Need some tips

sedan87 · May 5, 2013

My sister is expecting a baby and she asked me to take some pictures of her and her family, she wants some Family/Maternity shots (I just recently started shooting in manual so I dont consider myself good enough to do this but its free and she wants some simple family shots so i agreed) I went to the park today to look at some locations I can shoot a family of 4, i attached some images at some locations in the park that I thought would be good for me to shoot in. Can you guys give me some feedback on the images that i posted and on the locations. When i take the pictures of my sister im going to make sure that the people arent in the background, I just took this like this because they were just test shots.

Edit: These are test shots that i took of my wife
Edit #2: I am shooting with a Sony a77 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 G lens

CaptainNapalm · May 5, 2013

The locations you selected are not bad but perhaps a bit busy. A tighter crop of the subject or more of a blurry background would likely make your pics more interesting. In the first two, I would consider shooting her without the bushes (the in focus bushes right beside the subject are distracting). Also, these seem a bit underexposed and warming up the white balance just a touch will likely make the photos warmer and more cozy.

tirediron · May 5, 2013

Agree with the above, additionally, be cognizant of your posing. This can be a challenge with pregnant women who aren't too far into their pregnancy. Posing them face on to the camera and/or in loose clothing often tends to make them look fat rather than pregnant. Ideally, wait until she's far enough advanced that her form is very distinct, and recommend clothing which accentuates this. Additionally consider more profile posing.

sedan87 · May 5, 2013

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I will definitely try and shoot when it's less busy and I still have to get the hang of blurring the back ground. She wants to take the pictures in June so I still have time to practice.

@tirediron thanks a lot! I didn't even think about how I was going to pose her (that's how new I am to this and that's why I didn't want to do it) but I will definitely practice on poses and maybe ill post some so you guys can give me more feed back. I really appreciate the replies.