A couple things that I learned about taking portrait, is the earlier in the day the better. I did  the outside portraits in the late afternoon and the lighting was really hard. I had some pictures of my daughter that I took in the back yard and the lighting was so dark. I went to the front yard and I had to moe myself around and see where the better lighting is. I wish I went out earlier in the day. Also I learned that white sheets for a background are really hard to use. I used a white sheet and at first with the yellow shirt my youngest was wearing washed her right out. I had her change to a darker shirt realy quick and it worked better. Also a key thing to remember, make sure your camera is not on low battery :) I had a really hard time also because my battery was dying so I had to charge it and then start over. So these 3 photos are of my 2 girls. I think they are ok but I am hard on my self and could easily tell you 5 things why I hate these starting with my daughter needs a haircut so we cant really see her face :)