Children photo session

[Skor35]

I was able to do a St. Patrick's day photo shoot of some children for a surprise for their dad. Let me tell you this was not an easy task. I have not had children in a studio environment and talk about high energy. I can't drink enough coffee to get to the energy level of these kids lol. Anyways, any feedback on improvements or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

 

[smoke665]

Beautiful children. The emotions portrayed on the faces of a child are as pure as you can get. Only thing I find really distracting is the big white baseboard running through three of the shots. IMO it takes away from the subject. There seems to be some differences in opinions on shadows cast on the background, but here I'm not sure it's working. Myself I prefer to move the subject away from the background, and eliminate them all together.

Footnote: the little boy in number 4 is fantastic. The look, the hair, the eyes pure cute!

 

[Derrel]

Yes, that bright, white baseboard strip is very distracting. I know it's a set, but it's very bright and pulls my eye.

 

[tirediron]

Agree on the base board. Make it a dark grey (complimentary to the wall colour) and I think it will improve things a lot. I think too some of your crops could use a little work. For instance, in #2, you bisected the child's arms which looks awkward. If possible, I would recrop to include all of the arms and a little less above. In the last one, you have a lot of room, and not very much child. I think a tighter crop here would improve it. Overall though, not a bad set!

 

[Granddad]

Well done!
Advice? NEVER work with children or animals!!

 

[Skor35]

Thank you, everyone. I think I wasn't expecting it to be so chaotic during this shoot, and I was more focused on getting a shot that would be somewhat in focus as the kids were constantly moving, and the lighting went out of my mind, unfortunately. I will take the advice on the baseboard, I was trying to make it seem like there was more of a transition instead of a backdrop and then the floor.
I can definitely improve on the lighting with the shadows I think, still new to the studio thing. And thanks grandad for the sound advice, children and animals don't take direction, which equals difficult photoshoot

 

[Designer]

.. somewhat in focus as the kids were constantly moving, ..

What focus mode did you use?

My opinion about the shadows on the wall is that; when I can see the wall delineated, the shadow seems "normal", but when there is no clear indication of what the wall is, then the shadow is distracting.

And what about the lights? Were you trying to adjust/move lights on the fly? The only real criticism I have is that the camera position is a little high (except for the boy shot).

When children are sitting on the floor, the photographer just might have to lie down on his stomach to frame the shot.

Really!

You probably want the lens to be about even with the solar plexus of your subject for a seated person. And these are small people, so your camera might be only about 10-12 inches off the floor.

 

[Skor35]

Sound advice. I was using single point thinking they would be able to hold a pose just long enough. Thinking back though prob continuous would have helped.

I wasn't trying to move lights around, but the thought of trying to change lighting with three kids running around didn't seem like a good idea.

I will try next time to get a little lower, I felt like I was pretty low, I wanted the one of the girl in the pink from the higher angle intentionally.

I appreciate the comments and advice, Developer. It is helpful and necessary to improve.