GENorkus experience is a brutal teacher... never assume, instead reach agreement and acceptance during the planning stage for an assignment. Also licensing/usage need to be carefully negotiated... and your fee adjusted accordingly... Don't sell yourself short here...

As for including contextual elements i.e. background within the image? Always wise to query your client for examples (go-by) of what they believe is appropriate and germane to meet their needs. Lacking this I general ask them to select images from my on-line portfolio that best convey the visual statement they are seeking... Verbiage is at best a poor substitute for example photos...

Important Note: On many high end editorial assignments which I assist the photographer shoots tethered and gets agreement and acceptance in real-time during the shoot from either the client and/or their creative director... Lacking a tethered scenario then the image viewed on the back of the camera can be of merit here...

Shooting location is always a bear... you would be well advised to retain a lighting assistant (it's a pass through expense)...
Direct sunlight seriously needs to be scrimmed... btw Westcott's Scrim Jim is an industry standard. Heavy overcast is mother nature's huge softbox albeit a tad flat and will shadow under the eyes (unacceptable) thus a pop of fill flash is germane (typically a stop under ambient) which provides charismatic catch lights in the pupil/iris...

As mentioned... the degree of background bokeh is at the discretion of the client... That said wise to bracket aperture here... or better yet if shooting Nikon use their 105mm or 135mm f/2 DC lens which are legendary for background bokeh and afford more granularity of control then any other optics available...

Autumn brilliance in the vivid flora of Tennessee could prove to be a fantastic adjunct to this endeavor...
Please enjoy this assignment... Sounds totally intriguing...

Larry absolutely perfect timing... indeed a decisive moment personified... as noted the luminous quality of the sheer gossamer back lit wings take this visual statement entirely to the next level... Kudos on hand holding that piece of kit... At 7.5lbs this is quite a feat... albeit it's instantaneous focus is to be cherish... blindingly fast and you have made excellent use of the aforementioned attribute here...
Intriguing compositional elements and lovely pastel color harmonies.
The myriad of superb aesthetic aspects latent within combine gracefully into an ethereal aura bordering on surreal...
Thank you for sharing.

araia I also have a D7100 body... acquired after years of experience with a D7000 (who's feature set and controls are very similar)
In my work a client's needs drive camera's configuration... And I cherish the entire suite of options available...

You have stated "Depending on the condition of the light when I choose F-stop and minimum ISO, I am relying on the camera indicator for the Shutter speed, (metering) to be at zero, and then shoot photos"

But fail to mention the genre, venue, client expectations and other pertinent parameters in the mix... Without knowing these any attempt to provide explicit guidance is merely conjecture... and doesn't likely warrant serious consideration...

Case in point: I have a lot of sports gigs i.e. fast action which benefit from burst mode (the CH settings on the Release Mode Dial).
The Nikon D7100 is crippled with a small buffer which chokes after 1 second! To this end I set my RAW to 12 bit to extract 12 rather than 8 images before the buffer fills... btw, Nikon realized that this was a major deal breaker for the D7100 and corrected the issue in the D7200 which can now buffer 18 images in 14 bit RAW and 27 in 12 bit RAW... araia the devil is in the details... Read/understand the manual...

As for shooting styles? Where to you want to go? As you can sermonize from the myriad of responses to your query there are quite a few "favorite configurations" and each will be fiercely defended by those who use them...

Best guess? If you have lot's of daylight to mitigate camera shake and subject movement then the sunny 16 rule will work (provided that the sun isn't dancing in and out of clouds) Since you are choosing Aperture Mode I can only assume you endeavor to control DOF for creative effect... Manual Mode works well here also and I use it often shooting sports albeit if the sky is even the least bit tricked out with cloud then I'll deploy auto ISO with a shutter speed range germane to my genre...

As many have already said... Tenure comes with experience... and every genre is different... In time you will find your voice and become one with you camera provided you take you work seriously...

My question to you is: Can you find all the controls on your D7100 without looking at the camera? Do you know precisely where in the Menu Tree to instantly find each and every critical feature? There are no substitutes for hands on time with your kit... A camera is no different than a violin... only with years of dedicated study can one even hope to master it at a level of proficiency necessary to work at a commercial level...

Hope this helps or is at least food for thought...
Enjoy your journey

Like WoodnMetalGuy said…
In this example scenario the Key is high on Camera left (notice the shadow under the jaw/chin)
Fill is likely by large reflector just out of frame camera right.
There is a “Kicker’ from behind (camera left) proving rim illumination on the left side of the subject’s head and it is spilling to rim the left arm.

The challenge here is reflections off the subject’s glasses… possibly removed in post?
Also the even illumination of the flag (without shadows) is going to be a bear… unless this was green screened and the flag dropped in via post.

As for focal length? In my humble estimation 70mm is a tad short on a FX sensor, and would make the hands (closer than the face) to appear overly large… My choice would be the 135mm f/2 DC or the 105mm f/2 DC lens both are legendary for this type of portraiture… At a minimum bring a 70-200mm just in case…

Also bring black flags and cutters to kill flare and control shadows…
This is a fine art since your eye will not reveal what the D810 sensor records.

I’ve assisted on so many of this type of commercial assignment here are some thoughts to help achieve a high level of excellence…

Bring a pack of rice blotter paper (powder coated) and have each talent blot their T-Zone. Since males are unaccustomed to having makeup applied simply demonstrate on yourself and send them off to the men’s room if they are uneasy about this… Trust me it will kill shine on the forehead nose and chin… far more effective than the most defused softbox could hope to achieve…

Posing the hands are pivotal to success here… again demonstrate since these gentlemen are not agency models thus aren’t accustom to being moved about like manikins… While a clenched fist is masculine believe a soft hand is in order for this visual statement (however) verify with the client and/or their creative director here. Whatever is decided always have the hand sideways to minimize it’s dominance in the image… Notice in your go-by the left hand is even obscured by the right… the takeaway here is be certain to not let the hand divert attention to the face (small narrow soft being good and the smaller narrower and softer the better)

Final thoughts? Have you consider retaining a lighting assistant? It is a pass through expense and can take your efforts and perceived worth entirely to the next level…

Hope this helps…
Please enjoy your session Ponz …

"Any easy way to sell photos?" Simply exceed the expectations of your clients...

Best advice? Child and family portraiture is and has been the leading source of revenue for commercial photographers...
What to strive for is primarily a customer for life... i.e. shoot a senior portraiture, then save the date, the wedding event and then their children...

The traditional route into commercial photography? Assisting other top commercial shooters in your market...

Stock Agencies? They want imagery of people in their work place... known as environmental portraiture...

While you example imagery is aesthetically pleasing it has virtual little if any commercial worth/value...
Simply Google "top landscape photographers" and behold your competition... You are not at that level nor will you likely get there with a camera... Commercial work is 80% (and more) post production... Landscape is nearly all a result of high end HDR processing and stitched panoramas... At this juncture you would be well advised to master Adobe Photoshop if you are serious about competing in the commercial side of the still photography equation... Please keep in mind that video is the major market now, stills are disappearing faster than snowflakes on a Phoenix sidewalk in August...

btw, I'm only the messenger here...
Hope this helps or is at least food for thought...
Please enjoy your retirement, k?
Thanks!

ProfJoe are your sessions in a studio or on location?
Yes it can make a considerable difference...

That said yes I've used a D7000 on location for portraiture owing to it's light weight...
And I've shot weddings with a D300...

For weddings I use a 24mm f/2.8 Nikkor (35mm full frame equivalent) and a 85mm f/1.8G Nikkor (135mm equivalent)
The 85mm f/1.8G Nikkor is razor sharp and my portraiture go to for a crop body... it's bokeh is superb... and it affords a rather comfortable working distance...

That said, if resources are limited then the cost effective 50mm f/1.8D Nikkor can be used effectively for portraiture although that focal length is better suited for 3/4 to full length fashion...

If you wish to venture into the third party world owing to limited resources then you'll be hard pressed to find a better and more cost effective investment than the Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 AF Pro D Macro Autofocus Lens for Nikon AF-D. I'm amazed at it's acuity which blows away the pricy Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens (nearly triple the cost) at every aperture above f2.8. And while the Tokina 100mm macro doesn't have VR at that focal length it really isn't a major issue concern with current sensor technologies... besides it weights in at less than half the weight of the 105mm Nikkor.

However in all honesty I currently use the 135mm f/2.0 DC Nikkor for nearly all my portraiture... it pretty much stays on my D3x for studio work... The 135mm f/2.0 DC is legendary for portraiture (in a league of it's own). Pretty much no other vendor offers a lens that allows for such granularity for bokeh control and this lens along with it's little sister (the 105 f/2.0 DC) are unrivaled for acuity in the portraiture category... only when one migrates to manual focus glass such as the Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 Apo Planar T Z F.2 Lens for Nikon will their features be equaled and/or exceeded... Albeit the Otus still doesn't allow the vast spectrum of bokeh control as the DC Nikkors...

btw, for portraiture possibly far more important is lighting and a full team of craft services i.e. makeup, hair and wardrobe (at least at the commercial level) nearly all current DSLR's can handle the task... Excellence in portraiture isn't a commodity that can be purchased, it is an art and science that is best learned from assisting other commercial shooters in your market... this has been my route into the genre...

Hope this helps or is at least food for thought...
All the best on your journey ProfJoe

"What would you recommend based on your experience?"
Sam much depends on your aggregate kit weight and typical genre...
In the studio I don't use a strap of any kind... it would just be in the way...
On location light kit? A black Op/Tech Envy Strap... it's comfortable, has quick disconnects and no logo...
On location long glass (i.e. shooting soccer matches) the Black Rapid RS-7 since my 300mm f/2.8 weights nearly 3kg and the RS-7 can take that abuse... btw, if you are shooting wildlife be certain to get the coated D-Ring so you won't freak out the critters with metallic clanking noise.

Food for thought... If you attend professional sporting events you'll quickly notice that the RS-7 is heavily represented...
It is an industry standard heavy duty sling that simply works... A proverbial classic that is well worth price of admission...

As for looking good? Can't help you there...
Albeit might keep in mind that in fashion form trumps function however for professional usage function is everything...

Hope this helps...

Food for thought: Issues with dynamic range are easily address with industry standard HDR software solutions....
Photomatix Pro version 5.x can quickly combine three (or more) exposure renderings of the same capture in a RAW converter to expand dynamic range far beyond current sensor technologies... be advised to be certain to work in the highest bit configuration for RAW captures i.e. 14bit... and save the Photomatix Pro output version as a 16bit tiff... then the world is your oyster...

As for soft images? working at ƒ/11.0 with 562mm focal length and1/1000 shutter speed may not be germane for your kit...
Might try a minimum of 1/2000 at f/8 or raise you ISO from 200 to 400 in as your Canon EOS REBEL SL1 can effectively deal with this...
Still having sharpness issues then possibly 1/4000 albeit the real issue here is most likely shooting against the sun... Back-lighting imagery is seriously prone to flare when using long glass... even Nikon's pricey Nano Coating stumbles here... Lens hoods help but your likely far better off shooting with the sun at your back (or better yet quartering). Flare extracts a very heavy toll on image acuity.... likely even more than diffraction when stopped down...

That said the last image with it's surreal reflections is priceless... such a beautiful painterly effect... this is the rare exception to shooting back lighting... sometimes it can be breathtaking... Trust that you shot RAW here in as the exposure can be "fixed" in Photomatix Pro However the soft focus can only be kludged by over sharping... which is ill advised... Please consider testing your long glass carefully to understands it's merits and limitations... some lens are amazing until they approach max focal length... simply by throttling back a tad your results could be remarkably improved (but every lens is different so learn your glass's sweet spot, k?)

Thank you for sharing your aquatic artistry...

Concur with birdpix...
Reflections mirrored a shimmery aquatic surface adds enchanting harmony to this visual statement...

Thank you for sharing...

From embedded camera data
Lens: Sony FE 28mm F2.0
Focal Length: 28mm (35mm equivalent: 42mm)
Albeit the 10mm and/or 16mm extension tube(s) may alter the perceived focal length...

Totally agree Annie B, compelling compositional elements...

Hope this helps...

Annie B for the Sony ILCE-6300?
Shutter lag (full AF, wide/mid): 0.16 seconds
Shutter lag (full AF, with flash): 0.44 seconds

That said for micro a typical scenario Shutter lag (prefocused): 0.020 seconds

btw, Nikonian72 speaks with tenured wisdom...
The Forum he recommends is indeed a cornucopia of applied macro/micro technique and methodologies...

Albeit there is likely very little universal agreement on many of the technical aspects macro/micro work...
As with other crafts artisans unfortunately become "true believers" in the methodologies and workflow they use to the point of losing objectivity...

a.k.a. Trust, but verify...

As for image acuity? Have you consider deploying off camera flash?
by underexposing ambient the resulting the exposure will likely be far quicker than your shutter could provide...
Thereby freezing the object in time.... Just a thought...

thank you for sharing...

Absolutely priceless, precious and sooooo adorable...
gym you certainly caught this enchanting decisive moment with perfect timing...

btw, many of my colleagues believe that the EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM is in a league of it's own...
You've certainly validated this to the nines! Thank you so much for sharing this endearing moment...

Believe as time passes the merit and worth of this image will likely increase exponentially...
Superb visual statement... Photojournalism personified...

Much wisdom latent within this thread... Thank you Bill_de for showcasing IrfanView... I'm looking into this utility now...

Food for thought... back in the day doing PC Help Line support we had an SOP when the queue became unmanageable...
The classic "Cold Reboot" of the operating system was our go to solution... no other counter measure came close in instant resolve.
For the Nikon users the two button reset is similar... And Nikon in it's infinite wisdom has even colour coded two green dots on exterior controls...

That said, the insidious b5 Fine-tune Optimal Exposure in the Custom Settings Menu is possibly one of the most dangerous moves a naive user can make... This feature is NOT changed by the two button reset... and it does not show up in the view finder, nor Info screen... Please rethink ever using this or suggest it to a newbie... Instead conventional wisdom predicates encouraging the use of Exposure Compensation using the Exposure Compensation button adjacent the shutter release...

For all the emerging talent, please invest the time to explore, understand and master all the features Nikon provides in your capture device... Rest assured those who work at the commercial level have and for extremely compelling reasons...

Again many thanks for those who have shared their knowledge there...
Aggregate synergy is nearly always greater than even the most gifted amongst us...

The pristine mirrored reflection adds a superb painterly effect to this enchanting aquatic menagerie...
Elegant colour harmonies latent within... Shadows provide splendid bias relief to enhance the perceived illusion of three dimensional space...

For many years I've heard of the amazing visual auras which abound at Blackwater NWR...
Your breathtaking capture validates these inferences to the nines...

Thank you for sharing...

joelaoxford, glad you have found merit and worth in the feedback...

birdpix thank you so much for the links provided...
These are indeed proving to be a venerable fountainhead of wisdom for those seeking knowledge in BIF photography (and other related action sports). What a marvelous resource indeed...