2 for C&C

[cccott3]

1.

I cut part of moms hand off Also I know her hair is in her face but this is one of the better ones ...it was super windy

2.

I feel like when I go through and start editting the pics my white balanc is all over the place from pic to pic! How does it look to you?

 

[WesternGuy]

Not bad actually, but first one could have used a bit of fill flash - her sweater is too dark for the picture, which is why it is often best to have everyone wearing "tops" that are close in colour - white shirts, beige, etc. The second one - cute kid - but - you cropped off his shoes - not the best thing to do. As well, for some reason, his smile looks forced compared to the first one, but then youngsters often don't quite know what it means to "smile", which is why it is often better to find a short phrase that will end up in a proper smile - "cheese" any one (just kidding) . Alternatively, you could have a parent stand behind you and make faces at the kid - don't laugh - it works quite well most of the time.

You might want to check this out: The Rules Of Good Portraiture.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

 

[redessa]

If it were me, I'd clone the hair off her cheek in the first one. I like the skin tones though.

On the 2nd one, there does seem to be something a little off about the color. Not drastically so but a touch on the cool side. And a scrim/diffuser to the right of the child would have helped with the hot spots on his face.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Oh also no ring on moms hand!

 

[cccott3]

Ok thanks I will see what I can do about the hair and i don't think she wears a ring but that's her preference

 

[shootermcgavin]

She looks foreign, lots of cultures aren't in to a ring so that might be what it's about. Don't know many guys that wear one but not the wife but to each their own. I like the photos, I really like the boy photo but I feel like it should come down and to the left to get all of his shoes and not the lake at all. Still I think the majority of people would be happy with these shots.

 

[MTVision]

Oh also no ring on moms hand!

Maybe they aren't married.....

 

[KmH]

Dark eye sockets (raccoon eyes).

The eyes, "the window to the soul" are so very important in portraiture.

So as WesternGuy suggested fill lighting was needed for both shots.

Fill lighting is technically always on or very near the lens axis. In other words, light that is from off the lens axis is either an accent light or second light and is no longer called fill lighting.

In #1 since her head is turned towards camera right, a secondary light source, reflected or strobed (flash), to the right of the camera would have needed to be used to get light to her eye sockets. Notice how much darker her far eye is compared to the near eye.

A big (huge) advantage to using strobed lighting is that the camera's shutter speed can be used to control the ambient light exposure separately from the strobed light exposure, which is controlled by the lens aperture.
That lets the photographer make the background darker than the subject(s).
A basic tenet of visual art is: "Light advances, dark receeds" and having the main subjects brighter than the background is a very effective way to separate the subject(s) from the background making the subject 'pop'.