Some family pics ...

Brieyasmom

1

2
3
4
5

Thanks for looking , any comments or suggestions would be wonderful. Just trying to get better at this!!

Heather

Wil Davis

Welcome etc. etc.

All the people look happy, which is A Good Thing. I prefer to have all the subjects looking into the camera, otherwise I get this uncontrollable urge to turn around to see what they're all looking at…

They're all squinting; so try to avoid having them facing the sun. In your pics they squint even when they're not facing the sun, so I suspect that the beach must have been really bright. By the length of the shadows, I'd guess you took the pics around noon (give or take an hour or so) which is A Bad Thing (better light earlier or later in the day, better modeling also; no squinting). If you have to shoot at noon, find some shade (trees etc.); (don't forget "Mad Dogs & Englishmen…" etc. etc.)

It looks like they're all dressed in some sort of uniform… Er, I always thought that when folk went to the beach they dressed real casual (shorts, swimsuits etc. etc.) …so what's the deal here?

#4: tilted horizon makes me worry that the sea is going to leak out onto my screen (need to keep horizons horizontal…)

#5: can't see that one, I'll edit the URL and take a peek…

…um, that's it

- Wil

PS: Just took a look at #5: Well, the shirts blend together and it looks sort of weird; the clutter in the background interferes with her head, and could have been avoided by closer cropping, using a longer focus lens from a further viewpoint, and using a shallower depth of field (by selecting a lower f-stop) to throw the distracting stuff out of focus (or you could have changed your viewpoint simply by moving to the right…) B&W is great, BTW - especially in #2, although I would have framed/cropped different.

Brieyasmom

thanks again

Wil Davis wrote:

Welcome etc. etc.

All the people look happy, which is A Good Thing. I prefer to have all the subjects looking into the camera, otherwise I get this uncontrollable urge to turn around to see what they're all looking at…

They're all squinting; so try to avoid having them facing the sun. In your pics they squint even when they're not facing the sun, so I suspect that the beach must have been really bright. By the length of the shadows, I'd guess you took the pics around noon (give or take an hour or so) which is A Bad Thing (better light earlier or later in the day, better modeling also; no squinting). If you have to shoot at noon, find some shade (trees etc.); (don't forget "Mad Dogs & Englishmen…" etc. etc.)

It looks like they're all dressed in some sort of uniform… Er, I always thought that when folk went to the beach they dressed real casual (shorts, swimsuits etc. etc.) …so what's the deal here?

#4: tilted horizon makes me worry that the sea is going to leak out onto my screen (need to keep horizons horizontal…)




#5: can't see that one, I'll edit the URL and take a peek…

…um, that's it

- Wil

PS: Just took a look at #5: Well, the shirts blend together and it looks sort of weird; the clutter in the background interferes with her head, and could have been avoided by closer cropping, using a longer focus lens from a further viewpoint, and using a shallower depth of field (by selecting a lower f-stop) to throw the distracting stuff out of focus (or you could have changed your viewpoint simply by moving to the right…) B&W is great, BTW - especially in #2, although I would have framed/cropped different.

So the only good thing about these pics is they all look happy.... hmm well I guess thats a good thing
This was the only time their schedule worked - thus the bright sun. Tried my best to keep them facing away. They picked the clothes that they wanted to wear, so not much i could do about that either.

Well I guess there is alot to still learn, but they loved the pics so its not a totally failed shoot.
Thanks for your comments

Wil Davis

Brieyasmom wrote:

So the only good thing about these pics is they all look happy.... hmm well I guess thats a good thing
This was the only time their schedule worked - thus the bright sun. Tried my best to keep them facing away. They picked the clothes that they wanted to wear, so not much i could do about that either.

Well I guess there is alot to still learn, but they loved the pics so its not a totally failed shoot.
Thanks for your comments

Sorry if it sounded harsh (check my user title), but I'm sure you appreciate that honest constructive criticism is of more use to you than a sycophantic "wonderful! me too! me too!".

Out of your set, the one which really appealed to me was #2 - the love between the father & daughter really came out in that picture! Nice job!

- Wil

Brieyasmom

Wil Davis wrote:

Sorry if it sounded harsh (check my user title), but I'm sure you appreciate that honest constructive criticism is of more use to you than a sycophantic "wonderful! me too! me too!".

Out of your set, the one which really appealed to me was #2 - the love between the father & daughter really came out in that picture! Nice job!

- Wil

Def. want to hear other opinions to get different ideas and thoughts on what to do next time. So I would much rather hear what people would do different / better. Such as insisting not to take pics at the non shaded beach at 1:00 or suggesting some ideas for outfits. I should have blurred the background in the last shot and missed that - could ps it ... hmmm. Or a different crop for number 2. Thanks for taking the time to comment

sweet caroline

First off, I think the family will really enjoy these. My first reaction at a quick glance is that these are nice family portraits. Yes, they are squinty, but it looks like you worked pretty well with what you were given. I also think your posing is good in those group shots. I agree that they look very happy and natural, despite the squints. Next time insist on a different time of day.

I like 1, 2, 4. 3 looks too washed out. 5 is cute, but the background is a bit distracting.

Caroline

kidzmom

I love these! I'm a Mom of 4 so I can definately relate to how hard it must have been to get all 4 kids cooperating with the shoot. I also recently shot our family photos on a beach and I KNOW how hard it can be to get good beach shots. All that sand reflecting light everywhere...getting on your equiptment! NIGHTMARE! It looks GREAT though and I understand why they were thrilled, I'd be too! I'm not a prof (far from it..but I know what I like and that is the most important thing! These are nice!)

ivar

Very nice! They are a bit squinty, but it is better as opposed to having them wear sunglasses It looks like all of them were happy and smiley.
I think my favorites from this set include #1, #2 and #4.
Less favorite is #5; It's a nice shot but the wooden stuff behind her head is a bit too distracting.