I shot my first "model" session with a super nice girl at a mission this past weekend. The facility limited gear on their premises, so it was mainly the camera and a speedlight. I shot a bazillion images and my keeper # was super low, but it was a TFCD session so practice was the point. She wanted a lot of different looks, so it was volume over focus. I shot almost exclusively with the 85/1.2, so I know I definitely need to shoot a little less wide and with a faster shutter...I had a lot of OOF and camera shake. Tell me what you think!!
Hmm, I guess I don't quite understand why you would be having camera shake with a 85 1.2 shooting wide open (or so) in bright sun. Speaking of bright sun, she's got a sun squint in the first shot. 2 I just see arm pit, sorry. Really like 3, some might not like the feet out of the frame, but I think it makes nice leading lines to the subject and they are OOF enough at the edge of the frame to work. 4 has a neat look, but I think her face is OOF.
#1 the light looks bright and harsh
#2 do not care for the under arm look
#3 nice smile - legs pull the eyes out from the picture
#4 is nice put seems to be lacking something
There were a lot of places I wasn't in bright sun. I had a lot of 1/30 and 1/60's that led to shots that were just overall soft. Also, I had too many 1.2's and 1.4's where my focus didn't hit the eyes. I have this ISO phobia that I seriously need to get over. Although I've shot my 1DsMKII at 1600 just fine, I get squimish setting it past 400. After viewing the # of missed images from this set on my computer, I'll trade my ISO 400 for a faster shutter any day of the week...it's just something I need to pound in my head.
The help I received from other members for the shadow issue in #3 was invaluable...makes FM a very nice resource to learn from.
Nice series.
#1 very harsh sun and a busy pic. Sometimes you have to shoot in bright sun and this one didn't turn out that bad.
#2 I love the lines of the dress. Good to have that in the shot. the washed out side and neutral expression bother me more than the underarm that Steve mentioned.
#3 Great smile in this one. There's a little shadow above the left knee. Very minor so ignore or fix if you want.
#4 The setup/composition here doesn't work to your advantage. You have the model against the wall and her face partly hidden. Then over on the right is some detail to distract us away from the model. Maybe compose to keep it simple (brick background only) or have her closer to that stuff.
But hey - a good shoot.
Convince yourself about the ISO. Shoot 3-4 pics all the same but ISO 100-400-800-1600. Print them (important) then compare.
Good early try. Jeeze that window lightsource #2, is real tough to handle
If you're going to shoot midday have you considered a circular polarizer?
Do you have a histogram on your cam? If you do, you might like to check that on each shot until you get your settings right at every shooting site. Saves a lot of mb.
