How to improve my Xmas shots - C&C please

jfrabat · Dec 16, 2013

First of, let me start by saying that I am aware that the first thing I need to do is get me a new monitor; due to budget and hardware issues, at this time, I am working with an old Sony LCD 32" tv (their basic line-up one) as a monitor, and I just can't get the colors right (the color gamut is just not enough, so things that seem perfect in that monitor, look horrible in others). So, having said that, I know there are color tones that are wrong in these, and I know some cloning looks a bit too obvious (they did not look that way at home, but looking at them in the office, I can certainly tell!). Those 2 issues I plan to fix when I upgrade my monitor, but other than that, what would you advise in these family portraits:

"Traditional" family portrait:
Since I do not have a backing, I got 6 yards of white cloth (was something like $20) and hung them on the window (I had to clone out some folds and wrinkles). I then used two sppedlights (Sony HVL-58AM and Sony HVL43AM) on tripods as lights. Since the light was too hard, and I did not have any photography umbrellas, I had to improvise, so I took some rain umbrellas that were black on the outside and silver on the inside, and used them as reflecting umbrellas (I had to tape them to the stands).

"Humor" family portrait:
After the above effort, we tried something a bit more humorous; location was selected because we could move most of the furniture out of the way, and backlight was not too harsh. I also used the same flash contraption as above (note: I already ordered a couple of cheap lightstands with umbrellas from ebay!). unfortunately, the china cabinet could not be moved any further, and you can still see the shadow on the right side, and, because of space limitations, I could not place the lights in a way so as to avoid it. I tried cloning out the shadow, but made a mess of it last night, so I just undid the changes. I also envisioned my kids with a little more mischievous look, but they are difficult models to control... Especially when you are tied up to a chair with tape over your mouth! But even so, I like how it came out (my idea is to write some text in the upper left hand corner).

Anyway, any help is GREATLY appreciated!

Felipe

runnah · Dec 16, 2013

The first one is good, technically sound. The light is good, but a little flat.

The second one is a good idea but the posing is a bit too spread out and the light could be more dynamic.

Designer · Dec 16, 2013

Please don't become offended at my remarks. I take your solicitation at face value.

#1 Quite good overall, but something is rather static about the poses and light. Showing your feet might not be completely necessary, and with everyone in a line, there is no "dynamism" there. The backdrop is not such a bad idea, but here it is so plain that it begins to detract rather than add. Get the family grouped more casually, with maybe the tallest child standing on the floor, or maybe you all are piled into an overstuffed armchair.

#2 Very cute idea! Scene too loose and spread out. Two different backdrops are distracting. As mentioned, the shadow(s) are also distracting. A much closer crop would help this one. Also getting the group closer to each other.

Meanwhile, please do send these out to all of your family, as they are very good.

jfrabat · Dec 17, 2013

Designer said:
Please don't become offended at my remarks. I take your solicitation at face value [...] Meanwhile, please do send these out to all of your family, as they are very good.

No offense taken, and thanks for your comments. The idea is to get good as I get more practice, and to do so, I need feedback on what can be improved so that I can improve it on the next go around! Of course, that does not mean I will not use the current photos, but it is good to have constructive criticism and improve my skills!

Designer said:
#1 Quite good overall, but something is rather static about the poses and light. Showing your feet might not be completely necessary, and with everyone in a line, there is no "dynamism" there. The backdrop is not such a bad idea, but here it is so plain that it begins to detract rather than add. Get the family grouped more casually, with maybe the tallest child standing on the floor, or maybe you all are piled into an overstuffed armchair.

In between takes, we took some pictures making faces or standing in ridiculous poses to make it fun for the kids. I did notice during these that, in one pose where we all had our arms crossed, there was more "attitude" in the picture, so I get what you mean. unfortunately, the attitude we had was not exactly right for a Xmas portrait, so I left it as a "personal" photo! The other thing I could have done is added a backround light with a gel to have some texture to the backdrop. I am now considering getting a couple more speedlights; this way, I can either double them up for the umbrellas for more lighting, or use them on their own for this type of purposes (I need to budget this in, though).

Designer said:
#2 Very cute idea! Scene too loose and spread out. Two different backdrops are distracting. As mentioned, the shadow(s) are also distracting. A much closer crop would help this one. Also getting the group closer to each other.

Originally, I intended to use the white backdrop here as well, but I had no way to hang it (it was not wide enough for the entire picture anyway), and the tree did not fit in the room where I hung the backdrop for the other portrait. So I tried to simplify as much as possible by moving all the furniture out of the way (but I still got the shadow, I WILL continue trying to clone it out, though). Hopefully, for next year, I will have better lighting with the new umbrellas and light stands, as well as the external battery packs for the speedlights... I WILL try to crop the picture a bit to get it a bit tighter and see how that looks.

Thanks to all for your comments, and lets keep them coming if possible!

Newnan3 · Dec 22, 2013

You have a great looking family....besides the guy in the red shirt

Designer has some great comments about the first pic. The crop is odd and showing the feet doesnt work. Having some sort of xmas props wouldve been helpful. The scene is very plain as if you were suspended in space or something. Having everyone level isnt working either.

Agree with runnah about the second picture....Maybe if you couldve moved the tree away from the corner and the wall but alas. There's too much ambient light in the shot. If you couldve isolated the area it wouldve been better...

Its awesome you have willing subjects to practice on though. Keep shooting!