Portraits of West Virginian people

[jhermes]

Hey all,
I recently took a trip to West Virginia with a group that helps families in need. Their goal is to make the families' homes safer, drier, and warmer. I worked on a home of two grandparents and their 2 and 1/2 year old grandson. It was amazing to meet this family and get to know them, and know that we were helping their lives in a small way just by talking to them. I took some photos while I was there and I would love some critique on them. I was trying to convey emotion through these photos and tell a story, just like any good photo should do (in my opinion). Please let me know how I did!


Info: All photos shot with Nikon d70 + 50mm 1.8 AF lens. No flash. Post-processing in Lightroom 3.



1/400 f/3.2 ISO 200



1/400 f/3.5 ISO 200



1/640 f/1.8 ISO 200



1/250 f/2.8 ISO 200

 

[johnh2005]

I REALLY like that first shot. Can we please see it in color? The light in the child's eye is just awesome. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Tigertail]

#1 and #4 are amazing! You really captured their emotion and created a series of great images. I think #2 and #3 are a bit weaker. I feel like the cropping of #2 is unnatural with the limbs cut off as much as they are. #3 feels less intimate than the last image and might be better with the shot being tighter on the subject. Either way I really liked this set!

 

[rambler]

Trying to make a difference. Nice work. I really like the black and whites. Look at the texture of the hands in the last image.

Just to critique, there are some color wash outs caused by the bright side light. (note the hand in the colored image of the adult) If you have an external flash, try it next time even in full light outdoors, holding it to one side and in front of you a bit. It is a good way to get rid of shadows on faces and even the light exposure. If you can find some gold colored cellophane, tape it over the flash. This will change a pale white out face to a more soft skin tone. The same would be done with a gold reflector, but you might not have one, and the tape method is easier.

A flash sometimes gives lights to the eyes in the same place direct flash might cause red-eye, but bringing a dull eye color to light.

 

[PhotoTish]

The last photo is my favourite :thumbup:

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Sorry, but photo wise, you did badly. None of those tell the story you tell in words.

Try again.

And don't take it badly. It is very hard to tell a story with photos. I was once a PJ and most of the stories I told through my images were not the ones that I had intended to tell...

 

[molested_cow]

I agree with c.cloudwalker. It's not about technical execution, it's about story telling.

That said, I wish I had the chance to do this as well. It's always an honor to be able to go into someone's home and understand how they live, especially when they are strangers to you. I had a really lucky opportunity when I was invited to a couple's home for a chat and tea. They live on one of the jetty houses in Penang Malaysia, which are classified as United Nations heritage site. I don't think I did a good job documenting the story, but it was hell of an experience.

 

[jhermes]

Sorry, but photo wise, you did badly. None of those tell the story you tell in words.

Try again.

And don't take it badly. It is very hard to tell a story with photos. I was once a PJ and most of the stories I told through my images were not the ones that I had intended to tell...

I really appreciate the harsh criticism, I really do. I looked back on all of my shots from the trip and realized that I needed more shots showing these people in their environment in order to really tell the full story. So I guess for now I'll just have to tell the story and words and have the photos as support, and not the other way around. I'm trying very hard to develop a photojournalistic style of photography, so thank you very much for the help.

Thanks to everyone else for the comments on the photos. Much appreciated!