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I wanted to see what others thought of my photography.. if it's good enough to be a semi-professional (like $100 session in the park with the kids for the Christmas cards type) I don't know if I am really any good or if my daughter is blinding me with her cuteness LOL I know I definitely need a few classes first, and to learn all of the settings. I want to do pregnancy, birth, newborn, breastfeeding, family and first birthday photo shoots. I have gotten good feedback from other local moms. I'm not expecting to make a fortune or anything - hopefully a few hundred a month would be great to help support me being a stay at home mom.
None of these have been edited (except the obviously photoshopped one with the fairy I used for my daughter's party invitations)
I know the lighting and settings could be better and I hope to be able to improve all that with training. I guess I am mostly looking for what others think of the composition itself.
You have potential but you need to learn more about light, depth of field, exposure, and post processing. All images should be edited, even if it's just a bit of sharping. Are you shooting manual, auto, or partial auto modes? Composition is not hugely important with portraits - it's not unimportant but it's not of top priority in my opinion. Portraits should prioritize lighting, exposure, and sharpness.
Comps are generally pretty good! IMHO, composition is extremely important. Anyone can point a modern camera at a scene and take a technically good shot. The photographer's added value is to use posing and composition to create a compelling portrait. Otherwise, you're just taking snapshots.
What I see you doing correctly here is getting down to the kid's level, and using negative space effectively and offsetting your subject in enough of your shots that I can see it's no accident. I don't know if you've studied composition or if you just have a natural intuition for it, but you're off to a good start.
I would build your business slowly and not get ahead of yourself. Learn your camera and how to take pictures in challenging conditions like direct sunlight, shade, backlighting, etc. Learn how to use flash in those scenarios to balance light and add catchlights in your subjects eyes. Do some free work for your friends to build up your portfolio. See what works best from one shoot to another and use that info to develop your personal style. Once you develop a good portfolio and are confident that you can do consistent work in all sorts of conditions, only then should you think about charging money for your product. There's nothing worse than letting bad pictures out with your name on them, especially if folks have paid for them. Control your product carefully and only let your clients and potential customers see excellent work and you will develop a great reputation. There are tons of successful photographers out there who started out like this and there's no reason you can't do it too.
Right now you just have ordinary snap shots. I think you do have a good sense of composition and that is one of the most important parts of a good portrait. You are all over the place with lighting so you will need to learn not only how light works but how to manipulate it. That doesn't mean you have to invest thousands of dollars into equipment. Learn to use what you have. There is a lot of equipment out there that makes things easier. But unless you know what those things are they are useless to you.
When you have the experience you can think about charging. even if this is a part time thing for you you will need a business license, liability insurance, etc... all that fun stuff that goes with having a small business no matter what you are selling.
Thank you all so much for your feedback! I definitely plan to take multiple classes and workshops before doing anything. And then as mentioned above do some free photo shoots for friends. I am part of a local mom's group with over 1,000 members (where some other photographers have done the exact same thing) so I have plenty of opportunity to get some practice and gain some exposure there.
I did study photography in high school and loved the class. (Film photography & darkroom) I always loved it but didn't know how to apply it professionally so it was just a little hobby. The passion came back once I had my daughter and I realized what I loved taking pictures of was kids and families.
This is my first DSLR and I just got it a few months ago. Most of these were taken on vacations on auto settings. I haven't had the chance yet to really play around with manual settings and re-learn everything I studied previously. I'm excited to delve in though!
Looking at the EXIF data you are shooting in auto mode. Until one masters manual mode they shouldn't even think about charging someone. Once you have mastered manual you will understand why your photos aren't working right now, why you need to use more than a kit lens, the advantages to editing, and why you need to stop using the popup flash.
Only once you understand all of those should you even consider starting a business. Its harsh but the truth. I've seen too many fall into the trap of cheap photography only to have their memories ruined by a bad photographer. Furthermore, you are undercutting those that work their butts of to be professional photographers.
You have a good camera (Canon T3i) but you really need to learn how to use it. Basic photography classes will help. Maybe some local photo clubs/groups. Practice.
Some books, check out some books in the library...
To give a specific example; this photo the composition is great but the flower on the knit hat encroaches on her face which I find distracting. Depth of field is either lacking or the focus point was metered incorrectly. You can tell this by how clear the detail is on her fingers yet the dots on her left shoulder are fuzzy: IMG_1108 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
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