Research and Planning - SLR practice

This is the first time I have used a SLR camera and these are the shots I took:

I particularly like this photograph as the lighting compliments my model nicely and it is a clear sharp photograph. 

I think this photograph would have been better had there been a little more back-lighting,  as the light is causing dark shadows which don't look particularly good and it doesn't compliment the model.

This picture appears more blurred than it did when I took it, which ruins the picture and detracts attention away from the artistic shot angle. I did manually focus the image until it looked clear through the lens, but I obviously didn't focus it well enough - or the distance from the camera to the model caused a problem with the clarity.

This picture isn't as clear as I would have liked either, I must practice on focusing the camera properly, as I manage to focus it when I'm looking through the viewfinder, but after the picture is taken, it isn't as clear or focused as I expected it to be. However, the natural light compliments my model nicely.

I feel that my college magazine photographs were slightly better than these photographs, as they were clearer, the lighting was better and the colours were more vibrant. However, I know the SLR camera is far superior to the standard digital camera I used for my College magazine photographs, I just believe my college magazine photos were better as I am more familiar with standard digital cameras and had never used an SLR before. With more practice I should get better quality photographs from the SLR camera.