Family Portrait...what's wrong with it?

[Sharkbait]

Maybe I'm being overly critical, but I'm concerned about this photo. Over the next few weeks I'm going to be shooting several senior portraits and family portraits. While I think this is a good shot, I think it's still lacking a certain something. Granted, this was taken with ambient (window) lighting in a living room, but still... I dunno, any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[terri]

hmmm....I think it's the grouping that's bothering you. Nothing particularly wrong with the lighting here, it's just that the back row folks seem oddly size-distorted by plane. Any way to bring you all a bit closer??

 

[terri]

PS I'm sorry, was that too brutal???

 

[Sharkbait]

hmmm....I think it's the grouping that's bothering you. Nothing particularly wrong with the lighting here, it's just that the back row folks seem oddly size-distorted by plane. Any way to bring you all a bit closer??

Could be the grouping. Another thing that popped into my head was maybe just the informality of it. I can see the blanket on the couch in the background, nobody is really dressed up, etc. :shrug: I dunno!

What do you mean about the back row looks distorted by the plane? I'm not sure I get you.


(I was using the timer and tripod for this one, so there was virtually no way for me to accurately compose the shot with me in it. So I think that might be part of the problem too.)

 

[Sharkbait]

PS I'm sorry, was that too brutal???

Not at all!

 

[terri]

I"m sorry if I wasn't clear - I was being paged at work while I was typing before. :roll: I meant your front row looks several feet closer than your back row, and I'm betting it was really a distance of a couple of feet. A more effective group shot has all the faces looking more on the same plane, and it can be a challenge. You don't want the heads of your front row looking twice the size as the back row, and that's what I am seeing here. Does that make better sense?

The informality of your pose doesn't bother me a bit. I like the homey feel. I think folks are more at ease when it's not too formally posed. Again, I see little else "wrong" with it; all the subjects are perfectly lit with no shadows.

 

[Sharkbait]

I"m sorry if I wasn't clear - I was being paged at work while I was typing before. :roll: I meant your front row looks several feet closer than your back row, and I'm betting it was really a distance of a couple of feet. A more effective group shot has all the faces looking more on the same plane, and it can be a challenge. You don't want the heads of your front row looking twice the size as the back row, and that's what I am seeing here. Does that make better sense?

The informality of your pose doesn't bother me a bit. I like the homey feel. I think folks are more at ease when it's not too formally posed. Again, I see little else "wrong" with it; all the subjects are perfectly lit with no shadows.

Ahhhh, yeah I see what you're onto!! That may be a big part of it with this shot and my misgivings. When we took the shot, yes we were crunched into my parents' knees, so the distance is no more than 18" or 20", but you're right, it does appear much further. What causes that appearance?? :scratch:

 

[terri]

How far away were you from the tripod?? That's my first question. And what lens did you use?

 

[Chase]

Taking into account that you were using the window for lighting, one of the things that bothers me is that the the foreground subjects seem brightly lit with good exposure, but the people in the 2nd row seem underexposed. If only we all owned a complete set of lights!

Secondly, I think you are on to something with the sofa being distracting. Maybe a tighter crop may help, or if you can drape the blanket over the entire sofa to create a solid color. The blanket being a dark cover, but not completely covering the lighter sofa catches my attention.

The last thing, and this is just being picky, is that I would watch out for positioning (good luck when you're in the photo!). Something about the placement of hands of the gentleman in the background is also distracting to me.

I don't think this is a bad photo at all, but these are the little things that prevent me from considering it a great photo.

Nice start for the critique forum! 8)

 

[danalec99]

I think the elders should come a bit forward to be in focus as you are. You could probably move back and re-set the lens.

I dont know, just a suggestion, coz parents seem to be out of focus.

 

[Big Mike]

It's a good shot, but I think you're right...it's missing something. Besides the parents being a bit far back I noticed that the parent's shoulders are square to the camera. (Now I'm no portrait photographer) but I've read that you never want square shoulders...especially with women.

 

[markc]

The biggest issue for me is what Terri was talking about, which is the result of a wide-angle lens. You can fit more people in, but it really distorts the distance. I'd step back as far as you can and see if you can get a focal length over 50mm. Over 80 would be best. I think this would help make the lighting look a little more even, as the faces would be the same size too. The father is a little bit darker, but I don't think that would be as much of a problem if his face wasn't the smallest. The light looks pretty good to me other than that.

 

[vonnagy]

hey shark, i'd agree with what folks are saying here about the lens, lighting etc.

This is just being ultra nitpicky but i don't know if anyone has picked this out yet:
One thing that I would change is the throw on the sofa, or changing the clothing so they don't blend in the background.

For portraits, its easy to forget that apparrel plays an important part. You, your wife and mother (?) and are wearing reasonable bright coloured clothes but your dad is a bit drab in this setting. That and the fact that his vest blends in the blanket on the sofa, he gets a bit lost there. If your dad is opposed to wearing bright colours, try another background.

thats just my 5 cents (we don't have pennies here in nz )

Will say that you and your wife look stunning here, the foreground looks fantastic, and the colours in the foreground colours look especially vibrant. Good stuff matie!

 

[ksmattfish]

Nice composition. As has been mentioned, a longer focal length will help compress the distance between front and rear rows; I think that an image where everyone looks the same size would look better. Although remember this wide angle exageration; it can be used interestingly with children, pets, single subjects, etc...

The folks in back are just edging out of the DOF; they need to look as sharp as the folks up front.

Clothing coordination can make the whole thing come together. Darker toned clothing helps focus attention on the faces. Logos and writing can be very distracting.

The couch and close background make the image look very casual. This isn't right or wrong, but if you want it to look more "professional" I think you have to hide the couch (background colored blanket over it), or sit on something else that doesn't show in the pic. Studio backgrounds are almost as far away from the subject as the camera is. Close backgrounds, particularly indoor walls, can look snapshotty; somehow you have to give more interest to the wall if it is going to be so close to the subjects.

This lighting is great for color, and there are nice catchlights in everyone's eyes, but it's so diffuse that there are no shadows at all. This is where a black "reflector" (blanket, paper, post board, whatever as long as it's dark) might come in handy. Hold it up just off one side to keep light from reflecting back on that side, adding a little shadow, and a little drama.

 

[drlynn]

To add just a couple of things to everyone else's suggestions:

1. I like to see everyone's clothes complement each other in a portrait. Contrasty colors make one person stand out, which is not usually the idea behind a group/family shot.

2. In a group shot, it usually looks nice when every head is on a different level, horizontally and vertically. give everyone their own "space" in the shot instead of looking "stacked" in rows and columns.


All in all, tho, a very nice shot.