I am new to MM and want to receive the perspective of my peers on here. 

I shoot in both film and digital and am looking to branch out in what I'm doing creatively.

A couple of interesting pictures, but few portraits.

#1 What was the idea here? You do not see most of the flags nor can you see her face because of overexposure and hair. The clearest image is of her knees.


#2 Purple smoke - yes? To be honest, my first thought was why is that bearded man wearing a dress. His face is very clearly flash lit and -- why is he there?


#3  Buddha? In the background. Then why is the girl in the clashing (with the statue) dress there? Why is the car taking up more of the frame than either or both of them? The frame is not leveled - that's not edgy, it's careless. The model's dress is doing her no favors and her expression says she knows it. The light is glary and unattractive.


#4 How not to take a picture. She's going home? Where might that be? Greece? The woods? An office building? a vacant lot? You so blasted her with light, that she's almost not there. The idea of the open map wasn't bad, but the map can't be made out because of the flash.


#5 What is this?


#6 You do know what Depth of Field is, don't you? Why do you want that particular background scene in the picture? Could've been a nice picture except for the roof line going through her head.


#7  Please tell me what the subject of this photo is.The model? you can't see her face.  At least you closed her jacket.


#8  He's walking on water? The quality(??) of the photo is poor. His expression is terrible. And the camera?? What does it have to do with the picture?


#9 Hustler? Poor exposure, badly framed.


#10 Nice shot if cropped halfway down from the top.


#11 If the background is brighter than the subject and busy, we will look at the background. Nice profile shot.


#12  Umm, NO.


#13 Other than reminding me that, in my youth, I could do chin ups hanging from a door jamb by my fingertips, this is just a bad picture. Is he aware that if he slips he could go through the window and fall to his death? Do you know that you would be liable?


#14 An actual flattering portrait. A lens hood will get rid of the haze in the picture. Did you really need the telphone lines above her head. Getting her face in focus would have been great. Look up the phrase Phallic Symbol. Look to the right of her, in green. If you had shot her from the opposite direction, she would have been well lit against a darker background and fewer distractions (hopefully). A polarizing filter can also help with haze.


#15 Wow, a girl on railroad tracks. Well, you've heard about fill flash,good idea when not overdone. Too bright background. She's lovely but blurry from overexposure. I'm glad she's got her hand on the shiny, well used track. She'd be able to feel the train coming, maybe in time for you both to get out of the way.


You need to read up on exposure, lighting and composition. You're not there, yet. Keep your models out of harms way. Keep shooting.

"Portrait photography or portraiture is photography of a person or group of people that displays the expression, personality, and mood of the subject. Like other types of portraiture, the focus of the photograph is usually the person's face, although the entire body and the background or context may be included"  Wikipedia