Needing opinions to help me..

[Shavenlaidblazer]

Ok so my mother asked me to come by and take some pictures for her to keep.. She knows im no pro and that im learning as i go... Well they have very low lighting in there living room, so i had alot of trouble getting everything right(im new).. But could everyone give me helpful criticism or opinions.. Thanx

 

[RauschPhotography]

As far as #3 goes, you probably could have afforded to shoot in portrait rather than landscape.

 

[Shavenlaidblazer]

As far as #3 goes, you probably could have afforded to shoot in portrait rather than landscape.

I shot the pictures in tv mode

 

[tirediron]

You've done well under the circumstances, BUT 1/3 - 1/4 second is wayyyyyyyyyy too slow for portrait work of any sort. You have a number of cases where the subjects are soft simply because of very slight movements. 1/125 should be your minimum speed for this sort of work. You said it was a low-light situation, so you have two choices: Add more light in the form of on/off camera flashes, opening curtains, turing on lights in the room etc, OR boosting your ISO. You could have shot those at ISO 800, still had usable results and gained three full stops on your shutter speed.

 

[ksmattfish]

I shot the pictures in tv mode

I think they were referring to the orientation. 1/3rd of the photo (#3) is empty gray wall; if the orientation was vertical it would fill the frame with more subject.

If you have to arrange large groups of people in rows try to elevate yourself by standing on a stool or something. You'll see more of the back row, and looking up at the camera tends to be flattering for most folks.

You're getting an orange color cast from the tungsten bulbs in the room. You can eliminate this by cutting down on the ambient exposure, and providing all or most of the light from the flash. Or you can get CTO (color temp orange) gel and velcro it over your flash head. This makes the flash almost as orange as the tungsten bulbs, and you can adjust white balance to get rid of the orange. Check out strobist.com for more info on that.

I always point out to people who feel compelled to hide in group photos that when they are the only one hiding it actually brings more attention to them. The best way to hide is to hide in plain sight.

The bright window in the background is going to fool auto exposure into under exposing. Close the curtains, orient on a different background, or switch to manual exposure or use exposure compensation. Bright white tends to be attention grabbing; it's generally a good idea to eliminate it in portrait backgrounds unless you are using it as part of the composition or high key or something.

White shirts, particularly if they occupy a large portion of the middle of the composition, will cause the flash and ambient exposure in auto modes to under expose. If I've got someone in white in front of me I dial in some extra flash exposure comp.

In pic #4 the focus is behind the subjects. Use AF lock to keep focus where you need it.

 

[Shavenlaidblazer]

Thanx guys i really appreciate the replys.

 

[RauschPhotography]

Yep, I was referring to the orientation of the shot, not the mode used.

I think they were referring to the orientation. 1/3rd of the photo (#3) is empty gray wall; if the orientation was vertical it would fill the frame with more subject.

If you have to arrange large groups of people in rows try to elevate yourself by standing on a stool or something. You'll see more of the back row, and looking up at the camera tends to be flattering for most folks.

You're getting an orange color cast from the tungsten bulbs in the room. You can eliminate this by cutting down on the ambient exposure, and providing all or most of the light from the flash. Or you can get CTO (color temp orange) gel and velcro it over your flash head. This makes the flash almost as orange as the tungsten bulbs, and you can adjust white balance to get rid of the orange. Check out strobist.com for more info on that.

I always point out to people who feel compelled to hide in group photos that when they are the only one hiding it actually brings more attention to them. The best way to hide is to hide in plain sight.

The bright window in the background is going to fool auto exposure into under exposing. Close the curtains, orient on a different background, or switch to manual exposure or use exposure compensation. Bright white tends to be attention grabbing; it's generally a good idea to eliminate it in portrait backgrounds unless you are using it as part of the composition or high key or something.

White shirts, particularly if they occupy a large portion of the middle of the composition, will cause the flash and ambient exposure in auto modes to under expose. If I've got someone in white in front of me I dial in some extra flash exposure comp.

In pic #4 the focus is behind the subjects. Use AF lock to keep focus where you need it.

 

[Jaszek]

and in the last one the focus is on the tree not the people.

 

[AlexColeman]

Bounce a flash off top, and use the on camera with a diffuser, really get a high shutter speed, fix the WB, fix the format.

 

[manaheim]

Personal opinion (in addition to the great comments previously)... posed shots are kinda dull and unpersonal. When someone asks me to shoot pictures at their party or occasion, I take great care to get shots of people being themselves, interacting with others, etc... not standing in front of a tree in a bunch of different configurations.

My grandmother does this ... it's actually pretty funny when you go to visit and she pulls out pictures to show you.

"Here's one of Aunt Rosemarie with Cousin Clem."
"Here's one of Aunt Rosemarie with Cousin Clem and Uncle Tony."
"Here's one of Aunt Rosemarie with Cousin Clem and Aunt Santa."
"Here's one of Aunt Rosemarie with Cousin Clem, Uncle Tony and Aunt Santa."

(mind you... every single one of these is in front of this bright window they have with these hideous brown drapes in front of them, taken with this horrific point and shoot film camera with a head-on flash)

It's painful... funny, but painful.

And yes, I really do have a Cousin Clem (and a father and two uncles named Clem), and an Uncle Tony, and an Aunt Santa. We have a very weird Italian family.