Family Photo Shoot

jdorseydesign

I posted a few weeks ago about 'creative' family portraits. Well, I finally did the photoshoot this weekend and here are some of the results.
#1


#2


#3


#4


We also did some traditional shots
#5


#6


And just for fun
#7

reyvee61

I like the creativity of the compositions and poses as well as the fun that was obviously had...<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Number 1, 2 and 6 are my faves<o:p></o:p>
On one I think a landscape orientation would work far better as the foreground is not pertinent to the feel of the image.<o:p></o:p>
#2 I love the sense of adventure the implied cliff adds to the image<o:p></o:p>
#3 I think more light on their faces would improve this considerably<o:p></o:p>
#4 Cute pose and lovely smiles but the harsh light does not work for me<o:p></o:p>
#5 I like this one but I'm bothered by the shadow the daughter is casting on her father thought the faces are nicely exposed<o:p></o:p>
# 6 The light on their faces is a tad harsh and their hands are far brighter than their faces but I totally dig the reflection<o:p></o:p>
#7 Made me giggle....<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
All in all you got some good ones for them to enjoy<o:p></o:p>

clemensphoto's

These look like they wer a lot of fun to take. The only thing that I would point out is that in #1 I personaly would like to see a tighter cropping - the mother sees to be stuck out in the distance. However, on the other hand I like the reflection in the water of the girl in the front. (danged if you do, danged if you don't). #5 there are some shadow issues for me. Other than that they look great!!

reyvee61

I peeped the entire set on your site and I must say you got some very nice portraits!

jdorseydesign

The shadow on #5 really bothers me as well. I had a umbrella on the right and a bare flash on the left, it's obviously the bare flash causing it. I would have put another umbrella on to soften that one as well, but the wind was blowing quite a bit and I only had one assistant to hold light stands. Is there anything else I could have done in order to remove that shadow?

aj986s

Wow! Those are great. I like the creative posing ideas.

Regarding #5, could you have eliminated the shadow with a gentle fill flash from the front, maybe with some sort of diffuser.

jdorseydesign

aj986s wrote: »

Wow! Those are great. I like the creative posing ideas.

Regarding #5, could you have eliminated the shadow with a gentle fill flash from the front, maybe with some sort of diffuser.

I'm wondering if something like a RayFlash would work well for these kinds of portraits where you are trying to light a group from the front and still expose the background? Has anyone tried one of those before?

aj986s

jdorseydesign wrote: »

I'm wondering if something like a RayFlash would work well for these kinds of portraits where you are trying to light a group from the front and still expose the background? Has anyone tried one of those before?

Another approach might be to manually expose for the background, and then use a diffused fill flash, where you progressevily adjusted flash exposure compensation, up and/or down, to get the desired exposure on their faces.

Sam

Ya did good.

Sam

reyvee61

Ah yes, the blasted wind and umbrellas......

Hackbone

I like 5 & 6 the best. On five if you brought the tarp try to tuck it under them. I understand about the shadow but it isn't too bad. I try to carry green or black trash bags for the folks to sit on outside then tuck like crazy.

On #5 it is a strong posing block because of the use of triangles. Try to arrange you subjects in various triangle arrangments. You did very good there. 6 is strong but not as strong as 5.

Icebear

#2 is my winner.
You had what you needed for #5. You just didn't use it right. You needed to put yur brolly right over your shoulder and fill in their faces. Ya got too fancy with multiple lights off to the sides.

Mike J

Looks like a fun family to work with. Like the different looks.

#1 - Screams to be a large print!
#2 Too much dead space on the bottom for my tastes
#3 Nice placement of the sun!
#4 Sorry but I can't get by the "gap" between their heads at the top. Just doesn't look right to me.

I'm no expert and have a lot to learn so take the comments for what they are worth (not much)