thiswayup wrote:
I think you'll get a better response if you pick several images for comments; expecting people to look through a 70+ image port is a bit much and risks comments being on randomly selected atypical images.

This is easily your best shot:

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/33127081

..The soft focus works here - well it's tolerable at least - but *all* your images are this way, so it looks like it wasn't a deliberate choice but a fortunate accident. Or to put it another way, the best shots in your port have ended up being the ones that suffer least from poor focus technique aesthetically.

Two problems I notice with your port as a whole are low sharpness/focus on "wrong" point - eyes are rarely sharp

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/39185330

and very muddy tonality, eg

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/37888365

I also don't see any signs that you know how to retouch skin eg

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/32035976

..Nice composition, but blurry, muddy, and you've left the model looking as if she has skin problems. You can defend anything "artistically", but given that you seem to be trying to make it as a commercial photographer, I'd want a port with sharp images, eyes in focus and healthy looking skin. Because that's how clients want to be shot. I'd suggest learning how to use focus points, curves, and healing brush.

Can I ask what you are doing with focus? It looks like you've put the camera in a mode where it focus on a single centre spot and not tried to do anything else - I didn't look at all your images, but focus seemed be at image centre in all the ones I looked at.

Emmett Simmons wrote:
Thank you! 

Hand held single focus point.

Yes, but there's a lot more to focus point than that. Are you letting the camera choose where it puts the AF point or is it locked in position or are you placing it manually? What model camera is it? Are you using focus and re-compose and if you are using recomposing using tilt motions or planar movement?

..If you don't want to place focus points, then buying a camera with decent eye detect might be a good idea.

thiswayup wrote:

Yes, but there's a lot more to focus point than that. Are you letting the camera choose where it puts the AF point or is it locked in position or are you placing it manually? What model camera is it? Are you using focus and re-compose and if you are using recomposing using tilt motions or planar movement?

..If you don't want to place focus points, then buying a camera with decent eye detect might be a good idea.

thiswayup wrote:
Yes, but there's a lot more to focus point than that. Are you letting the camera choose where it puts the AF point or is it locked in position or are you placing it manually? What model camera is it? Are you using focus and re-compose and if you are using recomposing using tilt motions or planar movement?

..If you don't want to place focus points, then buying a camera with decent eye detect might be a good idea.

Emmett Simmons wrote:
I manually choose where i place it. i was shooting with a D7000 in those shots i now have a d750.  What is the preferred method?

There is no "one size fits all".  Learn to use the options offered by your camera and then you can decide which to apply in a particular situation.

Emmett Simmons wrote:
I manually choose where i place it.

Using a joystick or d-pad or focus/recompose? The first method is safer and in a portrait you should put your focus on the eyes.

Another problem that 99% of photographers aren't aware of is that focus accuracy on a lot of DSLRs is poor when using the main focus system. The biggest different between the modern pro cameras like the 5Diii and lower range models is that the pro cameras have a more sophisticated feedback system for moving the lens elements into focus. For a lot of work this doesn't matter, but if you are shooting portraits it does, especially if the lens is open wide. Cheaper and older DSLRs will usually focus much more accurately in Live View because they focus via the sensor in this mode. You'll want to hold the camera steady while using the screen, so putting it on a monopod is a good idea.

There's an extensive discussion here:

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/0 … -accuracy/

You should be ok with a d750 though. Take some test shots with the focus point on eyes and then heck the focus adjustment with the lenses you're using it with if you have any problems.

I'd suggest removing older lesser accurately focused shots from your port - fewer but better shots should impress clients more.

This might help you with tonality

http://www.techradar.com/how-to/photogr … ow-1320970

And I think this review of image sharpening might be useful

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutori … pening.htm

Google for tutorials on skin retouching and especially using the healing brush.

crx studios wrote:
Btw - you will get better when you do 50 more shoots. It’s your choice whether or not you want to spend 6 months doing those shoots or 5 years.

Really...

I see plenty of photographers shooting models twice a week or more who churn out the same crap ad nauseum with no improvement whatsoever. Whereas I see other photographers who invest in structured tuition who improve markedly and meaningfully in the space of a couple of sessions...

K I M I L Y wrote:
Really...

I see plenty of photographers shooting models twice a week or more who churn out the same crap ad nauseum with no improvement whatsoever. Whereas I see other photographers who invest in structured tuition who improve markedly and meaningfully in the space of a couple of sessions...

I was a photo editor for over 15 years. I have advised hundreds of photographers. Obviously if someone is completely clueless, shooting blindly isn’t going to help.

However, if someone has potential and they are motivated to learn (as the OP seems to be), often the biggest thing holding them back is that they simply don’t shoot enough.

That’s why I think it’s important to remind them of this simple truth: The more they practice, the more they will improve, and the sooner they put in those hundreds and hundreds of hours, the sooner they will get to enjoy the benefits of their newly refined skills.

Really.

crx studios wrote:
However, if someone has potential and they are motivated to learn (as the OP seems to be), often the biggest thing holding them back is that they simply don’t shoot enough.

Potential? Motivated to learn? A prime candidate for tuition I'd say...

Although I don't have 15 years as a picture editor..

K I M I L Y wrote:
Potential? Motivated to learn? A prime candidate for tuition I'd say...

Although I don't have 15 years as a picture editor..

I have no idea where your attitude is coming from. Where did I say that high-end workshops are a bad thing? I’ve taken at least a dozen of them myself. They are an excellent way to pick-up knowledge.

But you’re living in a fantasy land if you think the insights you pick up in a workshop will automatically make you a markedly better photographer after a couple sessions. They don’t.

First you have to take what you learned and try it out for yourself. And you are going to make mistakes, so you’ll have to try it again, and again, and again. And if you do your follow-up tests every few months instead of every week, there’s a real chance you’re going lose the insights that you got from the workshop.

And then, then you’re going to have to do the hardest thing of all. You’re going to have to incorporate some of what you learned with your own personal style, because if you don’t, you're going to end up with a portfolio that looks like a second or third rate copy of what your instructor’s portfolio looks like.

Bottom line is I don’t care whether you are self taught or prefer to learn from workshops. The only way to master your craft is to practice your craft. A lot. As often as possible. And if you have a problem with that, there’s obviously nothing else I can say that will change your mind or your attitude.

crx studios wrote:
However, if someone has potential and they are motivated to learn (as the OP seems to be), often the biggest thing holding them back is that they simply don’t shoot enough.

I'd disagree. I'd say the biggest problem a lot of people have is looking at their work objectively, seeing where it could be improved, and then intelligently seeking out the techniques needed for improvement. Most people limit themselves by wanting to feel good about their current level of achievement.

crx studios wrote:
But you’re living in a fantasy land if you think the insights you pick up in a workshop will automatically make you a markedly better photographer after a couple sessions. They don’t.

At no point did I mention or suggest a workshop.

Emmett Simmons wrote:
Thank you all!much needed!

If you want an example of an excellent commercial style, just look at CRX's port. You'll see 4 things:

- Focus is on the eyes (focus point placement)

- Eyes have catch lights (google catch lights)

- Skin has excellent tonality and obtrusive flaws have been removed/avoid (lighting, skin retouch and post processing)

- Good general sharpness (see link given)

Just work on those 4 points. Research each on the net, find techniques that make sense to you and practice. Or take structured tuition on those points if that's more your style.

K I M I L Y wrote:

At no point did I mention or suggest a workshop.

And because I said “workshop” instead of a couple sessions of "structured tuition” - that changes the point I was making how?

thiswayup wrote:
I'd disagree. I'd say the biggest problem a lot of people have is looking at their work objectively, seeing where it could be improved, and then intelligently seeking out the techniques needed for improvement. Most people limit themselves by wanting to feel good about their current level of achievement.

That’s a whole other problem. If someone is visually tone-deaf, and they don’t know it, and they don’t want to know it - well - they’re pretty much hopeless.

When I used to review portfolios, if someone fell into that category, I would refrained from commenting altogether. If I saw some evidence of talent, I asked if they wanted some feedback. If they said yes, I gave them very specific constructive criticism. It was always a delicate balance because I didn’t want them to feel discouraged, I wanted them to feel inspired.

And to bring my original comments back full circle, two of the most common mistakes I saw in all my years of portfolio reviews were the two I wanted to share with the OP:

Bad images in a portfolio call everything else into question, and if you want to master your craft, you should be practicing as often as possible.

Does that mean that I’m implying that if you totally suck and aren’t interested in learning from people who are better than you, that I still believe your number one problem is that you don’t practice enough? Of course it doesn’t. Come on, that’s an absurd thing to take away from what I said.

If you have no talent, no self awareness and no motivation - yeah - you’re excused from practice - lol.

thiswayup wrote:
If you want an example of an excellent commercial style, just look at CRX's port.

Thank you. That is very kind of you to say.

crx studios wrote:
That’s a whole other problem. If someone is visually tone-deaf, and they don’t know it, and they don’t want to know it - well - they’re pretty much hopeless.

My feeling - I have no way of proving this - is that a large category of people who aren't absolutely tone deaf switch off their critical facilities for their own work. Perhaps because they see the intention rather than the outcome?

crx studios wrote:

And because I said “workshop” instead of a couple sessions of "structured tuition” - that changes the point I was making how?

Fundamentally.

HOTTIE SHOTS wrote:
What I see in your port is growth and improvement.  Your port seems to be basically chronological with the older images being more of a point and shoot and nudes with a "look at this naked woman" focus.  But as your images get newer they have changed. Lighting and shadows are now contemplated and used.  You seek images with a strong emotional appeal.  Your focus has left the idea of shooting the models to a view to express you and the model's art.  I imaging you no longer contact a model and say let's shoot, you contact them with specific ideas in mind.  I also get a real sense that some of these later ideas were inspired, at least in part, by the model.  I see communication between you and the model in your more recent work.

Overall I am really interested to see where you go next, I get the sense that you have some ideas you have been wanting to shoot but some nagging doubt is holding you back. Don't hold back, your next phase is going to be great.

Emmett Simmons wrote:
@augusting and Budi,  thank you for your input.  I try to crop out distractions.

In the example I posted I'd crop the window out altogether and move to a new position that uses it off camera as the large, natural softbox that it is.

Having the light rake across the body obliquely and strike the face directly is often a good way to go.