Practice Makes Close to Perfect

So, this is me attempting to better myself by practicing and just messing around. Most everything ended up like poop. That's okay, I'm learning.

Like Smith says, "Makes mistakes now. Not when school starts."

Here's my fail attempts at something even decent.

ISO: 3200
APERTURE: 2.8
SHUTTER SPEED: 1/4

To start, worrying about the background was tricky. Since my subject was a cat, I had to catch shots at the right moment. Moving Jill, my lovely subject, wouldn't have quite worked out. I don't think it was a completely terrible background anyway, considering you really can't make it out. 
I don't like that the right side is super light while the left is super dark. I've had this problem before. (I'm not on an iMac with Lightroom to edit/tone, so give me a break.) I probably took over 50 different pictures of this exact angle just experimenting with different elements, but this was one of the only few that turned out decent. The glare/reflection in her eye really bothers me. 
You can definitely see the whole "depth of field" in this. 

ISO: 100
APERTURE: 2.5
SHUTTER SPEED: 1/10

PHOTOSHOOT!
I didn't have anyone willing to sit in a chair for an hour or two to help me except JB. He didn't exactly help by making funny faces the entire time, but every once in a while I caught him off guard. 
The sun had already set outside and it was too dark. Inside the house I didn't have much to work with background wise, and only now have I realized the many options of holding up a sheet against the wall or anything else, so excuse the hideous door. 
The shadows on him are horrid, but I feel like there is a lot of detail and it's decently focused.
The real problem is that there are under shadows that aren't lit. I will honestly admit that I have no clue how to fix that right now, but I will learn, hopefully.  

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