, one has to be very aware of how the shadows are falling. In general, I think you've done a good job with that

Composition wise - it would've been nice to see her feet as well in no. 3, but since you were trying to capture the leaves as well, that would've been difficult. No. 7 is not a very flattering angle, though it is a 'fun' shot. No. 9 is cute. The background might be a bit distracting due to its sloping away and has other elements there. I like the colours in No.1 a lot, but maybe the camera could have been angled a bit more over her face.

[ildu]

Photo 1: lying
Looks good. Pose is nice, colors excellent. Would be better if you pulled back and we saw a little more

Photo 2: looking up
My favorite. Pose is just perfect, kinda weary but curious. The colors are also perfect. Contrast is superb. All in all a pretty perfect photo in my opinion. It could still be a tad better if the girl was standing a little more to the right.

Photo 3: throwing leaves
Ok. The concept is pretty good. It would be much better if the hands weren't blurred, but the leaves were. Plus, the background could be much richer. Also, it would look better if the girl wasn't walking, but standing. Also, you should've taken the photo from below.

Photo 4: posing 1
Pretty ugly actually. The posing is a bit awkward and it seems she's trying too hard. The whole deviant look doesn't suit her. The background and colors are also really boring.

Photo 5: posing 2
Same as above, but in this one it looks even more restless, as if she has to go to the bathroom.

Photo 6: smiling close
This is another really good one. Would well suit a catalogue of some sort. You can easily imagine this as an example photo at some one hour photo place. The composition is great, colors are excellent (I love how the shirt mixes with the bark color and the tan colors of the jacket and the leaves). The pose is natural and attractive. Nice one.

Photo 7: smiling upwards
I think this is pretty ugly. Although the background is superb, the pose is odd and she looks a bit weird. There isn't enough lighting, which is understandable since you're shooting upwards from the ground. In addition, you should've included more of the background above her head.

Photo 8: smiling farther
This is a very inviting photo, but it lacks a bit of something. The pose is pretty good, but she should've tilted her head a bit upwards. Now the bangs are interfering with her eyes. The background is nice, but the girl needs more lighting. The colors are also a bit dim, but still very good. I commend you on the depth blur effect on the treebark. It adds 50% more appeal to the image. This one was very close to being a real winner.

Photo 9: hugging tree
Kinda of a dull premise, but looks good. The pose is fine, but part of the face is cut off, which is bad. The background is cool and the colors are pretty good. I just love the ray of sunshine from the right. The face is the only stumbling point here. We need more of it and clearer. It's great that you left so much of the tree in the photo. It really adds character to the image.

Overall, a huge improvement from the previous set of images. You seem to be more aware of the environmental impact on the outcome and you've clearly let some of the posing go. And the colors are just impeccable in contrast to the earlier ones.

[LGM]

Here're some more, and others that are improved. Feel free to have a look.

http://www.lilgryphmaster.com/temp/steph/finals/

[Andail]

I think you're constantly improving, my friend.
Many of these are beautiful.
Some spontaneous comments:
#1 could have a flash to get rid of some of the shadows, as someones pointed out above. Apart from that, the composition is excellent. Normally I would advice you to give the subject more space (you tend to sometimes squeeze your models in your pictures) but this time it fits the composition.
#6 would be the most professional looking portrait, I believe. It's not very intruiging in terms of concept, but for being a simple portrait, it's pretty much perfect.
#7 Doesn't work as well. The pose is too unnatural.
#8 Good portrait, but her hair turned out curiously black, which takes away attention from other less contrasted areas. The focus effect is working, but is close to being pretentious (like "let's include a shot where I experiment with field of depth, just to show I can do it") .

[LGM]

lol... I the depth of field was natural, I didn't do that in PS. I just had a lower aperture :-p

[Andail]

Yes, I understand it's not a PS-effect, but indeed an aperture setting.
Oh, and I meant depth of field, sorry

[LGM]

Well I needed the large aperture to capture all the light without having an insanely low shutter speed... With all the leaves around is, the sunlight wasn't too bright.

But I get what you mean now.