I'm hoping some of you will take the time to review my profile and let me know what improvements I should make.

Cheers!

Keep hands, elbows, knees out of pics. Shoot pleasing angles, not so close for distortion, work on white balance. Models look like they are reading a script. Very non energetic looks. Shooting models is fun. Just study each image later and ask plus and negatives and prior, decide what the theme is and how to create energy for your shots and what is the best angles for their curves and features.

Have fun

I’m all for keeping armpits out of photos, but I don’t agree with eliminating arms, hands and elbows from images, unless you’re doing tight beauty shots.

If you’re shooting beauty, headshots or portraits cropped somewhere between below the shoulders to just below the bust, yes, it’s best if the arms are hanging loosely by the model’s sides. Otherwise, you’re going to end up with some strange-looking amputation shots.

If you’re shooting from the waist up (or lower), the model has more freedom to use her hands and arms.

I agree with the other things that BMA said.

You’re shooting some of your headshots from way too close to the model, and you’re getting distorted features (like oversized noses). In some of your photos, the distortion isn’t even subtle.

For example:





Generally, I don’t shoot anything from closer than 5 feet from the model, and rarely is my lens closer than 6 feet. Closer than that, there’s likely to be distortion. Even though it might more subtle (and not recognized as distortion by most people), distortion of facial features isn’t flattering.

Angles (i.e., your POV in relation to the model) are VERY important. Always keep in mind that things that are closer to the camera look larger, and things that are farther from the camera look smaller.

The level of my lens is almost always someplace between just below the model’s eye level and just above the bust. As a general rule (there are some exceptions), the closer I am to the model, the higher the level of my lens.

That’s going to involve some squatting (on your part), and after a 6-hour shoot, you might have a backache. But shooting down at the model minimizes the model and places some emphasis on the top of the head (which, for most people, is not their best feature).

If your lens is below the model’s eye level, it makes the model look taller. Even if the viewer of the photo is 6’4”, and the model is 5’4”, the viewer subconsciously realizes that his “eye level” is below the model’s eye level, and he’s looking up at her.

The main exception is when shooting a larger model. Shooting slightly down at the model makes body parts appear smaller (in relation to the face) and downplays them. (The head is closer to the lens than the body.) In that case, you’re intentionally using subtle distortion to make the model look better.

18+
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/45337806

Btw, in the above photo, the whites of the model’s eyes and her teeth are blue.

If you’re shooting from below the bust, it makes the body appear larger in relation to the head and face.

If you’re shooting from too low a POV, it emphasizes the waist, thighs and butt and makes them look larger (and the face look smaller). Offhand, I can’t think of a model who asked me to make those areas look larger.

Another way to make the model look taller is to shoot from a very low angle (like sitting on the ground to shoot the model at full length). In order to do this without causing unpleasant distortion, you need to be AT LEAST 20 feet from the model.

Otherwise, I try to keep my lens parallel to the floor or the ground. Not only does this help avoid distortion of the model. It avoids distortion of vertical lines (doorways, windows, etc.) in the background that require straightening (and cropping) in post.

One other type of angle/distortion that should be watched is the angle at which the model is turned (in relation to your camera).

One thing I try to avoid at all costs is known as a split profile. Technically, a split profile occurs when the tip of the model’s nose touches or passes through the edge of the model’s face (the side that’s farther from the camera).

Also, in a split profile, the nose often impinges on the eye that’s farther from the camera (as in the photo below), and that isn’t flattering either.

You should be trying to make the model’s face appear symmetrical. This isn’t quite a split profile, but it’s close enough that it makes the model’s face appear very asymmetrical. 

18+ (barely)
https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/44898042

When I see a pose like this, either have her turn her head more toward you or go to a full profile. In a full profile, you should see nothing on the far side of the model’s face unless it’s eyelashes.

I’m going to leave it here for now.

Five or six years ago, a photographer in Australia requested a critique, and after reading my critique, he asked several other questions about posing and lighting. I wrote him a very long epistle that goes into the things above (and several others) in great detail.

Since then (since I’m an MM model mentor), I’ve rewritten it to make the parts on posing more relevant to models as well as photographers. If you’d like to read it, PM me, and I’ll send it to you.

I like Camerosity's comments.
I think if you pay attention to that and work on your lighting, you'll be a completely different photographer.
Mostly, your shots lack dynamic range, and they have a problem with contrast.  Look at:


The brown background is uninteresting.  Why not put a flash behind the model, maybe with a gel and hit the background?
Light the subject so that there's a ton more detail in the shadows.   If you do it properly, you'll get more prominent chiaroscuro effects.  Lighting would change everything.