How did I go?

[Crystal]

Hi All!
I’ve always been too scared to practice on anyone else but my own family.... well I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and had a lovely family willing to pose for me if I did them a group shot. Here are a few, C & C welcome.
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 

[redtippmann]

Actually those are some nice shots!
1) I would crop in a little bit.
2) That is some HARD light, if you had a tri-grip diffuser that certainly would have helped.
3) I would move over a little to the left and crop just above her head and just below her elbow.
4) Maybe just a little too much head room?
5) Make a full length shot and not crop their knees off.

And If these were of my family I would be more than happy with how they turned out!

 

[Morpheuss]

I like 1, 4, and 5 the best

 

[Crystal]

Thanks

 

[Skyclad]

#1 is a great shot (in my un-expertise and humble opinion) and 3 & 4 are really good too

 

[KmH]

#1 is under exposed and the tree growing out of om's head is a bit distracting. It needed fill light. It looks like it would have needed to be strobed light rather than reflected light.

A lower camera position and a straight horizon would have helped a bit too.

#2 needed fill light and the man's shoulders not square to the camera.

#3 needs fill and a crop that takes some off the bottom and the right side.

#4 is the best of the 5. Some fill light from camera left would have added more shadow modeling on their faces making them 'pop' from the background. Looks like a reflector (a piece of white foamboard or cardboard) would have worked well since the Sun is camera right.

#5 you should have moved closer and filled the frame more, but you can crop and get the same FOV (field-of-view). The lighting is pretty flat and off camera flash (strobed light) would have made it a stronger photo.

1.

A quick edit to illustrate what I mean

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Hi All!
I’ve always been too scared to practice on anyone else but my own family.... well I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and had a lovely family willing to pose for me if I did them a group shot.

And... did they bite you? Most people will be happy to have a portrait shot they don't have to pay for. Plus those are very acceptable so I don't know why you were scared Just make sure and charge for the prints as there is no reason for you to pay for them.

Except for #2, I'm not sure if you used fill flash or some reflector but the light is fairly nice. #2 doesn't matter too much because it is not a very good photo. Between his glasses and tattoo, my eyes have a hard time looking at anything else. As a photographer, you need to direct the action and in this case you should have told mr. cool to lose the shades.

Portraits without eyes are rarely very effective. Also, although you have black and you have white, the more important part of the image is mostly gray. Kind of blah. You definitely could have used fill flash or a reflector. Cheapest reflector is a sheet of foam core that you can get at any craft store.

#1 I think this is a great set up for a horizontal shot. There's plenty of space at the top and a little at the bottom that doesn't really do anything but would have allowed you to go horizontal and get more of the tractor (if that's what that is) in the photo without making your subjects too small. As it is, it is hard to tell what that thing is and I find it a bit annoying.

Second, I would have switched the girls so that the one with the black pants was not sitting on the black tire.

#3 I would crop a bit on the left to get rid of the grass in the bottom left corner. I would also crop part of the bottom so her belly doesn't show as much. She looks like she has a bit of a pot-belly.

#5 We can see everyone but lining them up in such a way does not make for the most interesting photo. Go to your library, get a book on portraiture and see what kind of set ups are used.

Overall fairly good but you can use some improvements. Cheers.