impromptu family portraits

THORHAMMER · May 18, 2006

Ok heres the lowdown...
good buddy visiting home (CA) from Arizona mothers day weekend...
Last minutes idea to shoot a nice gift for mom..... Only problem its 100% overcast and misty and we couldnt get away from the beach due to time restraints.....Still it came out OK I think considering the weather... PS i know the foot is cut off n the last shot... im gonna PS one back on.....

offroading_fans · May 18, 2006

wonderful, I really love the collection.The tones are my favorates!!

and, what a big and happy familly! In China, I can only have one child otherwise I would loose my job or any opportunities of getting promotion.
How i envy you american people...

jemmy · May 18, 2006

Gorgeous shots! the one of the little girl is my fave... did you PS that one to get the darkness around her or are you just brilliant? xx would love to know settings etc... and how the he#* do you PS a foot back on?? Shame about the mist in the second (could you maybe do some adjustments in PS to make the colours a bit brighter....might help??) but all the others are great. Love the tones of b& w too xx (ps.. would love your critique on my new post??!!)

THORHAMMER · May 19, 2006

Thanks for the awsome compliments !!!

on the little girls pic, ;
I added an overlay layer over itself and adjusted the contrast so the colors were very rich and the blacks more black... opacity was like 60% on that layer, then I flattened and went to filter, distortion, lens correction, you can apply vignette there... did it ever so slightly......

everything was done at 2.8 on the tamrom 28-80 F2.8 and on AV priority with cloudy WB and RAW helped here , if it were sunyn prob would of done jpeg......

I am sorry you must deal with only one child... I work for a chineese company but office in california... maybye you can transfer here? lol who knows we are huge in computer memory ....

offroading_fans · May 19, 2006

well,I have a opportunity going abroad once a year. So,this year i 'm going to vist your country next month. what do you sugest on equipment for me?

Holly · May 19, 2006

These turned out well!!

My favorite of course is the little boy playing on the beach!!

Big Mike · May 19, 2006

Only problem its 100% overcast

Why is that a problem? That is almost perfect lighting...one gigantic soft box...and you made great use of it.

Alison · May 19, 2006

Some great shots here! I think you made great use of the lighting, but I know what you mean when it's completely cloudy/overcast it can be tough to get nice depth without using a fill flash. Of the group photos my favorite is the last. It is SO hard to get a family pictures with multiple children and you did a great job. I also really like the little boy on the beach. I think the family (and their Mom) will love these

danalec99 · May 19, 2006

Big Mike said:
Why is that a problem? That is almost perfect lighting...one gigantic soft box...and you made great use of it.

yup! :thumbsup:

THORHAMMER · May 19, 2006

I think ideal would be 3/4 overcast but 100% comes with mist...

wipes out certain colors and traps in all the yellow/red making inconsistent white balance.... Of course im just super ass picky.....

Big Mike · May 19, 2006

That's true, 75% overcast would probably be better...and yes, we can see the haze in some of these shots. A few of them are a little low on contrast, maybe because of the haze/mist. A little tweak with curves should give them some pop and mid tone contrast...and because the exposure is good, you shouldn't have to worry about blowing out highlights or losing too much detail in the shadows.