first ever family shoot for a friend.. blah :(

[frommrstomommy]

pretty disappointed! trying not to be too critical of myself since it was seriously my first ever attempt at shooting family pics for someone, with a lens i have really not used at all yet.. at a place i've never been, much less to shoot pics, etc.. but so many of them are GRAINY. i was messing with camera settings and stuff that i have not ever touched.. my friend's daughter was running away the whole time.. and it shows.

anyway, here are a few because i need help, bad. lol no laughing
1

2

3

 

[ManualMode]

I can tell you're trying hard.. it's nice to see..
In the first two.. the photos are intersected in the direct center with the horizon line. I have a feeling you were standing when you took them..
thinking of the rule of thirds would have probably put you in a better position and lined the horizon up a bit better.

 

[frommrstomommy]

I can tell you're trying hard.. it's nice to see..
In the first two.. the photos are intersected in the direct center with the horizon line. I have a feeling you were standing when you took them..
thinking of the rule of thirds would have probably put you in a better position and lined the horizon up a bit better.

lol.. yeah, I tried.. I was standing, and we were all on a stupid hill.. and I was wearing my son in an ergo carrier on my front. we must have been a sight to see.

 

[thetrue]

That third one would be cute, but I'm BLINDED by the sun...

 

[Thang]

The third shot is probably the best one to me. Maybe if you cropped it closer to their faces instead of having a full body shot.

 

[SCraig]

When you are stuck with a situation containing a lot of unknowns don't compound the problem by adding more unknowns, stick with things you know. You could have picked standard, comfortable poses underneath that big shade tree to the side and gotten some decent shots rather than just keep piling unknown poses onto unknown setups with unknown subjects. Use what you KNOW and build on that, don't try and reinvent the wheel every time.

 

[Geaux]

When you are stuck with a situation containing a lot of unknowns don't compound the problem by adding more unknowns, stick with things you know. You could have picked standard, comfortable poses underneath that big shade tree to the side and gotten some decent shots rather than just keep piling unknown poses onto unknown setups with unknown subjects. Use what you KNOW and build on that, don't try and reinvent the wheel every time.

I agree, I'm not sure if this is rude or not, but it's hard to look at your photos b/c of the way you set them up. You made it already seem like a failure with the number of excuses listed before actually showing us.

A reflector or some strobes would have really helped your situation out. Either that or shoot just a little earlier, all depends on which lens you shot with and camera.

 

[nycphotography]

the first one's not bad exposure wise... I would have looked for some structure to frame the picture... a tree, a house, anything.


One tip... you appear to have had "golden hour" light... last hour before sunset.
When given that gift, you usually want shoot with the subject facing more or less into the light.



When you don't want to do that (usually because you want the sunset) try this:
spot meter on the sunset (or less dramatically, on the sky) and read the settings.
Then put the camera in M mode and select that aperture and shutter speed.

Then spot meter and/or focus on the subjects faces and let the TTL flash bring them up to the proper exposure.

 

[pixmedic]

pickup a Yongnuo speedlight. they are fairly inexpensive, and will give you a lot more control than reflectors. a Nikon speedlight would be your best choice, but if your on a budget, Yongnous will be a lot cheaper. you just have to set them up manually, which isnt difficult at all.

 

[squirrels]

Maybe you can try again but for a sunrise golden hour instead? If they are early risers, that might make the little ones happier/easier to cope with and you can apply the advice you are getting here.

Hey, you went out there at the golden hour. You didn't chop off any arms or legs even though you had your little assistant in the ergo. Hang in there. FWIW from another newbie, I think that you'll get there.

Happy New Year!
C

 

[frommrstomommy]

Thank you all for the suggestions and input.. I will hopefully get to try again one day soon, just not with them. Good friend of mine who's husband is headed out for training followed immediately by deployment. I don't think I'd shoot at that park again though. It was very busy, lots of people in the backgrounds everywhere which was why we ended up on the hill. I certainly have a long list of things I will do differently next time. lol