My family christmas photos

Teresa · Dec 14, 2007

These I think are all unedited. I did edit the shadows OUT..so the printed photos dont have shadows..I hate shadows
CC welcome

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Sideburns · Dec 14, 2007

I feel like there's two of you in all the shots..I'm not sure what happened...

zendianah · Dec 14, 2007

#8 and #9 looks like red eye.

THey all feel like they have a slight green tinge to them. Try adjusting the color balance.

wildmaven · Dec 14, 2007

1. Most of your shots show the wrinkly background. It probably would've been better (and easier on the post processing) to have placed the backdrop further back, so that the depth of field blurs it out.

3. You're shooting up his nose, eek.

4. Where is his foot??

5. I like this pose. The bare feet look is so casual and the expressions are pure.

7. Mom looks like she's sitting on her hand.

8. Love the outfit!!

9. This is my favorite, but I wish he had been looking at the camera. Who was he looking at? If it was a parent, maybe next time have them behind you and just a tiny bit off to the side so the kid can see them.

There is also red-eye in a lot of these. Were you using an on-camera flash?

Garbz · Dec 14, 2007

All bar 4 5 and 10 appear to have a very green tinge.

SpeedTrap · Dec 15, 2007

Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think this belongs in the Professional Portrait & Wedding Gallery

Teresa · Dec 15, 2007

I have a sony cybershot DSC-H5...my camera flash DOES NOT come off and I have 2 slave flashes.
i was working in my living room, the backdrop was as far as it could go on the wall and we had a HUGE A$$ couch in the way so we didnt have a lot of room to manuever between the wall, the couch, the lights, the tripod and everyone in the room
these are all UNedited. i edited these for prints but these on here are UNedited.
well i can post here in this forum to get advice from the professionals to see what i can do to better myself

bellacat · Dec 15, 2007

again i will ask, sorry for repeating myself, but why are you showing us your unedited versions? IMHO you should show us your edited versions first. Again that is just my opinion.

Teresa · Dec 15, 2007

i was just getting advice or critique so i can edit them better or maybe figure out how to make them better in the edited versions

bellacat · Dec 15, 2007

Teresa said:
i was just getting advice or critique so i can edit them better or maybe figure out how to make them better in the edited versions

If that is the case you should post your edited versions so we can give advise how to make them better. If you will notice, all the pro photogs post their photos PP, even those of us who are starting out are still posting our photos edited. I think you would get far better C&C if you post your finished work.

Los Angeles · Dec 24, 2007

Is it possible to vote someone off the island?

JimmyJaceyMom · Dec 24, 2007

OK since you say you are looking to see what you can do pre editing to make them better I will say what I personally see that you can look into the next time you shoot. Again, only my opinion.

1. Lose the tree and make it just the two of you in the shot. That little bit of tree doesn't add anything it just crops the pic so that your upper hand looks like it's creeping in from somewhere outside of the frame and it distorts it to look HUGE. LOL I'm not saying your hands are huge.

2. Move that camera down just a little so you're both looking straight at the camera and not up at it. I know this is hard with self ports but that's why those little LCD's are so awesome for us!

Again I would lose the little bit of tree- the santa hats are enough to show that it's a Christmas shoot. The angle of this makes your legs look huge - again, I am certainly not suggesting that your legs are huge, it's just the angle.

I do see a white balance issue as well. It being Christmas Eve I don't have too much time to go into the rest, I'm certainly not an expert but I'm trying to be helpful. You have already explained that you understand why you have shadows and i would just like to suggest shooting horizontally sometimes as this is useful in catching more of the subject and less empty space.

Christina · Dec 29, 2007

this is not meant in a cruel way, and i say this lightly because you seem to have a slight "not me" attitude to C&C. If your going to use sheets for your background ( which there is nothing wrong with that, i do it & im sure others on here do also ) But please for nicky picky reason, IRON IT! dry it, something. it will flatten your background and make it look slighty more professional.

thats the first thing i see in every picture, wow, the backdrop is wrinkled..

Tim Ellis · Dec 29, 2007

The first rule of being a pro is you can't be thin skinned. If you ask for critique......professionals give you a critique. That's what you want if you want to get better.

So far everything that's been posted is correct.

1. Don't try to force the scene. If you don't have enough room........take something out ie: the tree.

2. Get as far away from the background as you can so that you can control what you see with Depth of Field. If you don't have the room then either make sure that it's wrinkle free or be prepared to do alot of photoshop.

3. Never Never Never show your unedited photographs for critique. Your wasting your valuable time. Why get critiques from people telling you how to edit a photograph in a way you may already have been thinking. Post your best and then let it be critiqued so that you can see how to make it better.

ghpham · Dec 29, 2007

Tim Ellis said:
The first rule of being a pro is you can't be thin skinned. If you ask for critique......professionals give you a critique. That's what you want if you want to get better.

So far everything that's been posted is correct.

1. Don't try to force the scene. If you don't have enough room........take something out ie: the tree.

2. Get as far away from the background as you can so that you can control what you see with Depth of Field. If you don't have the room then either make sure that it's wrinkle free or be prepared to do alot of photoshop.

3. Never Never Never show your unedited photographs for critique. Your wasting your valuable time. Why get critiques from people telling you how to edit a photograph in a way you may already have been thinking. Post your best and then let it be critiqued so that you can see how to make it better.

I respectfully disagree. You would be a sloppy photographer if you count on processing your image everytime to make dress it up for "critique". You would be a much better photographer IMO if you tried to get the shot right the first time and only minimally making adjustment. Relying on PP only make you perhaps a better computer wizard, not improving your photography skill. Tell me, what did you do in the old day when all you had was film???