Summer Photoshoot with a Friend (Comments and Critiques Welcomed)

I have been on here for a long time, but this is the first time I have asked for comments and critiques on a photo session.A good friend of mine offered to model so I can get some practice.My question for you is, what are things that I did well, and what are things that I should improve upon?Thanks a lot!

You either need to crop the images and /or get closer. There is too much headroom in my opinion. A 4x3 ratio is more pleasing than the 3x2. Your fill light seems too be a little too much. I would drop it a half stop to a stop and see how it looks. The last image is a good idea of a shoot through but the foreground is too bright and distracting. The eyes are looking off a little too much in my opinion. If you doing the no eye contact thing, it seems like a little less off center would be more appealing. These are just my opinions. Take them with a grain of salt. 

The way she looked in the 2nd shot looks a bit awkward for me. 

Hi, 

I have some tips that drastically improves people photography, some may not look like it works at first glance, but trust me, it improves more than I can put it in words.

1.
The most important tip:

Always, always place your strobe off camera, and place it much closer to the model.

You don't want your light to splash the model from a distance. Flash must be 2 meters away (maybe 3m and not much more) from the model and always, always above her head.

For a general rule: 2 meters away from the model, on a 45 degree angle to either side, and at least 1 meter above her head.

This improves lighting dramatically, like 500% compared to set up most people usually think of (like frontal strobe, far away from the model, at maximum power).

2.
If possible, use a wider angle (35mm is a good choice for environmental shots).

Whenever one starts using wider FLs, images improve over night.

Here's an example below I believe at 24mm.



3.
It looks like an awesome idea to place objects in the foreground and blur then away, but this best way to improve shots is to not use those techniques related to excessive blur (either foreground or background), and instead put all your coins on quality of lighting.

4.
Here's a golden tip: 

Use colored gels on your backlight.  All strobes can and may use colored gels, but for a start, color only your backlight.

I explain that technique in more details in my YT channel.

Please check the 7:25 mark on this video:

Forest shoot:


Please note the blue-orange explanation.

Using gels to color your lighting is one of those tips that takes years of experience to realize how much of a difference it makes. 

I started using it heavily as my go-to lighting technique after many years of a pro career. I haven't realized how awesome the results could be until much later down the road, even though I was a strobist since day 1.

Coloring your lights is a game changer. 

Trust me, this alone is something that will make your photography stand out miles away.

That's it

EDIT: the video above is a good start (7:25 mark is where you wanna go for the lighting stuff), but thought I should post more examples of how awesome colored lighting can be, so a few more


Sorry if some look too dark, editing is still beta. Have to brighten those up!

Too much light for the first shot and the facial expression of the second shot seems to be unnatural. 

Thanks for the tips. Those are pretty nice shots.