Up hill...

So I've been trying to expand my photo portfolio. Here's some thoughts on my last shoot.

5 Things that Sucked

1. Finding a model that wasn't professional. While my intentions were good and I can't thank her enough for helping me. from a photographer standpoint and a "I don't know how to direct anyone" view, it didn't exactly work out how I hoped.
2. Being afraid to make her do what I wanted. For example I wanted the shoot to look more like this: (insert picture of girl being a cute spunky librarian type) but it turned out like this:

because she was uncomfortable doing what I suggested and I was unwilling to force the issue/make her step outside of her comfort zone. (I figured as long as she felt beautiful and was comfortable it didn't matter)
3. I pussed out for a large section of it and set my camera on auto. For SHAME.
4. Taking 100 photos isn't actually enough. Had I taken an extra few of this shot, I would have had one that wasn't blurry.

5. What seems cute, might actually look like a young porn star.

5 Things I Learned

1. The panic I felt about planning the whole thing to a "t" was not in vain. Next time I really need to come up with more concrete plans. Particularly set up a meeting before the shoot.
2. A few of my photos turned out very...flat and senior photo-y (this is obviously because I stuck it on auto (FOR SHAME)) but in the future I could use that to my advantage and consider doing senior photos for real.

3. Small talk/pretending to care is very important when engaging a model. I'm actually relatively good at making people laugh. Plus S is kind of awesome.
4. While it's good to let your model have some creative input, know that you can end up with photos like this:

5. I'm still really good at still life.

Overall though, S is beautiful and I can't wait to try and re-shoot her.