A little practice with my sisters

nicki2414

so I am starting to put together my website and realized I need some older kids. I convinced my sisters to go out and brave the 30 weather in ohio to get some snow pics. Let me know what you think. C and C PLEASE! this is how I learn... Tried some new stuff so want to know if it works

I had to do a LOT of touch up on the older sister. She is going through the teenage years...lol Do they look over processed? I know she would kill me if I left the pimples there for everyone to see on the webpage... lol

Also my dad's big project for this winter was the lighthouse which he made from scratch so I wanted to include it in the pictures,but I had to deal with the neighbors "junk" in the background. Do you think they still work?
This is defiantly the type of photography I personally enjoy. I love taking things that mean something to the family and including them in the photos just to make them a little more personal. That is probably why I prefer to load up all my gear and bring it to people's house! lol

oh and if your really bored...
www.huffordphotography.wordpress.com

I'm planning on switching everything over to another site but until I can afford the domain fees this will have to do. The pricing is a little rough but I'm just starting this out and don't want to overcharge. It is slightly lower than the competition in my area but I don't want to over charge based on my experience which at this point is limited.

anyway.... if you made it through all of this (lol my pics were uploading so I was bored) here are the photos...

1
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3271337268/&quot; title="DPP_13 by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3504/3271337268_39b63c2cb0_b.jpg&quot; width="683" height="1024" alt="DPP_13" /></a>

2
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3270520581/&quot; title="DPP_16 by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3308/3270520581_65fa64c255_b.jpg&quot; width="683" height="1024" alt="DPP_16" /></a>

3
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3271345594/&quot; title="DPP_22 by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/3271345594_7dbb5804ae_b.jpg&quot; width="683" height="1024" alt="DPP_22" /></a>

4
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3270528497/&quot; title="DPP_29 by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3436/3270528497_5e49ded140_b.jpg&quot; width="683" height="1024" alt="DPP_29" /></a>

5
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3270529915/&quot; title="DPP_49 by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3270529915_a586207118_b.jpg&quot; width="685" height="1024" alt="DPP_49" /></a>

6
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3270532973/&quot; title="DPP_59 by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3407/3270532973_7a53c585cf_b.jpg&quot; width="682" height="1024" alt="DPP_59" /></a>

7
Before you ask... I did nothing but bring out her real eye color...
She is the baby of the family and got blessed with these eyes and white hair! (oh and by baby I mean the youngest of 8...lol)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3271353810/&quot; title="gabbyeyes by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3271353810_c3b35ae0a3_b.jpg&quot; width="681" height="1024" alt="gabbyeyes" /></a>

8
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3271356460/&quot; title="Hollieblackandwhite by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3336/3271356460_9e2e6b32ec_b.jpg&quot; width="683" height="1024" alt="Hollieblackandwhite" /></a>

9
Sisterly love.... well almost.... true feeling came out here!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicki2414/3270531761/&quot; title="DPP_58 by nicki2414, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3328/3270531761_538e0f614c_b.jpg&quot; width="684" height="1024" alt="DPP_58" /></a>

Andrew Gould

They're all nice in concept. They just seem to be rather light toned. I'm imagining them all with stronger blacks and more contrast, but that's just me...

Qarik

lovely kids!

Straight off the bat though..the backgrounds in many of the shots are totally blown out. I think this is effecting the metering and subjects as well.

speedsk8r

Almost all your shots are blown out check your histogram they are to contrasty.

nicki2414

that is actually what I was afraid of and exactly what I kept returning to in pp. I have no idea how to get the snow to look a little less bright. I have tried everything I could think of. That is probably why the contrast if off. I really like the first one as is, background and all. for some reason I think it works for that one, but the rest could use some help. I don't think I will have a chance to shoot these again so any suggestions for post?

oh do you think I should have been bouncing flash instead of using a diffuser with snow? I did turn the flash down on these too, but need some flash because of the cloud cover that day (plus I just got the diffuser...lol)

The histogram was ok while shooting. Maybe I did it during post. I was trying for some kind of effect, just not sure what. HAHAHA

Being just some practice shots, im not too worried but have taken most off the website just because I wasn't very happy with them.

Before the weather clears up i am planning on doing this in two more shoots for my family. My 2 littlest brothers who sill live at home along with the 20 something brother and sister. My parents would like pics of all of them in the same theme (around the pond/snow) so I would really like to get this set up better so let me know if you have any tips. My parents loved these (as much as I love my parents, if I get a picture of the kids smiling and not fighting they love it!) so the first set will be fine for them, but I would like to get some usable images next time.