I definitely agree with the excessive negative space; I do plan to create new files with the proper crops done and go ahead and send them over to my clients. They appreciated what I did, but I think they'll love the extra work done, and it's being done on my dime with no problem.

Not a fan of the vignette in these, it didn't fit what they were looking for. But I do see the slight tilt here and the angle is just right. As far as depth of field is concerned, we didn't have that much room to work with on that rear patio and I was using my Canon 85 mm/f1.8 portrait lens - it's my "go-to" for portraits. Oh, and I did not use any reflected light whatsoever; I simply set my camera settings in manual mode for what I saw at that moment; I usually shoot in aperture mode but that wasn't doing it for this set. It's important for me to be confident enough in my abilities to shoot outside of my comfort zone if necessary, and get as much of it in camera as possible - and I think I achieved that with minor editing as needed.

Thanks for the critique! This will help me as I handle more portrait work in the future.

Last weekend I provided a few head shot portraits for a couple for their insurance business web site and for other things they needed. They loved the results, but as usual I always look to improve.

Here's the setting: It was a very bright and warm afternoon at a local vineyard, using a covered rear patio at one of the outlying villas there. The gentleman had to use a cane to get around and couldn't stand well for very long, yet he absolutely insisted on standing for his photos. His wife wanted simple poses for her portraits. I thought they turned out nicely, and as I said previously, they loved them as well; what I provided to them looked much better than what their website had (I checked).

Now I realize that these might be just a tad underexposed, but with a very bright background due to the sun had to do a bit of extra work in post-processing. I feel that the sharpness of the subjects turned out very well.

To the UHHers here, I don't mind a little constructive criticism and I am looking for it here. What do you think? Thanks in advance to all that respond.

I use Adobe's photography package subscription, and for me it's a steal; I've wasted greater amounts of money on junk of, well...you name it. Like some others have posted here, I don't use my subscription to replace certain things like skies, birds, you name it. I start with using good glass with my camera, then use Lightroom/Photoshop to make adjustments as necessary to capture the scene as it was at that given moment. Occasionally, a nice small set of presets and actions can help - but don't go hog wild on purchasing large sets of them (many of them you'll never use). Shooting RAW certainly helps, but if you shoot using JPEG only - that's OK as well.

Of course, many other UHHers may have different opinions. It's simply what you are looking to do as a photographer as far as your particular style is concerned. As I like to say, your mileage may vary.

I went out today with my wife along the route I mentioned earlier. The north end of Willow City Loop had some great patches, some of them hidden. 29 from Llano to Mason (including Castell) had some very solid patches. Babyhead Cemetery on 16 was a disappointment; I'll likely go back there in a couple of weeks if I have a chance. I'm sure I went out a little early, but I needed to get something just in case I didn't make it back. Like I said, I plan to go back to Babyhead soon.

I use the Zeiss Optical Wipes as well; haven't had any problems with them.

I plan to make a trip into the Hill Country on March 22nd, even though there is currently a 50% chance of rain that day. My itinerary will include Willow City Loop, SH 16 from Fredericksburg to Cherokee including Babyhead Cemetery, SH 29 from Burnet to Mason, and Park Road 4 near Inks Lake and Longhorn Caverns. My SUV (with my photo business logo and contact info on the rear window) is about to log a lot of miles that day. Hopefully I'll see some of the Texas Hedgehogs along the way!

Thank you, Doc. I've been to Cooper's; it was good but a bit pricey for my taste.

State Highway 29 from Burnet to Mason has always been a good route to take. Here's a hint: Just east of Mason is the little community of Art; it has a church, two cemeteries and two houses. At the East Art Cemetery, there is usually a huge bloom of wildflowers there; last year I caught the only large bloom on my Hill Country trip in 2018. The photos I took, I had my composition where you wouldn't know it was a cemetery I was in!

As far as the creek bed was concerned, I didn't walk in it for the same reason you gave. If I find any more locations for wildflowers, I will gladly share.

I will certainly try to do so!

Babyhead Cemetery is located on State Highway 16 roughly between Llano and Cherokee. Traditionally it has been one of the better places to see bluebonnets. The Old Tunnel does have a colony of Mexican free-tail bats, about 3 million of them as I have read.

I've stopped by the bluebonnet house the last two years and it was disappointing unfortunately. I do plan to go back this month, hopefully there will be an improvement.

I didn't know about these. I'm an Amazon Prime member as well, so I'm going to check them out!

In late January my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary by taking a trip into the Texas Hill Country in Blanco, Llano and Fredericksburg. I wanted to capture a different view of these locations - without the wildflowers that will eventually arrive in March.

The first three photos are in Blanco State Park in Blanco.
The next four photos are in Old Tunnel State Park in Kendall County south of Fredericksburg.
The last three photos are along the Willow City Loop north of Fredericksburg.

I plan to return to Willow City Loop to capture wildflowers such as the Bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes and more. Additional stops will include Babyhead Cemetery on State Highway 16 between Llano and Cherokee, along State Highway 29 from Burnet west to Mason, among other locales.

Meanwhile, enjoy! I may add a few more in another post.

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I work as a security office in northwest Austin, Texas when I'm not working on my photography business. Occasionally, I catch a beautiful sunset or two with an incredible array of colors passing through the clouds. Here are some for your enjoyment.

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I didn't know of such a thing either. How DO you do it?