Photography critique

NurseyK

Bored? Go here: www.absolutelykirsten.com

It's me photography website that I designed. I'm hoping photography will be my sustainable hobby - focusing on casual family, couples, and children photography.

Please critique my photos!  I know there are too many posted, but I need help deciding which should come down.

peekaboo2011

On your about page, you're missing a verb:

First paragraph, last sentence currently reads: Like art and life, photography a work in progress.

Should read: ..., photography is a work in progress.

Also, this may not matter, but it's bugging me - You need continuity on the "Absolutely, Kirsten"  The banner has a comma, your TM does not. 

/Grammar Nazi.  I'm no help with photographs.

Ollie08

I didn't get super far in the slideshow, but I can tell you the things I've noticed from the get go. Color and lighting seem to be off on quite a bit of the photos, especially the first couple you featured as pregnancy shots. There's the two peas photography classes I linked to a while back that really really really help on this kind of stuff. They're also a great environment for constructive criticism.

I also noticed that almost every single one of your photos is shot with the subject dead center. It's very "portait" like and I feel like we're missing some of the story. Did you edit any of these photos? Or were they SOOC (straight out of camera)?

mreed1624

I highly recommend Candice Stringham's "Oh Shoot" online class.  Being online it is something you can always go back to and brush up if need, plus she has a video for each lesson so it is not just written material like other online courses.

I agree will Ollie, lighting is key and "rule of thirds" is something that will help you with your positioning.

polkadot111

I say to take off the one of the baby in the can? Also, the one of the baby drinking from the bottle. Those two something is off. I love all the prengancy ones!

MrsKathyC

I didn't get through all of them but what I noticed is that they all seem to be taken with you standing on a stepstool or holding the camera above your head or something.  The angle is off.

meamolly

Good stuff, I agree that they seem very centered. I do recommend a few continuing ed classes or read some books on the technique of setting up a photo. Also the color balance is off. They appear very blue to me. This may be the actual photo editing or the way the web is translating the color. I recommend reading up on how to edit photos for displaying on the web. Picture to get rid of, the pregnant lady laying on the branch, she looks very uncomfortable.  I would also recommend separating the types of photos in different pages.

PhotoDerby

It's been a while since I last polsted (no internet is killing me) but I'm going to use my work time to throw in my 2 cents It looks like you have a good foundation, you just need to work on a few things.

As previously mentioned, the centering on the photos is killing me. Rule of 3rds. At work we usually just tell clients who want to get into photography to practice. Practice, and find photographers you admire and look at your photos next to theirs. See where they place subjects, the way the light looks, etc. You editing is a bit wonky, imo, but I'm a bit insane about editing that has super weird coloring (too extreme sepia toning, the weird blue tones in some of the photos, etc). Also, not sure if you have one, but invest in a 50mm 1.8 lens and learn to shoot with 1.8-2.8 apertures, it'll create nicer focus (look up depth of field).

I also agree with maybe changing your website up a bit. I know the second I go to any site with music, I turn it off. Also, making sections for each session/grouping (portraits, maternity, etc) will make it so people don't quit looking when they realize they have to dig through every photo to find the section they were looking for.

Otherwise, just keep shooting. Photography is awesome, and the more practice the better the photos. The suggestion about online classes was a great tip, my boss is obsessed with going on Youtube to find all kinds of tutorials.