First shot at maternity pics CC please

[juicegoose]

I have posted these in the pro gallery but that was probably in error.

Here is the post any CC is greatly appreciated.

Well it finally happened. A good friend asked that I take their maternity pictures for them. Being a male I tend to struggle with the "oh I'm not a woman so I can't think of those lovey dovey poses" type of mindset. I stepped out of my comfort zone though and these were what I thought were the best.
Honestly, overall I just wasn't happy with the whole shoot.
1. I had told them before hand to not wear any sort of patterning on their clothes. I knew he carried a lot of weight in his waist and wanted to minimize it as much as possible. Of course he showed up in the striped polo you see in the pictures and the outcome was as expected. Any advice to get around this?
2. In my nervousness I failed to change my metering mode to spot and set my exposure off of her white shirt. The matrix metering did a good job on the original shot but it overexposed her shirt. That was a learning experience for sure.
3. The day of the shoot had been overcast and just not the best light. I had put off the shoot as late as I felt I could but it still gave for a blah background in my eyes. Second lesson learned.
Hopefully some of you seasoned vets can shed some light on what you think.

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[LCLimages]

#1 is nice, but there's nothing really maternity about it.
#2 I would like a lot more if it wasn't so tilted
#3 needs her feet. I like this shot, even though the focus isn't really on maternity either
#4-7 are all pretty cliche' Pinterest-y type shots. And hey, I use Pinterest for inspiration at times too, but try to get inspired from the less overdone shots, unless they specifically ask/ask/BEG for it and I can't get out of it. I would like #7 a lot more without the girl graphic thingie on it.

#8 almost works. She needs a recognizable facial profile for this to really work, IMO.
#9 is my favorite.

 

[juicegoose]

#1 is nice, but there's nothing really maternity about it.
#2 I would like a lot more if it wasn't so tilted
#3 needs her feet. I like this shot, even though the focus isn't really on maternity either
#4-7 are all pretty cliche' Pinterest-y type shots. And hey, I use Pinterest for inspiration at times too, but try to get inspired from the less overdone shots, unless they specifically ask/ask/BEG for it and I can't get out of it. I would like #7 a lot more without the girl graphic thingie on it.



#8 almost works. She needs a recognizable facial profile for this to really work, IMO.
#9 is my favorite.

Thanks for the reply.
Ya I was pretty much frazzled with what do maternity wise. She did have a lot of requests that were as you said "pinteresty". A lot of your comments I think I could fix by re cropping the image. Especially the one on the picnic table. Overall it was a great learning experience and thankfully some close friends. She loved them so that is all that matters but I want to be better.

One question I had after the fact was how often does everyone find themselves using their tripod while shooting maternity, family style shots where your moving often. I try to use my tripod as much as possible but I noticed on this shoot I was up and down so much that I tried to just keep a steady hand. To me most of them weren't as sharp as I'd like. Even though I focused on the near eye(when applicable). I did soften the image in post but still.

 

[pickle788]

Thanks for the reply.
Ya I was pretty much frazzled with what do maternity wise. She did have a lot of requests that were as you said "pinteresty". A lot of your comments I think I could fix by re cropping the image. Especially the one on the picnic table. Overall it was a great learning experience and thankfully some close friends. She loved them so that is all that matters but I want to be better.

One question I had after the fact was how often does everyone find themselves using their tripod while shooting maternity, family style shots where your moving often. I try to use my tripod as much as possible but I noticed on this shoot I was up and down so much that I tried to just keep a steady hand. To me most of them weren't as sharp as I'd like. Even though I focused on the near eye(when applicable). I did soften the image in post but still.

For most of these shots I wouldn't use a tripod
Out door shots your shutter should be fast enough to eliminate any camera movement from your hand which would let you move around freely
The last one I possible would use a tripod depending on how much light was coming though the window
im not a professional but so will be interesting to hear from the experienced people on here.

 

[LCLimages]

I looked at the EXIF on #5 and you had an ISO of 640 and a shutter speed of 1/1000. And you had problems with motion blur? I'd have reduced both the ISO and SS because I always try to keep my ISO down out of habit I guess, but that's not really the point. You should have zero problems with motion blur with a speed that fast. If you have a soft image at 1/1000 ss it's a focusing issue, not a shaky hand issue.

 

[juicegoose]

I hadnt looked at all of the exif data so yes i agree 1/1000 and iso 640 would take crazy shake.
Maybe it was the 70-300 f3.5-5.6 that makes the images seem out a little. Ill post an original when i get back to my desk.