Sundresses {C+C}

kric2schaam626 · May 11, 2012

Hi all,

Stopped by my brother's house after work to see my nieces and catch up with my sister-in-law. I noticed how beautiful it was outside in the late evening as the sun was going down, so we brought the girls outside and I happened to get them to pose for a few seconds. Any C+C is appreciated, I am especially looking for comments on lighting and composition. Keep in mind, I had to shoot fast, a 5 and 3 year old don't stand still for long. I also got one of them with their Mom after she scooped up the little one; she's awesome! Yes, I cut off the older one's leg on the second photo

I have noticed that my focus is always soft where it's supposed to be clear; I always put my focus on the eyes... Is it my camera or me? My camera has also been giving me a lot of noise on low ISO's. Any advice is appreciated. Without further hesitiation, the photos!

1.

2.

vipgraphx · May 11, 2012

First one is cute how the little sister is hugging her big sister. maybe I would have tried to get both of the body's in instead of cutting off at the the knees. Took the dead space away from the top and add it to the bottom and you would have had most of the two girls in that way. Also move to the right so there was not that blown out sky in the right upper corner.

Second one you have part of the leg and foot cropped out. Same thing take away the dead space on the top and bring the camera down some and you would have got all the body parts in. I like the black and white here and the blown white sky actually is working for me. Its a bit over exposed as you can see loss of detail on the moms forehead.

Pretty good shots though for shooting fast.

pikartz · May 11, 2012

KBM1016 · May 11, 2012

The tilted horizon is makin me dizzy! They are great captures of two cute girls spur of the moment.

kric2schaam626 · May 12, 2012

pikartz said:
CCView attachment 8235

Was there an edit done here?

Derrel · May 12, 2012

I think the B&W shot of the mother and her two daughters is fun, engaging, and quite wonderful as a casual, family-type shot. Really,really,really gonna' be a winner as the years pass, and those girls grow up. Yeah, it has Dutch tilt...I hate that....buuuuut...it has three really engaging, and LARGE faces, and strong, bold, good-looking black and white toning. The sky in the ULC is a bit hot, but the rest of the frame has very nice B&W. I do not even mind the cropped off foot on the older daughter. The tilt on the shot of just the girls looks quite "accidental",and it does NOT help, whereas in the second shot the tilt looks "on-purpose".

These photos demonstrate the lovely lighting that occurs in the evening in the springtime in much of North America...open shade, with gentle back-lighting...it's a FANTASTIC time of year for people photography, with pretty soft, even lighting in the open shaded areas, and then lovely hotter-temperature SUN-light in some areas, which creates a nice rim- or side-lighting on people placed in just the right locations. The large light source that is made up of the SKY and the "sky light" (and not "sun-light") means a huge source of soft, even lighting that is low-contrast and needs no fill...the lighting is pretty flat, meaning low-contrast, on the side opposite the brightest part of the sky, so you can expose for the shadows, and then the low-angled light from the Sun itself, creates almost perfectly workable side-rim, or back-lighting when the people are positioned with their backs to the sun. With the faces positioned toward the sun-side, the side-lighting disappears, but the light is a bit more crisp, yet still quite soft, and the EYES can pick up some beautiful, very large catchlights from the large expanse of open sky.

Your post has a not-so-hidden gem: you noticed how nice the LIGHT was, and you took that and MADE something out of it! Kudos!!!!

pikartz · May 19, 2012

Tarayn · May 19, 2012

I love the sun light hitting the back of the girls hair in the first picture, one thing though is, it would have been nice if the big sister squatted or even sat in the grass like your 2nd photo with everyone, since their heights were so different and it would have been a more intimate shot if you shot the first one in landscape up close since their were houses n the background, and maybe even a little reflector for more light in the eyes. I think the second photo looks really nice and they are going to love that.:thumbup:

kundalini · May 19, 2012

With backlit subjects like in #1, don't be afraid to use your built-in flash to Fill in some of the shadow on the faces. Use a lower power setting so you don't get that "flashed" look.

Cute threesome. Thanks for sharing.

kric2schaam626 · May 19, 2012

kundalini said:
With backlit subjects like in #1, don't be afraid to use your built-in flash to Fill in some of the shadow on the faces. Use a lower power setting so you don't get that "flashed" look.

Cute threesome. Thanks for sharing.

I did have fill flash here, it may not have been used at full power because I had my lens fully extended since they were further away from me running around in the yard. But thank you, I have been making a point to use fill flash for back lit subjects like you suggested.