Photoclubalpha

I really like that Beercan shot !

IDM

I like the B&W shot and I assume it's your and your wife's picture.
The shallow DOF is very nice.

Kevin, those are very tasteful shots.
I personally prefer the last one... It is a classical composition, very well put in practice. The way the background blurs with the distance is great.
For my taste, the second one is a critical composition. I would either have taken the eyes of both people or only the two mouths.... But that is very personal.

I would love to use my 50mm more, but I need to have the camera calibrated first.

Jonathan

Thank you, ianmiddy, Doctor. Let me tell you, it was grueling to get that B&W shot just right. The picture with the beercan is one of my favorites. I originally only displayed it in B&W form because the colors were kinda wimpy, but then I went back and adjusted some levels once I knew a little more about what I was doing. In retrospect I wish I'd tried some frames with fill flash, but I'm not dissatisfied with the results.

And Thank you too, Jonathan, for the feedback. You posted your reply as I was composing the above. The B&W shot was a very spontaneous one, hand-held and pointed at ourselves, though I did take several at that time. This one had the best focus, which was somewhat more critical than the rest of the composition. It grew on me quickly in PP, though I had the same reservations as you do.

#3 is great, without doubt.

I don't know which postprocessing software you use, I can only say that I am extremely content with lightzone and use their relight tool very much - not in the standard setting, which opens up the shadows too much, but with a moderate effect. Especially when it comes to printing these open shadows really help. You can try this software before buy, I guess it could be worth it.

Regards - Markus

B&W shots has and always will hold a place in photography. A special photo no.2. Well done.

Yhe images are very nice as well as the presentation.