Serious kid's portraits c&c please

samal · Nov 10, 2008

I am so used to take my kid's portraits in a very cheerful mood and bright festive environments. This time I noticed that their facial expressions were way to serious and decided to play with the mood. I am not sure if I like them myself? Too gloomy?

and same in B/W

Edited - No more pink lips - I guess it was a little overboard indeed, I just was not too happy in a flat tones that came on BW because of front lit subject and use of flash and was not sure what to do and how to enhance the image

El2 · Nov 11, 2008

Cute kids. You got great eye contact! But it looks like you used your built-in flash and it makes it look very harsh and you can see those pin lights in their eyes.

Also, I think there are some WB issues on the portraits. I played around with one. Hope you don't mind. Forgot to crop the dead space on top of her.

Jedo_03 · Nov 11, 2008

Ditto about the flash, WB and quality of these pics...
Oh - and the red-eye in pic #1...
But, No... I don't think they're gloomy at all...
Lots of people expect kids to be happy smiling little beings... But kids don't smile/laugh/giggle ALL of the time... They can be serious too, like when they're thinking and doing and learning...
Kids are photogenic no matter how many facial muscles they're using...
Jedo

Photog · Nov 11, 2008

Just want to say that I don't like the selective colouring - I don't see any point in it. Unless you wanted to make it look like your son's wearing lipstick...

Ron Evers · Nov 11, 2008

I like #! very much but would crop off a little of her torso. I can picture this little sweety siting in front of the fireplace looking into the flames. I also prefer #2 original as I find EI2's rendition looking like a porcelain doll.

But hey, I am usually the only one in step in this parade.

Chewbecca · Nov 11, 2008

Well, crap. Shows how much I know about lighting because I like them.
The only thing I might suggest is dodging the eyes a little bit to bring out their color on the little girl. They almost look like they were taken by candlelight (well, the little girl ones).
Not bad, honestly.

samal · Nov 11, 2008

I do prefer the original WB better. I was shooting for dark warm colors - I used 430EX flash with diffuser, bouncing off the walls that had a little yellowish off-white paint.

Regarding selective coloring - the completely desaturated image looked flat to me, so I was thinking of adding some color. thansk for C&C - I did play with white balance a little more and added some fill light:

samal · Nov 11, 2008

interesting point - the mom (my wife) is very not happy with these portraits!

She says the picture looks sad, hair is a mess, and the kid's face is exposed in a non-flattering way.

here is her quote: "yeah, if you were the photographer in a studio, I would demand my money back for sure!"

Which brings me to the original question...is it appropriate to have "not cute and smily and happy" kid's picture?

christm · Nov 11, 2008

Photog said:
Just want to say that I don't like the selective colouring - I don't see any point in it. Unless you wanted to make it look like your son's wearing lipstick...

I personally don't like it either. I like the rest of the photos though.

Try b/w with the girl facing the camera (straight). Then make the b/w bolder either by boosting the colour, using curves or levels.

Chewbecca · Nov 11, 2008

samal said:
interesting point - the mom (my wife) is very not happy with these portraits!

She says the picture looks sad, hair is a mess, and the kid's face is exposed in a non-flattering way.

here is her quote: "yeah, if you were the photographer in a studio, I would demand my money back for sure!"

Which brings me to the original question...is it appropriate to have "not cute and smily and happy" kid's picture?

God, the pictures are NOT bad. There could be very slight improvements (though, I am NOT a fan of selective coloring, I have yet to run into an instance where I thought it suited the photo), but they're not bad. I wouldn't try to sell them to anyone, but they're nicely done snapshots, at the very least.

DavidSR · Nov 11, 2008

Your wife sounds like my fiance..she says more discouraging words than words of encouragement..and it also seems that whenever one of her pictures come out blurry or out of focus..it's always the camera or lens' fault. Eh..just decided to vent a little..carry on

..

rufus5150 · Nov 11, 2008

Which brings me to the original question...is it appropriate to have "not cute and smily and happy" kid's picture?

Absolutely.

DRoberts · Nov 11, 2008

The photos of the boy...I would clone out the white/silver stuff behind him.
In #4 The color selection just doesn't work....try coloring the eyes if anything in it.
The photos of the girl just seem to warm IMO...I would brighten them up a touch.

samal · Nov 16, 2008

couple more pictures along the same mood

and per your C&C - brightened version:

Jon0807 · Nov 16, 2008

samal said:
couple more pictures along the same mood

I really like this one. It shows emotion. As for your question, I don't believe that photos of children HAVE to be of them cheery and smiley. With any picture I think it has to show some sort of emotion or personality. Your other pictures seemed "snapshottish" to me. But this one on the other hand is wonderful.