critique my edit please

wyogirl · Sep 14, 2013

Hello all-- Today I had the most un-photogenic family ever! This was the best of 133 photos. Most of the rest had scowling faces, kids looking in the wrong direction or just weird expressions. It was crazy, and the mom warned me that they don't photograph well. To top it off, we had a storm blow in so I did some editing that I have never tried before. Please let me know what you think before I turn this over to anyone.

Geaux · Sep 14, 2013

Dad's face is way too unflattering to release IMO.

only one out of 133 photos?

tirediron · Sep 14, 2013

I'm seeing a strong green cast as well.

wyogirl · Sep 14, 2013

Sadly, that's the best I got out of dad. So far I have done three head swaps on other pics from this shoot. I'll work on the color. The major edit that I made in this shot was swapping the sky. Glad that wasn't too obvious.

nola.ron · Sep 14, 2013

Agreed on dad's face and the green cast. I hate doing family portraits for this very reason.

Dominantly · Sep 14, 2013

I don't see the green cast when I click the photo to view it larger.
At that size I really really have to look to see any tells of a sky swap.
I dont think the dads face is terrible, I have no reference to what it looks like normally, or what his smile is.

frommrstomommy · Sep 15, 2013

Did you try any candid natural shots? I find just capturing life as it happens rather than trying to pose "unphotogenic" people works best.

KmH · Sep 15, 2013

It's really hard to C&C en edit if we can't see the un-edited image an know what editing tools, features, or functions you used.

paigew · Sep 15, 2013

wyogirl said:
Hello all-- Today I had the most un-photogenic family ever! This was the best of 133 photos. Most of the rest had scowling faces, kids looking in the wrong direction or just weird expressions. It was crazy, and the mom warned me that they don't photograph well. To top it off, we had a storm blow in so I did some editing that I have never tried before. Please let me know what you think before I turn this over to anyone.

Hi Amanda! I honestly don't think its so bad. If this is the best you have I would give it to them, it may be their best family photo yet!

Now for the critique: I believe it is the photographers job to make people look good/comfortable for a photo. A family is not 'un-photogenic', you simply didn't photograph them the right way, or make the right connections. First of all, do you think you could look relaxed while having two children climbing on your back? Not only is this uncomfortable looking for dad, mom is left on her own, totally disconnected from the family (I mean she is touching but no true connection).

When I do family shoots I generally try to three poses at three locations. So say Standing, sitting, and then a lifestyle shot at every "spot" we shoot at. This gives you plenty of chances to get a variety of shots. Some poses may work for some families better than others. You should take way more than 133 shots. I would prob shoot around 500 (also including parent shots, sibling, individual etc.).

ann · Sep 15, 2013

You may not have control over the children, but certainly the background !

I don't find them that un-photogenic, and on my monitor which is calibrated, no green cast.

I agree with Keith, we would need to see the unedited version to be more specific

pixmedic · Sep 15, 2013

formal portraiture can be difficult, and many photographers opt out of traditional formal (staged) portraiture in lieu of the easier "lifestyle" or "natural pose" photography. Im not going to debate the merits or difficulties of either, but I will say that formal portraiture requires a good compositional understanding as well as the ability to not only "see" the correct posing, but also get the people INTO the correct posing. It is the ability to put people in an unfamiliar pose, and make them look like it is second nature to them. It is my preferred portraiture style, and I applaud your application of formal portraiture into your work. :thumbsup:

this picture is not nearly as bad as you might think.
composition wise, I like this. A good pyramid shape, (albeit the top kid is leaning, but you know...kids) mom and dad are parallel, same pose, although dads head could be SLIGHTLY straighter to match moms. arms and hands are good. Mom and dad have a GREAT connection here. they are placed as the pillars of the family unit, Supporting the family structure. I love it.
kids are tougher, and the two of them positioned on top of dad is brilliant. it adds to the pyramid shape, and her arms around her dad shows a strong family connection.
my only nitpick here would have been the youngest kids position. I think i might have put her beside her sister rather than on top. maybe on mom like her sister is on dad.
if she is too small for that, i might have placed her where her head is between her moms and her sisters. I like your DOF here as well. too many people shoot wide open and have too shallow a DOF. much better to stop the lens down a bit and use some fill flash, in my opinion, than to have 1/3 to half your subject out of focus, just for the sake of only using "natural light". im not on my good monitor right now, but the color looks good to me, and focus looks good. I will have to look at it on my good monitor to have a better idea of highlights and shadows. (i will when i get the chance, and the wife isn't using it) i wouldn't worry about dads expression. there is absolutely NO reason to believe he wouldnt look EXACTLY the same if you photographed him sitting at home on his couch. mom and the kids expressions are great, and dad...well, that may very well be how he smiles.

the background is very nice. the sky replacement was fine, and overall it is a beautiful background. To me, this is SOOOO much better than getting shots of them in front of a playground, or their front door, or some tree in their back yard....you get the idea. maybe next time, see if you can get them to ditch the blanket they are on. I dont really think it detracts much from the photo, but i would have liked to have seen one without it.

Like i said, I prefer more formal, staged posing, and I think you did a good job here. Please keep it up. :cheer:

wyogirl · Sep 15, 2013

Thanks all for the feedback. To answer some questions and such....
The girl on the top of the pyramid is 3, and as much as I tried, she wanted to be on top of her sister and not her mom. I guess that's a 3 year old for you. I'll post some of the out-takes so you can see some of the weird facial expressions and I'll also post the original. The little one was a firecracker! This last picture was the best because I finally told mom and dad to quit worrying about what the kids were doing and just relax. This shoot was challenging because we were working to beat a storm that was on its way in. I tried to re-schedule for a better day but they wanted to try it anyway. They are a lovely family that just has a hard time connecting with the camera, which is why I told mom and dad to just relax and go with it. Here are a few out-takes and a keeper plus the original that I edited.

Out-takes, unedited for the most part.