Family Photoshoot

[crimbfighter]

A long time (I think since 5th grade) friend of mine asked me to do a photo shoot for him with his pregnant wife and daughter. I wasn't thrilled with some of them, but here are my favorite six from the shoot. I was especially not happy with the belly shots. They were kind of a flop.. It was tough too because she has a high risk pregnancy and JUST got off bed rest, so she was limited in how long/much she could do and I was afraid to have her be too active.

Here's a link to the full set. Thoughts on any of the others are always appreciated as well. There's a in there that are just goofy. This little girl was a handful. It was hard to get her to give a natural smile.
https://www.flickr.com/gp/54751692@N08/G12688/



1.

2. I don't like the shadows on this one. I lightened them a little but if I go much more it looks obviously edited.

3.

4.

5.

6.

 

[frommrstomommy]

Cute! I think you did a great job and I am sure they will be happy I like the one in the tree especially.

 

[Derrel]

OMG--the GREAT stuff is on the Flickr page. There are some GORGEOUS shots in the full gallery. Not kidding. THese are 'nice' and all, yeah, but dude...way to put the great stuff on Flickr!

 

[crimbfighter]

Cute! I think you did a great job and I am sure they will be happy I like the one in the tree especially.

Thanks!

OMG--the GREAT stuff is on the Flickr page. There are some GORGEOUS shots in the full gallery. Not kidding. THese are 'nice' and all, yeah, but dude...way to put the great stuff on Flickr!

Thanks Darrel! Never fails, the ones I pick as favorites... :lmao:

 

[Derrel]

I liked all of these, and MORE.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14344304183/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14300968496/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14322322842/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14137446129/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14323420344/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14137405518/in/set-72157644967364265

 

[Dinardy]

^ Agreed! You have some great photos that weren't showcased here

Nice work

 

[Bamps]

I think you may be a little too critical of yourself. That first pic of the little one popped at me. On kids I have found one way to get a natural smile is to tell them not to smile then jokingly yell "hey, quit that" when they do. I went to a workshop not long ago that used models. The model was told stop moving stop posing until THEY say want they want. It was hard to tell her what I wanted and she was a very good experienced model. A small girl has no experience and is hard to shoot too. I think you did fine on her.

The rest are a matter of taste. I've seen some where the guy stands behind her (wife) and they make a heart shape with their hands on her stomach. The one similar to that reminded me of that, I personally think it is too common, and mind you, only personal preference, not the quality of the photo.

The ones I looked at on the link you have their are great too. Over all, I liked the pics and am sure they will.

 

[hombredelmar]

I think you may be a little too critical of yourself. That first pic of the little one popped at me. On kids I have found one way to get a natural smile is to tell them not to smile then jokingly yell "hey, quit that" when they do. I went to a workshop not long ago that used models. The model was told stop moving stop posing until THEY say want they want. It was hard to tell her what I wanted and she was a very good experienced model. A small girl has no experience and is hard to shoot too. I think you did fine on her.

The rest are a matter of taste. I've seen some where the guy stands behind her (wife) and they make a heart shape with their hands on her stomach. The one similar to that reminded me of that, I personally think it is too common, and mind you, only personal preference, not the quality of the photo.

The ones I looked at on the link you have their are great too. Over all, I liked the pics and am sure they will.

The shots are great !!!!!
Can you please give some details of the shoot ?

Time of the day light conditions, camera, lense, post production
Thanks!

 

[annamaria]

Nice photos I like them. Will have to check out your flicker when I get the chance.

 

[crimbfighter]

I liked all of these, and MORE.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14344304183/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14300968496/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14322322842/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14137446129/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14323420344/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14137405518/in/set-72157644967364265

^ Agreed! You have some great photos that weren't showcased here

Nice work

Thanks again to you both!

Darrel, unfortunately those links don't work, probably because of my privacy settings. Do you have the photo numbers?

I think you may be a little too critical of yourself. That first pic of the little one popped at me. On kids I have found one way to get a natural smile is to tell them not to smile then jokingly yell "hey, quit that" when they do. I went to a workshop not long ago that used models. The model was told stop moving stop posing until THEY say want they want. It was hard to tell her what I wanted and she was a very good experienced model. A small girl has no experience and is hard to shoot too. I think you did fine on her.

The rest are a matter of taste. I've seen some where the guy stands behind her (wife) and they make a heart shape with their hands on her stomach. The one similar to that reminded me of that, I personally think it is too common, and mind you, only personal preference, not the quality of the photo.

The ones I looked at on the link you have their are great too. Over all, I liked the pics and am sure they will.

I definitely tend to be my own worst critic. Thanks for the tips! I find when it comes to posing, I still just need to build more of a mental library. So far, what tends to work best for me is to let the families play and capture the moments as I see them, but with this family, at one point I realized that was no longer working, so a switch flipped and I started giving specific direction. Which did work well for some of the photos.

The shots are great !!!!!
Can you please give some details of the shoot ?

Time of the day light conditions, camera, lense, post production
Thanks!

Thanks! As you can see, most of the shoot was outdoors with natural light. I prefer natural light when possible. The trick on a sunny day is to find shade. If you notice, most of them are taken underneath or behind trees. There were a few taking in direct sunlight, but you have to be careful because it creates nasty shadows without fill flash or a reflector. On a few of the last ones I did used some fill flash with an SB700 on camera. Some of them I had to just run with a bare flash, others I used a bounce card. I shot all of them with my D800, and either the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 or the Sigma 35mm f/1.4. As for post, I primarily use LR5, with PS mixed in. Each photo tends to be it's own animal, so it's hard to give specifics of the processing for the photos. I can say, though, radial filter is your friend!

Nice photos I like them. Will have to check out your flicker when I get the chance.

Thanks spanishgirleyes!

 

[hombredelmar]

I liked all of these, and MORE.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14344304183/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14300968496/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14322322842/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14137446129/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14323420344/in/set-72157644967364265


https://www.flickr.com/photos/54751692@N08/14137405518/in/set-72157644967364265

^ Agreed! You have some great photos that weren't showcased here

Nice work

Thanks again to you both!

Darrel, unfortunately those links don't work, probably because of my privacy settings. Do you have the photo numbers?



I definitely tend to be my own worst critic. Thanks for the tips! I find when it comes to posing, I still just need to build more of a mental library. So far, what tends to work best for me is to let the families play and capture the moments as I see them, but with this family, at one point I realized that was no longer working, so a switch flipped and I started giving specific direction. Which did work well for some of the photos.

The shots are great !!!!!
Can you please give some details of the shoot ?

Time of the day light conditions, camera, lense, post production
Thanks!

Thanks! As you can see, most of the shoot was outdoors with natural light. I prefer natural light when possible. The trick on a sunny day is to find shade. If you notice, most of them are taken underneath or behind trees. There were a few taking in direct sunlight, but you have to be careful because it creates nasty shadows without fill flash or a reflector. On a few of the last ones I did used some fill flash with an SB700 on camera. Some of them I had to just run with a bare flash, others I used a bounce card. I shot all of them with my D800, and either the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 or the Sigma 35mm f/1.4. As for post, I primarily use LR5, with PS mixed in. Each photo tends to be it's own animal, so it's hard to give specifics of the processing for the photos. I can say, though, radial filter is your friend!

Nice photos I like them. Will have to check out your flicker when I get the chance.

Thanks spanishgirleyes!

Sounds easy, just joking. thank you for your reply it was very informative !!!!!