Family Shoot

portermeister · Sep 16, 2011

I worked with this family a few days ago. The little once was super uncooperative, but I got a few nice shots. I'd love some c and c.

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cannpope · Jan 12, 2012

I'm quite the newbie myself, so just some of my thoughts.
#1 - The man's face is blown out and his hands are cut off in framing. Not to sound gross, but the way the mom and child are posed, looks like she is breastfeeding. No family feeling in this shot.
#2 - underexposed
#3 - Don't care for the angle of view. Way too much ground in the foreground and not liking the vertical framing. If you would have shot this image horizontally with less ground in front and framed the father and son more to the left of the frame, this would have been my favorite.
#4 - I like the moment. Make sure all of mom's body parts are in the frame OR you could have cropped in really tight so that only their heads were in the shot.

Joey_Ricard · Jan 12, 2012

Without going into each one separately - and I'm not talking about any processing or tones.

My first thought when shooting portraits is the background. While you may not have complete control in the location you are in, at least try to consider what is pleasing and what draws the eyes away from the subjects. Maybe you could have had a solid tree cluster by changing position or angle. Grab shots wouldn't matter, but as a portrait, this should be considered.

Other than that, the crop is a bit tight and you cut off hands etc.

paigew · Jan 12, 2012

cannpope said:
I'm quite the newbie myself, so just some of my thoughts.
#1 - The man's face is blown out and his hands are cut off in framing. Not to sound gross, but the way the mom and child are posed, looks like she is breastfeeding. No family feeling in this shot.

I think she is breastfeeding. What would give a more family feeling than a woman feeding her child the way nature intended? Regardless, it is not a flattering shot. The mans face is blown out; they are sitting at a weird position...knees to knees? And the gloves on the ground are destracting. Also, if you would use a higher aperture (sp?) you would get more blurred backgrounds in your photos. I think #1 would be improved by having only the mother and child focusing on the special moment/bond. I like the way the mother and baby look with the light hitting just right, but the father sort of takes away from this.

j_mejia17 · Jan 12, 2012

Yes #1 is my least favorite because of how out of place the father looks. His blown- out face aside, the fact that he is looking away (like he's looking at the horizon) makes him look emotionally unattached.

scorpion_tyr · Jan 17, 2012

Little ones are never cooperative, they just act like they don't understand your direction at all.

portermeister · Feb 3, 2012

She is breastfeeding, and I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. It's a little blown, but it was a moment and it came and went. No time for adjusting. It's his lovie on the ground. Where should the father be looking? It would be weird if he was looking at her boob, yes?

Sammie_Lou · Feb 3, 2012

I think the breastfeeding just looks awkward because the child looks a little old to be still breastfeeding. Also, I agree that the father takes away from the shot. As for the others, I agree with everything that Cannpope said.

MTVision · Feb 3, 2012

portermeister said:
She is breastfeeding, and I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. It's a little blown, but it was a moment and it came and went. No time for adjusting. It's his lovie on the ground. Where should the father be looking? It would be weird if he was looking at her boob, yes?

He should be looking at them. It's not like he'd be looking at her boob - I doubt he would see much of anything. But, I think it would've been a great shot if it was just mom and baby!

It's hard to tell on my phone - but they don't look like they are all in focus in #2..I may be wrong though...

portermeister · Feb 3, 2012

I think that's totally a judgement call and has nothing to do with the photo. I thought that it was a nice moment. The dad is there and present. It's not always about being completely uber engaged in every second.

What is underexposed in the second shot? I'm not trying to be defensive here, just wondering.

Trever1t · Feb 3, 2012

Oh please let's not get into the politics of breast feeding....

I'll be honest, I like #3 but I think the subjects are just a wee bit too far.

The rest seem more like snapshots, sorry but that's how I see them, candid shots without deliberate intent.

MTVision · Feb 3, 2012

portermeister said:
I think that's totally a judgement call and has nothing to do with the photo. I thought that it was a nice moment. The dad is there and present. It's not always about being completely uber engaged in every second.

What is underexposed in the second shot? I'm not trying to be defensive here, just wondering.

Are you asking me about the 2nd shot? If so, I never said it was underexposed. It looks liked you missed focus - but I can't tell 100% since I'm on my phone.....

portermeister · Feb 3, 2012

Although I feel like the idea of the photo shoot was possibly missed, I appreciate the critque.

Robin Usagani · Feb 3, 2012

I dont get it. You are out in the big field but you decided to use short focal length. Then even after you use short focal, you still shoot it too tight.