Family Portrait

sara505

Increasingly, this is becoming my favorite style of family portrait, and am grateful to find folks who are willing to break out of the "say cheese" style and allow me and my camera into their lives (new baby, 6 days old, and yes there are also close-ups) (all shot with G12):







My love for this style stems from this single photo (below), taken by me in 1978, of my family (with my beloved old SpotmaticF, developed and printed at home). If I was told that I could keep only one photo from my entire life, this one is it:

Richard

I like the first one, but that last one is simply brilliant.

sara505

Richard wrote: »

I like the first one, but that last one is simply brilliant.

Thanks, Richard, but brilliant implies I knew what I was doing. I'm pretty sure this was one-take, and I certainly did not (at least consciously) plan it out. Lucky is more like it.

lizzard_nyc

I agree with Richard too--that last one is something special.

Richard

sara505 wrote: »

Thanks, Richard, but brilliant implies I knew what I was doing. I'm pretty sure this was one-take, and I certainly did not (at least consciously) plan it out. Lucky is more like it.

The image is all that matters to me. Whether you knew what you were doing, what equipment you used, what focal length, all that is irrelevant, IMO. It's a great image and one to be treasured.

bdcolen

sara505 wrote: »

Increasingly, this is becoming my favorite style of family portrait, and am grateful to find folks who are willing to break out of the "say cheese" style and allow me and my camera into their lives (new baby, 6 days old, and yes there are also close-ups) (all shot with G12):


My love for this style stems from this single photo (below), taken by me in 1978, of my family (with my beloved old SpotmaticF, developed and printed at home). If I was told that I could keep only one photo from my entire life, this one is it:

As you know, Sara, this is the only way I shoot families. I really like number one, and especially like number three - a very special moment. (To this day I can remember play shaving as a little kid while my late Dad shaved). Two doesn't work for me because there's just too much space and too much clutter in the foreground - the subjects seem incidental.

sara505

Richard wrote: »

The image is all that matters to me. Whether you knew what you were doing, what equipment you used, what focal length, all that is irrelevant, IMO. It's a great image and one to be treasured.

Thanks again, Richard. Liz, too.

zoomer

Three is a very cool shot.
The best of the bunch is 2. This a family's life...look around that room...this is where they live....around them are all the things that are important to them. You could spend a long time looking at that photo.
1 is to tight, no room for imagination missing all the drama of 2 and the fun of 3.

sara505

bdcolen wrote: »

As you know, Sara, this is the only way I shoot families. I really like number one, and especially like number three - a very special moment. (To this day I can remember play shaving as a little kid while my late Dad shaved). Two doesn't work for me because there's just too much space and too much clutter in the foreground - the subjects seem incidental.

Thanks, BD. I agree that #1 is superior to #2, but in 2"s defense - and I wouldn't want this one to have to stand alone, certainly - I have come to appreciate the so-called clutter as a means to create context and memories. There may be a time, way down the road, when this family looks at this image and say, oh yeah, I remember that chair and those bookshelves and when we had the room set up that way.

I know this is true for me.

Yes, I'm a big fan of your documentary photography.:D:D:D

Angelo

sara505 wrote: »

Brilliant

and as a comparative contrast to a comment I made in another thread; THIS is an excellent example of "Street Photography" even though it was shot indoors!

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Ksjones

haha! what a great photo (#3)! great capture!

damonff

#3 is a classic.

Tina Manley

I can see why that's your favorite photo. It's fantastic! I like one and two as a set - one to show the people and two to show their environment.

Tina

Qarik

3 made me smile!