I'm not happy, but the mom is?

[ababysean]

ok well I took some pictures kind of on the fly, mom called me and said she could meet me at my kids soccer practice, um ok, but I'm not really ready.
I shot her kids before, but now her husband was home and she wanted a family picture. He was leaving again the next day for a few months and so I agreed...

Lighting was terrible, I had a migrane. All excuses I know. So I don't know if it just my feeling from that day that makes me want to scrap all these pictures, but the mom LOVES them. ehhhh? ok.

So I thought I'd post them here. haha That should make me feel better? I'm in a down mood today, so yea.

1. This one is her favorite. I hate it. Too much flash, Dad is blue, kids are red,mom is green. blah I just HATE it.

2. so I tried to save it with this crappy BW conversion, and it just made me feel like poking my eyes out.

3. This is my favorite, mom loves it too. But I cut the boys shoe off.

 

[8ball]

i think they came out good my self, love the last one

 

[pbelarge]

The color casts can be corrected and possibly save the blown out parts, as they do not look that bad.

The second picture, maybe try cropping it just below the boys hand. His one sneaker looks pretty large relatively large due to the angle. That is a nice photo.
Sorry about the migraine, I used to get them when I was a child and have not forgotten how debilitating they can be.

 

[kundalini]

Your particular style seems to be coming on fabulously.

Thanks for posting.

 

[briarder]

I don't think the cut off shoe is that big of a deal !

 

[ababysean]

Your particular style seems to be coming on fabulously.

Thanks for posting.

LOL what style is that? sick, migrane, throwing up after the session from the pain in my head? lol

well yah!

I am so down today? I have no idea why? I need a puppy to squeeze or something

 

[ababysean]

The color casts can be corrected and possibly save the blown out parts, as they do not look that bad.

The second picture, maybe try cropping it just below the boys hand. His one sneaker looks pretty large relatively large due to the angle. That is a nice photo.
Sorry about the migraine, I used to get them when I was a child and have not forgotten how debilitating they can be.

Hum, so totally take his feet/shoes out? I'm going to try that. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Ballyn]

the last one is BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for posting!

 

[Inst!nct]

I like them! Definitely not professional grade photos, but a great start!

 

[Robin Usagani]

They look good.. maybe a little too saturated.. you did the right thing with the flash

 

[Blake.Oney]

I wouldn't crop out the shoe. Yea it looks bigger, but I don't think anyone wouldn't look at and be like "yea the foots big, but it's because it's closer." It's called point of view and it makes a lot of pictures more dynamic. I'd leave it. It is a shame that the shoe was cut off, but it doesn't look bad really. The shoe in the foreground holds attention very shortly before the eyes go to the kids faces and so on.

 

[Flash Harry]

They are at least a stop too bright but all are pretty decent. H

 

[kundalini]

Out of curiosity, what were your settings, focal length and distances from camera to subjects (both main [kids] and secondary [parents]) for #3.

 

[kundalini]

LOL what style is that?

The style where you completely blow out the background and insist that the client is happy. Ultimately the (your) client hasn't a clue on properly exposed images.

Not that this is a properly exposed image, but it is closer than you've been able to assimulate. A bit more play and I would have nailed it..... probably, maybe not, who knows. The point is that you can keep the background in range and still have a close facsimile of the scene. You may have to compromise on the DoF. If so, whatcha gonna do? If the background is bad and you have to increase DoF, whatcha gonna do? You, on the other hand, continue to completly ignore all the advice of exposing for the ambient and flash for the subject. Futhermore, you insist to espouse upon us that the "client" is happy with the results.

B0LL0CKS! They are ignorant and it is your mission to educate them. If you are not capable at this time to accomplish such a task, then it is your duty to educate yourself. Test and practice and ask questions and read books.

You give the airs of accomplishment, even though you also side with humility, but I suspct that to be with reservation. No one here wants more out of you than yourself, but some of the advice given has been golden.

Even the ones on this thread that state adulations, are not your friends. None of the photos are decent. All would find the recycle bin on my computer.

That not to say pack it in. Far from it. Be your worst critic. Show your best once you are satisfied. It is and it's not a numbers game. The more you shoot, the more comfortable you'll become with the camera. On the flip side, you have admirer's. They will be on your side. They are valuable..... to some extent. What would you rather have? I think the truth is nice.

 

[Derrel]

Kundalini...so, was the post you made around noon today sarcastic??? The one where you said her style was, " coming on fabulously"; that was sarcasm, right? Or have you just had a couple of drinks tonight? lol.

Ababysean, these are not that great. They are not horrible either, but they are not quite refined. It's a PITA to shoot when sick, or when you have a headache or fever...


Anyway, the squatting pose in shot #1, where the parents squat down,and then the son perches,awkwardly, on his daddy's knee...that's one I have never seen before...literally, never seen that done before. I think subconsciously, in North America, shots of people squatting that way are perceived negatively; I do know though that in other areas of the world, people do squat that way in daily life....but here, in the USA, that's kind of a, well, campfire or bathroom type body position...

As to the second shot...it is "bright"...it is over-exposed technically...that look is trendy,and I think in this case it imparts a nice twilight-time, sort of summery feeling to the photo...that type of evening backlight-in-shade is difficult to render full-range with most digital cameras, without reflector fill or very skillful flash work...what Kundalini is offering as a properly-exposed or almost properly-exposed shot is at odds with the actual situation you were shooting in....his shot shows strong SUNLIGHT, with distinct hard shadows on the ground...your shot shows strong SKY-LIGHT in open shade, which are two very different lighting scenarios. The shot of the kids seated and the parents in the background is not even close to the lighting scenario Kundalini is showing in his example; in your shot there are no shadows on the ground....because your family is posed in open, late afternoon shade,with some skylight present, and the way that "renders" is vastly different that his sun-lighted shot in an open field.