Another family shoot - C&C Please?

[Bitter Jeweler]

That's a great point. I have seen your other work, and was a little surprised by the images in this thread.

 

[Josh220]

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

:hug::

 

[DScience]

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.

You are a good guy, that's for sure! We all have those days were we just get frustrated...I have them often!

 

[Fox_Racing_Guy]

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 wasn't trying to be rude at all and apologize if thats the way it came across and even commented I wear the same thing every day. Of the 3 original photo's I like #2 the best and think it's good, I'm not a portrait shooter though so my opinion means nothing anyhow. I did look at your Flickr page and really like your dog photo's.

 

[Breanna]

That's a great point. I have seen your other work, and was a little surprised by the images in this thread.

layball:I'm ready to knock-em out of the park next time. haha

 

[Josh220]

That's a great point. I have seen your other work, and was a little surprised by the images in this thread.

layball:I'm ready to knock-em out of the park next time. haha

You look cute in your avatar, so maybe the customers just let you get away with more than they would if it were one of us guys shooting them. :mrgreen:

 

[linpelk]

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

I know what you mean about the 50mm lens!! It takes great pictures, but MAN it is hard to get far enough away when shooting families/kids. I find it pretty frustrating when I just need to be a couple of feet further back and there is either no more room to go or the kid runs off before you can physically get yourself back (especially since most of the time we are shooting from the ground..on our knees, crouched down or even on our bellies) So frustrating!! I think your pictures look nice. I know exactly what you were trying to accomplish with pic #1 and I think it looks nice. I agree that the parents could have either been SLIGHTLY more blurred (but not too much because then you lose the connection they have with the child) or someone else's suggestion of having them NOT looking at the camera. But I know what you are experiencing...it's not like you have time to rearrange everyone...you get what you get when shooting 3 year olds!!

Pic #2 is precious. A reflector would have helped bring up the light a little on their faces. Just hand one off to dad and let him help in these situations, but I'm sure you know that..

Pic #3...well...you know...I don't need to go over it again.

I admire you for getting yourself out there. The more you shoot, the quicker you will improve. You will not make these same mistakes next time, that's for sure !

 

[rubbertree]

I get where you were going with the first shot, having the parents out of focus like that, it's cute. You can straighten the horizon in PP. Too bad the dad is looking away.
#2 could benefit by lightening it up just a titch and also, if it were me, I'd crop a bit off the top and more off the right so they are not smack in the middle, too much space at top also.
As for #3, nothing you can do about that now but yes, she is OOF and I would not include that in the bunch you show them.

 

[Breanna]

That's a great point. I have seen your other work, and was a little surprised by the images in this thread.

layball:I'm ready to knock-em out of the park next time. haha

You look cute in your avatar, so maybe the customers just let you get away with more than they would if it were one of us guys shooting them. :mrgreen:

LOL. Little do you know, in that photo, I was ginormously 8 months pregnant...

Also, speaking of maternity photos....one of my husband's co-workers was a photography student. She offered to do our maternity photos for free, but of course, after she spent 3 hours with us, we gave her $100 and felt like it was more than worth it.

One of my favorite shots was not technically that great, but it MEANT something to me. This shot was not posed. My baby boy was moving, and she caught this photo. It is a tad out of focus, too orange, but I love it. I remember that when I'm shooting. It's not always about how technically great you are- it's also about what you capture for your client.

 

[itznfb]

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

i'm relatively new here, and i don't find myself technically qualified to give advice on someone's shoots so ultimately i'm not familiar with your work.

however, maybe you're getting negative feedback because of your previous work is a good thing. you shouldn't take a offense if someone doesn't find your photo up to par especially when they provide feedback on how it could be improved. after reading the feedback on this thread and thinking about it yourself if you had a 2nd chance to do this shoot i'm guessing you would have approached these shots in a slightly different way?

that's the whole point of posting for CC isn't it? if everyone just complimented you the whole time you wouldn't gain anything.

 

[Josh220]

layball:I'm ready to knock-em out of the park next time. haha

You look cute in your avatar, so maybe the customers just let you get away with more than they would if it were one of us guys shooting them. :mrgreen:

LOL. Little do you know, in that photo, I was ginormously 8 months pregnant...


Also, speaking of maternity photos....one of my husband's co-workers was a photography student. She offered to do our maternity photos for free, but of course, after she spent 3 hours with us, we gave her $100 and felt like it was more than worth it.

One of my favorite shots was not technically that great, but it MEANT something to me. This shot was not posed. My baby boy was moving, and she caught this photo. It is a tad out of focus, too orange, but I love it. I remember that when I'm shooting. It's not always about how technically great you are- it's also about what you capture for your client.

Nahhhhhh, you can hardly even tell. :mrgreen:

Your husband looks like one very happy guy. Anyways, sorry to take this off topic, back to C&C!