A day at the Park

rockangelphotography · Jan 3, 2009

Hey there! just got back from an evening in the park, took some shots of my husband and son...and a couple other... let me know what you think

1. this isnt my family but it was the first shot i snapped, figured i would keep it.

2. My son and his Puppy

3. My husband and my son

4.I think he was ready for home at this point

5. My little GQ baby

rockangelphotography · Jan 3, 2009

hmm... that boring huh?

rockangelphotography · Jan 4, 2009

holga girl · Jan 4, 2009

5 is your strongest image. i like the light on his hair, the bridge and comp.

milavidal · Jan 4, 2009

#1. you could probably crop it tighter so that you dont have much background/highlighted areas in there. It would bring the attention to father/son connection.
#2. Slightly faster shutter speed wold eliminate the blur, and getting down to eyelevel whould have probably worked better.
#3. Again, a closer crop, maybe getting rid of whatever background to the left of father/son, and some of the ground , would have helped but you have captured a great moment there.!
#4. I'm not so sure about what to comment on this one but I think that vignetting would work a little better? anyone? correct me if Im wrong..
#5. This is my favorite, the only thing is, I think it looks desaturated..Im not sure if you were going for this look...I'd either keep it in full color or go ahead and b/w it!

=]

danman281 · Jan 4, 2009

For some reason I can never get any good shots in Hermann park. I guess I'm too used to seeing the common things I notice.

basic jammer · Jan 5, 2009

agree with milavidal. go with full color or b/w. i prefer full color and then edit it to b/w so as to see which is best on which pic. go in a bit closer next time. i kinda had the feeling you taking war pictures and therefore had to be very far away from stray bulltes. lol...

dat jus me 2cents neways

dab_20 · Jan 5, 2009

Some nice photos here.
#1 is cute. Maybe crop the top off some.
I like #2 a lot, although I'd like to see it more desaturated or sepia tone instead of B&W.
On 3, I think there is just a bit too much gray there (needs just a bit more contrast), but its a nice capture.
#4, I like how it's not a perfectly posed picture, showing how little boys and puppies are busy as can be. And how he looks tired is cute.
I have to say the last one is my favorite. I like the desaturated look personally, and the composition is very nice. The bridge leads the eye to the boy's face. Nice lighting and focus.

eyeye · Jan 5, 2009

danman-Hermann park is fun to shoot at. Trick is going when there isn't a lot of people. I see it often as well, but like it for family shoots if we can avoid the crowds. Why people would actually want to hang out at Hermann when there are so many better parks around that are clean and Nutria free, I will never understand

1) Need a tighter crop and better focus. It looks a little oof or shakey
2) Love the idea of this photo but I would do 3 things to improve it. I would up my shutter speed and lower my aperture so the feet are not blurred and they are more seperated from background. I would have gotten lower, more to their level ( on my knees or lower). And I would have composed a little differently, it seems too "in the middle" to me.
3) I know what you are going for here. Its a hard photo to nail. I have tried at this type of photo way more times then I have gotten what I wanted. Next time try zooming in more on their interaction, still making sure to get what they are reacting too. I think it will pull the viewer in more. Or go for a more timeless sillhoutte.
4) Dog hiney doesnt do much for me. You are losing detail in your blacks.
5) best by far. Try bringing back full color and adjusting your exposure to brighten it up a little (did you shoot in raw?) and adjust wb

And one more idea, next time you are going to take the fam out and practice on them, have them wear plain shirts. Words on shirts ruin portraits.

danman281 · Jan 5, 2009

Not to steal the thread, but do you know any other good parks around Houston to shoot then? The only other I can think of is memorial, and that place is huge.

eyeye · Jan 5, 2009

If I gave away all my locations I would have to fight for space

eyeye · Jan 5, 2009

Im kidding by the way. I will PM you a list

rockangelphotography · Jan 6, 2009

Thank you for the responses, my son is probably the most difficult person to try and shoot, and unfortunatly i can't always up my shutter speed and get on his level in time to acctually get the photo...the whole day was mostly just chasing him around and him running from the camera lol. but thank you again for all your responses, this "type" of photography isn't really my forte, I have a shoot coming this friday and i will be posting what i excel at lol.