I took some photos of a friend who is getting married in August, As a wedding gift, i would like to print one of these photos for her. I am new to portrait and not very good at post processing. CC are welcome.

I was wondering how i can improve the images.

You should cross-post this in the people photography section if you haven't already - you will get better answers there IMO. There are some well established portrait photographers that can really help out.

If this helps, here's what I would suggest:

1. Try to joke around with her a bit - she looks uncomfortable in those shots.
2. Focus on the eyes as much as possible.
3. Avoid f-stops lower than f/3.5 or so when you're starting out - it's hard to nail the focus at f/1.2ish.

Lastly, you asked about post processing - here's a kinda neat tutorial. Just avoid airbrushing the skin too much, otherwise it will make the person look fake/plasticky:
click here

1. A seated pose, such as the first, needs good posture.

2. Tilting the body *and* head often results in a better image.

3. For a bridal portrait, good make up is important. If the bride isn't skilled at makeup, hire a pro or rope in a friend who has some skill.

4. A good authentic smile is important for most brides, unless she specifically wants a serious pose.

I will second NumberFive and AuntiPode's comments...

Not knowing the young lady, her expression, at least to me, conveys a really unnatural, unpleasant experience.

If you only have these 3, I think #1 is closest to being printable, after some touch ups. If you don't mind, I will try to tweak it a bit this evening - time permitting.

Good luck,

regards,

Bob

<edit> FWIW, despite your generous offer and best of intentions, my experience is that "friends" are often the most difficult to satisfy

Thanks everyone for your tips. Bob, I would be very grateful if you did some tweaking.

PM sent with offer of processing help

Here's a quick example to illustrate rotation of the first image, using the clone stamp to fill-in the edges and smooth her skin. Also, some tweaks to color balance, and a little smart sharpening.

Paul, AuntiPode

Great re-works! Wonderful recovery Paul, AuntiPode - an especially soft pastel look!

Bob

Here's an alternate version of the second with some exposure and contrast adjustments, dodging and burning, clone stamp to blend her skin and a vignette.

Thanks, Bob!

HI Paul, I am sending you the photos through email. They are taking a while as they are big files.
Thanks for for effort. And a big thanks also to Auntipodi.

AuntiPodi. A big thanks for your efforts. Great work. How can get hold of your work.

Greetings Solomon.

Get hold of my work? For these images I Photoshopped the small images you displayed on this forum. You can copy them from your browser.

I like your alternate take in Post #9 the best AuntiPode - although I think the image could also use a rotation to a more pleasing angle. I took a quick stab at it here:

Since no one tackled the original #3, here is a quick re-work...

This is my favorite image of the series. Great posing/angle.
I took Paul Hodson's re-work, which is fine stuff, did a bit more skin softening in LR, and converted to BW in LR. The red color makes for a beautiful, striking image.
For those liking BW, I think the conversion works suprisingly well.
Re-posting the small jpeg seems to have taken out a bit of the shadow detail.

Scott

Here's a version with different color.