Last week I did a shoot in Buffalo's Larkin District with an acquaintance of mine, Amy, who occasionally does alternative modeling. Personally, I think that it went well, but it was windy and a little cold for her, and she wasn't happy with her posing after I showed her a small selection of shots that night. Regardless, here are some of my favorites. Feel free to offer constructive criticism.

1

_DSC0049a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

2

_DSC0052a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

3

_DSC0056a_1 by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

4

_DSC0061a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

5

_DSC0073a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

6

_DSC0085a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

7

_DSC0086a_1 by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

8

_DSC0092a_2 by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

9

_DSC0094a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

10

_DSC0100a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

11

_DSC0102a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

12

_DSC0106a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

13

_DSC0111a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

14

_DSC0112a by Shawn Wright Photography, on Flickr

10 is good. The shoes are awesome, but for some reason drew my attention away from the subject.

10 is good, agreed.

the rest have trouble standing on their own.
get closer to her, she probably doesn't bite much.
very drab weather i guess, lighting is not good.
a wireless strobe might have made a big difference.
it is definitely harder to do this kind of shooting
than tripod shots of peeling paint, so be open to
all kinds of approaches. keep at it!

Posted by yaggy 10 is good, agreed. the rest have trouble standing on their own. get closer to her, she probably doesn't bite much.

Yeah, she also commented upon the lack of closeups.

very drab weather i guess, lighting is not good. a wireless strobe might have made a big difference. it is definitely harder to do this kind of shooting than tripod shots of peeling paint, so be open to all kinds of approaches. keep at it!

Actually, aside from the wind and some very light showers for a few minutes, it wasn't that bad. I intentionally edited them from RAW files to be slightly darker to bring out more definition. Should I go over them again and increase the brightness? I'm open to any suggestions that may help.

By the way, #10 is one of my top five favorites from the shoot.

Posted by Shawn W. Actually, aside from the wind and some very light showers for a few minutes, it wasn't that bad. I intentionally edited them from RAW files to be slightly darker to bring out more definition. Should I go over them again and increase the brightness? I'm open to any suggestions that may help.

Oh no, not overall image brightness. I think the trouble is you shot around noontime, the sun is high in the sky and the model ends up casting odd shadows and it's bad for the face and eyes, gives her a raccoon look. Plus, a lot of the shots have her under an awning or canopy, keeping the sun out of her face or off her completely, which is bad - she's the subject and need to be lit good, which is a challenge when shooting outdoors. You are limited to utilizing spots that have good sun, so move about and snap away when she starts to pop. And don't fret if you took too many full-body shots, you probably have 724 megapixels of resulting canvas to play with, so a good crop can turn a so-so pic into a real piece of work. I've recut images taken years prior and discovered there were some real gems in there all along, but being too consumed with colors and highlights, I never saw that a simple crop made all the difference.

A few things I'd suggest for next time:
1. Try not to crop off feet and limbs like in 3 and 8. I think the rule is to crop just above the joint or something...
2. Try and get your verticals straight unless you're doing a crooked shot intentionally. 9, 12, and 13 are just slightly crooked and it's one of my pet peeves. You've used it well in image 10 though

I'd say 10 is your strongest image here, 9 would be a close contender if it was cropped in a bit and straightened though. 8 and 9 have gorgeous lighting. try and reproduce those setting next time

Yaggy, thanks for the suggestions.

Posted by e-photog A few things I'd suggest for next time: 1. Try not to crop off feet and limbs like in 3 and 8. I think the rule is to crop just above the joint or something...

Yeah, I thought about that while I was reviewing them.

2. Try and get your verticals straight unless you're doing a crooked shot intentionally. 9, 12, and 13 are just slightly crooked and it's one of my pet peeves. You've used it well in image 10 though

Believe it or not, I was actually taking the shots straight. The backgrounds just happen to be crooked.

I'd say 10 is your strongest image here, 9 would be a close contender if it was cropped in a bit and straightened though. 8 and 9 have gorgeous lighting. try and reproduce those setting next time

Thanks for the input.