SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Pizza, both shots are very good, but the car shot is stunning!! The care shot is very well composed and the hints of specular light really set it of as do the colors.
Your model is a natural.
The wagon shot does not have the pop of the care shot and here gaze is more powerful a in the care shot.
Do check out Model Mayhem as I had suggested. You'll see lots of shots in the same vein as your.
No background can be too gritty. It just changes the mood. No right, no wrong. Your doing a great job as is your model.
It's not about right and wrongs, it's about impact and impact is usually created with juxtaposition and posing in model photography.
A few here do a lot of model photography, but only a few!!
Great job, you can also post these in the "people" section. But admittedly, they will be in there with all the grandkids shot!
SS

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

Thanks for the encouragement, SharpShooter! I will be checking out the MM sight to be sure. - Pat

tdekany Loc: Oregon

I like the car shot better as well, the thing that bugs me is that to me the car is tilting left.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

SS, I get that you get excited at times, like someone with bipolar, but please, check your spelling will you? What are you trying to write?

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

I know it is "off" a little and I could have easily adjusted that in LR, but didn't bother for purposes of the post.
It was windy that day, maybe the building is leaning! I remember...several of the tires on the car are down on air.

I appreciate all the comments, really!

Szalajj Loc: Salem, NH

Ok, I'm going to come at this a little differently than some of the other responses.

I do like the carriage shot, although I would have liked a little stronger color on her, not the gentle color of the dress that she chose for that location.

Going back to the first shot, and the comments on her positioning, especially her jutting foot and leg. I would like to see her try what is called third position in ballet. The heel of one foot, is placed up to the arch of the other foot, then the toes are rotated out to about a 90 degree or greater position.

Now, about your low light focusing issue. Is your camera capable of using the rear LED, or LCD screen to focus? I know with my Canon, I can do this, and I can even blow up the center of the shot to check my focus before taking the final picture.

If you choose to try studio type shots, do you have anywhere that you could hang a solid colored fabric from the ceiling, to use as as backdrop? Often, you can find a solid colored flat bed sheet at a thrift store to use for this. Or, you can purchase a cloth drop cloth at your home improvement store, but check the seams for natural colored threads, vs. red or other colored threads before purchasing one.

But, I tend to like portraits that are not the traditional studio posed shots. Your second and third shots are a step in that direction.

As others have said, try some closer shots that are half body, shoulders up, or just head shots. You certainly have a good model to work with. Pay close attention to the direction of the light hitting your subject. If it's harsh, coming from the wrong direction, or creates too many shadows, change either your model's direction to the light, or your camera angle. And, yes, if you have an extra body handy, using a reflector or white foam core to add light is an added bonus, but it will take practice to do this correctly.

Do you have a bounce or fill flash? Try using it to supplement the light, using a high angle to bounce it off the ceiling, or add just a little light if you are shooting outdoors. You should be able be to control the percentage of output on the flash, or through your camera.

I hope some of these suggestions will be helpful.

And just an FYI, the Critique Section is going away, and the topics are ending up in the Photo Gallery section. This happened to me recently,

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

Thank you for your comments. I will try a reflective surface to kick the lighting on her shaded side. I will also look for an area with a little more light. The background "toys" are in certain parts of the building so I have to wait for the sun to get lower before shooting. I like the carriages, but I will request some brighter outfit for our next shoot.

I am pretty sure my camera will not do what yours will. Some of my shots were taken in light to low for my cameras AF to work. I had to go manual. At that point my eyesight became the issue. The resulting pictures were not at all sharp.

If there is one thing I Am picking up, right or wrong, from all these suggestions it's this: I have tended to look at my model as complimenting a background, much like a character in a painting, where I am now concluding that she needs to be set in stark contrast to the background. Perhaps for this type of photography the background isn't important beyond shapes and colors when they are set out of focus. Back to the drawing board.

tdekany Loc: Oregon

Did you click on the link I provided in an earlier reply?

Szalajj Loc: Salem, NH

If your rear screen is capable of displaying your shots, it should be capable of the "Back Focus" function. Check your user's manual, because in low light situations, that back focus is your savior. It was with my moon shots the other night.

What I was referring to by a stronger color, wasn't a "Bright" color. The dress in the carriage shot seems to be a light taupe or gray in tone. Something stronger in the taupe family so it's not so washed out, but the bright green in the car shot is too strong or bright for the carriage shot. Think of the deep tones, or jewel tones that were used in the Edwardian or Victorian eras for ladies clothing. Colors of the era of the carriage, not of the Automobile age. A strong color doesn't have to be a dark color either, it could even be a strong pastel shade ranging from cream through the light yellows, oranges, reds, pinks, purples, blues, greens. You just don't want the washed out versions of the shades. The color should look good on the model, and compliment the objects in the shot.

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

I did get to it. Wonderful photos there. Good ideas on where to shoot and how to incorporate nature in the shot. Way out of my class but definitely something to aim for. Thanks!

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

If by "Back Focus" function you mean reprogramming a button on the back of the camera body to focus (BBF) I have done that, but I am learning there are limits to the amount of light it will operate in. I have found that the camera "hunts" to focus on something in very low light that I can see well enough to focus on manually.

Your idea of looking at old paintings to get an better idea of colors is a good one. I am useless when it comes to seeing colors. Some days my wife accuses me of having escaped from a troupe of clowns at the circus. It is that bad.

Szalajj Loc: Salem, NH

By using BBF, and manual focus, you should get better results.

Day.Old.Pizza Loc: Maple Grove, MN

Thank you. I am shooting using BBF. I do not use the back screen for composing a shot; I am comfortable using the eye piece.

sailorsmom Loc: Souderton, PA

Good pose, good lighting, background too distracting, Pat.

delkeener Loc: SW Rhode Island, USA

You have luck in an amateur model with a natural gracefulness and the more you work together you will both have even more fun. I have read the other comments and there are good suggestions, but don't worry to much about them. These photos have a look akin to the old motion pictures called "film noir". An interesting woman in a gritty environment. Keep it going!