My first photo shoot

maverickphoto · Sep 14, 2008

Well Saturday I did my first family photo shoot, granted it was my cousion with her hubby and 2 year old son and there 1 month old baby boy. It was alot of FUN, I learned ALOT!!!! After 2 hours of shooting indoors on back drops we had plans to take some outside ones but it was rainy and wet out to do it that day, So we are saving the outside pics for another Saturday. What I did learn was if im going to be doing indoor shots I need some decient lighting equipment. The wife agrees

but we did manage to get 10 really good ones out of 100 taken. Oh and did I mention I did it for free since we agreed they would be my test family.

I'll post a couple pics as soon as I can.

jason

Yemme · Sep 14, 2008

Congrats.....can't wait to see them.

maverickphoto · Sep 14, 2008

Heres 2

Yemme · Sep 14, 2008

Awww how cute... look at the hair, a little mohawk. I like the black on black and your lighting. Love the mother and child shot.

jcolman · Sep 16, 2008

The first thing you need to learn is to take the flash off of the camera. The second thing you need to learn is to soften the light. The third thing you need to learn is not to put people in dark clothes against a dark background. The fourth thing you need to learn is how to focus.

chrisburke · Sep 16, 2008

ouch that was a little harsh...

however.. I wouldnt have put dark clothes on a dark background.. its not so great to do.. ALSO with your background.. it needs to be tighter... the wrinkles on the background dont look good.. you do need to get the flash off the camera... as it will make the lighting look much better and it will get rid of the shadows you see, if positioned properly... great start though, keep it up... and work on your focusing

jcolman · Sep 16, 2008

chrisburke said:
ouch that was a little harsh...

however.. I wouldnt have put dark clothes on a dark background.. its not so great to do.. ALSO with your background.. it needs to be tighter... the wrinkles on the background dont look good.. you do need to get the flash off the camera... as it will make the lighting look much better and it will get rid of the shadows you see, if positioned properly... great start though, keep it up... and work on your focusing

This is the "beyond the basics" forum and as such, the shooters skill level should be advanced beyond the basics. The shots are not much better than snapshots. Sorry to be honest. But since you basically said the same things I commented on we'll just let it go at that.

William Petruzzo · Sep 16, 2008

I'd have to agree with Chris. Regardless of what forum it was posted in, that was still unnecessarily harsh. Especially since the word "basic" is fairly relative and pretty much undefined.

For future reference though, it may be better to post in "Photography Beginners' Forum & Photo Gallery" until you've gotten the hang of working in a studio situation, then, if necessary, use this forum to help refine that skill.

However, the points of criticism are generally correct and should be noted for the sake of improving yourself. There's a time for dark clothing on a dark background, but this might not have been it. The light doesn't have to be softened, if you'd prefer it to be crisp, but moving the light away from the camera is 99% of the time an absolute must. Even if the light were only two or three feet to the left or right of the camera, you'd see massive improvements.

One thing I'd add to the other guys' thoughts. You might consider getting in closer on your subjects. There are times when loose cropping is perfect, but here where you subject matter is so delicate that it causes the images to suffer. Next time, try getting closer.

Cute kid.

Good start, keep going.

Yemme · Sep 16, 2008

I see what you guys are saying about the black on black. But for some reason it works for me with the first image. The darkness pulls my eyes right to their faces. It’s like there’s no distraction, a mother and child moment.

FindersKeepers · Sep 16, 2008

chrisburke said:
ouch that was a little harsh...

harsh in what sense? That he was correct in all of his points... Where would the OP (original poster) be without constructive criticism harsh or not? The problem here is the disagreement with the way jcolman constructed his post...

You don't learn anything by getting praised on something that could have been better.

that would be like praising a child when they write on the walls :lol:

What would you rather have "oh my god that is amazing except liek omg its out of focuth pleath fix it. pretty please"

or, the blatant acknowledgment that the OP himself states "I learned a lot" and someone tells you what you could learn more, in as few words as possible?

Sometimes harsh criticism is the best criticism

William Petruzzo · Sep 17, 2008

No, his criticisms were rightly noted. But, they were delivered in a ridiculing manner. Ridicule does no one good and certainly isn't in any way helpful, especially when someone's trying out something new.

Criticism is necessary and it's good. It would be foolish to praise someone for a fault. When it comes to photography, we should share our criticisms where the work seems weak. But, there's no good reason it shouldn't come along with encouragement of some kind as well.

In fact, I think I'd go as far as to say that criticism should only come when some kind of encouragement is also delivered.

jcolman · Sep 17, 2008

bpetruzzo said:
No, his criticisms were rightly noted. But, they were delivered in a ridiculing manner. Ridicule does no one good and certainly isn't in any way helpful, especially when someone's trying out something new.

Criticism is necessary and it's good. It would be foolish to praise someone for a fault. When it comes to photography, we should share our criticisms where the work seems weak. But, there's no good reason it shouldn't come along with encouragement of some kind as well.

In fact, I think I'd go as far as to say that criticism should only come when some kind of encouragement is also delivered.

I disagree. If I had meant to ridicule the OP, I would have said that these pics suck, put down the camera and never pick it up again. That's ridicule. All I pointed out were the four things that needed improvement. No wasted words. The OP already received encouragement from others.

Again let me point out that this section of the forum is for the more advanced discussion of photography. The OP's skills are not yet up to the point I would call "advanced". I would "encourage" him or her, to take what I said to heart and learn from it.

chrisburke · Sep 17, 2008

my bad people, i forgot this was the beyond the basics thread.. it would be harsh for the beginner forum, but it may be ok for this one.. .not the way I would have done it, as I dont like being rude to people... theres telling them what to work on, then theres just being cold about it....

clearly i see no point in praising people for pictures that arent good.. as you read my post which gave the areas they need to work on... I didnt like the images, and i share why... there was nothing wrong with the criticisms that jcolman gave, it was the delivery... it just comes across as rude.. and thats why talking to people on the internet is so hard to do, because you dont know the tone in peopes voices when they write.. as you can see from my post to the OP, i wrote almost the same thing that jcolman wrote, except it wasnt rude... if I was the OP jcolmans post would have made me want to put my camera away... but my reply was in a much nicer form which makes you say "great, those are things I can work on"

roadkill · Sep 17, 2008

Flash is really harsh.

jcolman · Sep 17, 2008

chrisburke said:
my bad people, i forgot this was the beyond the basics thread.. it would be harsh for the beginner forum, but it may be ok for this one.. .not the way I would have done it, as I dont like being rude to people... theres telling them what to work on, then theres just being cold about it....

clearly i see no point in praising people for pictures that arent good.. as you read my post which gave the areas they need to work on... I didnt like the images, and i share why... there was nothing wrong with the criticisms that jcolman gave, it was the delivery... it just comes across as rude.. and thats why talking to people on the internet is so hard to do, because you dont know the tone in peopes voices when they write.. as you can see from my post to the OP, i wrote almost the same thing that jcolman wrote, except it wasnt rude... if I was the OP jcolmans post would have made me want to put my camera away... but my reply was in a much nicer form which makes you say "great, those are things I can work on"

Just to be clear. My intent was not to be rude to the OP. I simply gave a point by point checklist of areas that need work. Nothing more, nothing less.