Sisters together-critique requested :)

kidzmom

I did a shoot on Saturday with my 2 girls. They are aged 10 and 3--- and despite their age gap, they are best friends in the world. I wanted to capture their love for each other. Little daughter looks up to big daughter so much, and big daughter loves taking care of her special little person.

I did a few square crops ( I'm including both versions), but don't know if they work-I do love the square paper though. Anyway, I need input on processing also...thoughts on what to change or how to make these better. What works, what doesn't work. What you like, what you don't like, etc. I always find the critique here so invaluable.

I also did a few individ shots but I'll post those later. These are more than enough for now. I find it SO much easier to do indivduals than pairs or groups!

#4 and 7 (same shot) was with a white foam board as a reflector...My first time doing that and it made the photo look like it had direct flash. I do like their looks though. These were (as I recall) taken at 1/500 ISO 200 and f 2.8 with my prime 50 (all on M).

THANKS gang!

#1 Love the 2 heads in braids, LOL!



#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8 Look how the ivy frames little daughter's littleness.



#9


#10



#11


#12 And a toned down version of above...


#13 And a toned down version of the duo...Thoughts??

tortillatorture

i can tell you my favourites
#1 & #5 pops right out,
i really like how the brownish layer gives a vintage feel and down the color.
unlike the more posed-shots (#6 - #7 - #10 etc) the sensation of something "real" in these two are quite lovely.
all the shots are sweet with nice composition, but 1 and 5 are just great!

CyberSteak

Great photos. These little ladies will surely appreciate these the rest of their lives (unless of course sibling rivalry turns them against one another causing them never to speak to each other again...but what are the odds of that )

I guess I should offer my amature-ish opinion. I like the bright coloured versions instead of the washed out look in the last shot. I also like the sepia versions. But yeah that washed out treatment does nothing for me. The crops work fine also.

adbsgicom

I'm iffy on the processing, but I love the content of #1, 4, and 8. The only one I really don't like is #2 because the elder child's arms look like they are straight down and not holding her sister. It would be much sweeter (and a potential fave) if we sensed the older sister's embrace.

Sam

Nice set of shots. You really captured the connection they have. clap

Sam

divamum

Absolutely love these, Kidzmom - you for sure achieved what you set out to do!

I particularly like 1 and 4, and I love the processing in both - what are you using? Also, the reflected light in 4 is magical - really lovely shot.

lilmomma

so incredibly sweet!!! I like the matching/without being exactly identical outfits, and really great job capturing their relationship. I adore number 2, although its tough to pick a favorite. No comment on the colors (work monitor......) but from what I can tell I don't care for the toned down versions.

these are great, thank you for sharing!

craig_d

#1 is nice. I find myself wishing we could see just a little more of the older girl's face, but then she'd be looking in a slightly different direction.

I think #4 is the best of the close-up shots. To me their pose in that shot looks more natural and spontaneous than they do in the other close-ups, and I like the slightly warm-toned B&W look.

#5 has good expressions. In a perfect world, maybe they would have been a few steps further along so that the little girl's head wouldn't be right next to that green planter (or whatever it is) on top of the fence, but you got the shot when their expressions were right, and that's the whole point, after all.

I like #8, but I find the strand of ivy kind of annoying because it distracts from the relationship between the two children.

#12 vs. #8 is six of one, half a dozen the other. I don't think toning down the colors adds anything, but if you like the "old faded photograph" look, it's okay. Both versions have one minor weakness, which is that the smaller girl's face blends into the wall too much. I might be inclined to try darkening the wall a bit (duplicate the image, darken the duplicate, use a layer mask to merge the children and the ground from the brighter image with the wall from the darker image) to make the kids stand out a bit more.

kidzmom

Thanks everybody. Well I'm still trying to figure out what I like and don't like as far as processing goes....I think I'm an extremist actually. I love both ends of the spectrum. I think the toned down versions work for some (more rustic feel) and the upped saturated shots work for others..I wish I had a more consistent approach but for now as I'm learning, I will continue to fiddle with my extremes.

As for processing. For the downtoned ones (like 1 and 5)...I basically downed the general vibrance on my RAW software, upped slightly the blacks and then opened it in PSE. I did a hue saturation adjustment and selected only the blues and magentas and then downed those marginally. That brought down the extreme colors and left the rest with a natural feeling. I think I might have added about a 15% sepia filter (did it late and forgot my steps!)

For the shot I used the relecting board on (#4). I converted to b/w with standard conversion and then used hue/saturation to turn it into a sepia. I then went and adjusted the temperature to make it a very warm sepia and burned the edges using correct camera distortion filter. I was thinking it was really too bright with that reflecting board but I'm glad you liked it Divamum! I carry foam boards in my car now, ! The cheapest *and only* lighting tool I have-- at only 1.69 Euros!

I'll post the individuals another day. Nothing that I am "ooohhh ahhh" about but a few keepers. I did a jumping shot Diva! You inspired me

kidzmom

Thank you Craig. I didn't notice your reponse until now. We must have been posting at the same time. Thanks for your comments. I will definately try to darken the wall. I noticed that too but didn't know I could do anything about it! Thanks for the remedy recipe. I can easily lose the ivy too. I very much appreciate your thoughts and suggestions!

Kelly

craig_d wrote:

#1 is nice. I find myself wishing we could see just a little more of the older girl's face, but then she'd be looking in a slightly different direction.

I think #4 is the best of the close-up shots. To me their pose in that shot looks more natural and spontaneous than they do in the other close-ups, and I like the slightly warm-toned B&W look.

#5 has good expressions. In a perfect world, maybe they would have been a few steps further along so that the little girl's head wouldn't be right next to that green planter (or whatever it is) on top of the fence, but you got the shot when their expressions were right, and that's the whole point, after all.

I like #8, but I find the strand of ivy kind of annoying because it distracts from the relationship between the two children.

#12 vs. #8 is six of one, half a dozen the other. I don't think toning down the colors adds anything, but if you like the "old faded photograph" look, it's okay. Both versions have one minor weakness, which is that the smaller girl's face blends into the wall too much. I might be inclined to try darkening the wall a bit (duplicate the image, darken the duplicate, use a layer mask to merge the children and the ground from the brighter image with the wall from the darker image) to make the kids stand out a bit more.