Another family shoot - C&C Please?

[Breanna]

1.

2.

3.

 

[Josh220]

Did you blur out the parents on purpose in the first one? Seems like maybe they should either be in focus, or not there at all.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

#3 looks kinda funky. He is in focus, she is not. But what bothers me most, is it looks composited, like you superimposed a portrait of the woman standing up, on top of the man.

I agree with Josh, the blurred parents don't work for me at all. I saw them first, and just thought OOF, and a few seconds later saw the boy in focus.

#2 is a great shot that would probably have benefited from fill flash (which I know nothing about).

 

[Fox_Racing_Guy]

Are these just friends of yours that asked you to take some snapshots? I can't imagine paying to have portraits taken and wearing camo shorts with a black t-shirt, not that there is anything wrong with that wardrobe, I wear shorts ( not camo though :lmao and black t-shirts every day.

 

[William Petruzzo]

Did you blur out the parents on purpose in the first one? Seems like maybe they should either be in focus, or not there at all.

I agree with this. I see what you're going for, it just needs to be more dramatic so that it is obviously on purpose. When it's slightly out of focus, it looks like it was an accident, which is almost never good. Also, you might watch the tilt of horizontal lines. Viewers have a tendency to equate horizontal lines to the horizon, if they're only a little tilted, it causes viewers to feel strangely about the image. In situations like this one where they make up a good portion of the viewers attention, you should try to keep them either dramatically tilted (i.e., shoot from more extreme angles) or else perfectly level (i.e., right straight on). But, in this case specifically, it looks like the camera was just a little tilted and should probably be leveled in post.

Number two looks great. It might be stop underexposed, but not too much. I like it!

The last one seems similar to the first. She's so slightly out of focus that it appears accidental. This could be solved by either a larger f/stop or shooting from farther away with a longer lens. But aside from that, the general rule of thumb in portraits is the eye closest to the camera should be in focus. In this case, it would have been the woman's eyes. That's part of what leads to an unnatural feeling in that image.

However, all three I think are good poses, they just need to be technically brushed up some.

 

[Breanna]

Yes, in number 1, the parents were blurred on purpose. I arranged this pose for that very reason I realize that the bars are "crooked" by when photographing a 3 1/2 year old little boy, you only get about 6 seconds to take your shot, so perfection didn't happen. You can even see his little hand in motion because he was jumping all around and not waking to sit still.

Geeze Fox-Dude....that was kind of rude. lol. It was a casual shoot at the park. I guess that's what he likes to wear?? I just told them to be comfortable and not wear conflicting colors (One in black, one in white)

I totally agree on the last one. The mom wanted one of all 3 of them laying in the grass, but I was shooting with my 50mm and didn't have a stool or anything to get any higher. I think my f stop was around 4.0? I guess I could have gone higher, but it wasn't exactly ideal with the 50mm anyway. I tried for about 30 seconds to get them both in focus, took several shots, and thought that I did indeed get them both in focus in at least a couple of the frames. But, no luck. She really liked that image, so that's why I shared it

 

[Josh220]

Yes, in number 1, the parents were blurred on purpose. I arranged this pose for that very reason I realize that the bars are "crooked" by when photographing a 3 1/2 year old little boy, you only get about 6 seconds to take your shot, so perfection didn't happen. You can even see his little hand in motion because he was jumping all around and not waking to sit still.

Geeze Fox-Dude....that was kind of rude. lol. It was a casual shoot at the park. I guess that's what he likes to wear?? I just told them to be comfortable and not wear conflicting colors (One in black, one in white)

I totally agree on the last one. The mom wanted one of all 3 of them laying in the grass, but I was shooting with my 50mm and didn't have a stool or anything to get any higher. I think my f stop was around 4.0? I guess I could have gone higher, but it wasn't exactly ideal with the 50mm anyway. I tried for about 30 seconds to get them both in focus, took several shots, and thought that I did indeed get them both in focus in at least a couple of the frames. But, no luck. She really liked that image, so that's why I shared it

Decrease the aperture next time you try a shot like the 3rd (increase the f/stop). At 4, it's no wonder that one of them was unfocused. f/16 should do the trick.

 

[William Petruzzo]

She really liked that image, so that's why I shared it

When you're shooting for someone else, ultimately that is what really matters!

 

[musicaleCA]

She really liked that image, so that's why I shared it

When you're shooting for someone else, ultimately that is what really matters!

Agreed. Whole-heartedly.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Sorry, maybe it comes my professional background, but you still have to give a quality product first. If she likes these, and paid you for them, you should consider yourself lucky.

 

[MelodySoul]

She really liked that image, so that's why I shared it

When you're shooting for someone else, ultimately that is what really matters!

To a point. Personally I won't even show a client something that is out of focus because it reflects poorly on me. Let them choose a favorite from your best work.

I don't think the first shot is too bad, I understood what you were going for. I think it would be better if the parents were a little more out of focus and maybe kissing (or looking at eachother or something) instead of looking at the camera, so that it's clear that the focus is on the child.

I think the second one is very cute.

The third one would have been nice if she was in focus, I honestly would not have shown them this one.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

To a point. Personally I won't even show a client something that is out of focus because it reflects poorly on me. Let them choose a favorite from your best work.

+1 :thumbup:

Would this go in your portfolio, Breanna, to show potential new clients?

 

[DScience]

Would this go in your portfolio, Breanna, to show potential new clients?

C&C is one thing, but I think you may be going a little far. Just because the quality of photos are not up to your level of acceptance, to another amateur they might be their best work at the current time. Should he just not show any of them? And even if there was money involved, does it really matter? There are many people in this world who cannot afford professional pictures. I know many would gladly accept a free shoot, or an extremely cheap one, just to get some family memories.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Sorry. Your right DScience. I think I took "She liked it" as defense that it was a good shot. Combined with "that's all that matters", just made me snap.

Breanna, I appoligze to you for being too harsh or rude.

 

[Breanna]

Wow guys- harsh.

I guess I didn't expect that from this forum, especially in the beginners area I pride myself in not shooting junk. Look at some of my other stuff in my Flickr....junk? Should I not be sharing at all? Ha.

I wasn't defending the fact that it was out of focus. If you read my previous post, she asked specifically for this kind of shot. Its my fault that I didn't think to raise my f-stop, I totally admit that. I could have made the shot work. However, since she asked for it, we did it....I'm not going to NOT provide her with one of the images. She liked it- maybe because she thinks that she looks nice, or her husband looks nice? Who knows. I don't care. I guess the point is....I just shouldn't have chosen it to share here on the forum where technicality is being CCed. My bad.

DScience.....to be honest, I'm a little more offended by your comment than the rest. lol. I'll fully admit that I'm not charging a lot, nor am I marketing myself. I'll wait until I'm technically better to do that. I don't even have a full portfolio yet. However, I'm averaging 3-4 shoots a month, purely by referral. Don't get me wrong. Nothing gets under my skin more than photographers who find suckers to pay them for horrible photos. I guess I don't put myself in that category 1) because they come to ME and 2) I don't think my photos are horrible. They could be better....much better....but they aren't terrible. Or at least I don't think they are *pouts*

Man, I usually get decent CC here! The first time I shared, I was even told that I didn't look like a "beginner". haha. Toughen me up guys- fine. I can't take it