#76 - MOM - Nature or Nurture?

sapphire73 · May 9, 2011

So my concept is to photograph myself with 2 sons who are also into photography. I grabbed a few quick shots with one son tonight to start playing with the idea. The composition will be quite different with 3 of us, but it might be helpful to know whether you find any of these shots more appealing than the others? I tend toward landscape photography and informal candids, so this is a new area for me.

If the concept doesn't work, I'm sure I can come up with something else...
[Editing out 1 and 3 to shorten the thread]

2. Nature or Nurture?

I am very grateful that my sons are willing to go along with this!

Thanks,
Gretchen

WhatSheSaw · May 9, 2011

I like the middle one. I always find dueling photographers to be a fun shot.

Maybe "Like mother, like son" for a title?

konomaniac · May 10, 2011

I like the 2nd one also. It would be great if we could see a little bit of your face - maybe with the same expression as your son??

lkbart · May 10, 2011

I like the dueling photogs also - maybe called something like Mom versus the kids/boys/sons, or Mom shoots the kids!?! (& the kids shoot back!)

sapphire73 · May 10, 2011

Thanks for the input and the fun title suggestions! I was trying to avoid having "Mom" in the title, but we'll see what works out.

Not sure what it is really called when you diagram possible positions for a group shot like this, but I sketched out a few possibilities today.

sapphire73 · May 10, 2011

New Self-Portrait Shots with 2 of My Sons
Took photos of two of my sons and me, and I think I have one that might work well for this challenge but would really appreciate your input on these. I put my 7D on a tripod (using the 10 second timer) and held my 50D. These were shot about an hour before sunset, so I added a bit of external flash and/or bounced available light off a collapsible reflector (propped against my travel tripod). Not real high tech! These are posted in the order they were taken.

I welcome C & C to help me with the learning curve for this kind of shot. I am also open to further suggestions for a title. My original concept was "Nature or Nurture?" I also like the suggestion of "Like Mother, Like Sons."

Thanks,
Gretchen

[Editing out a few images to shorten thread]

5. ["Action" shot in the gazebo near my office]
[

7a. [Photographer sons with their mom]
Reprocessed this shot, fixing WB setting, etc. after seeing konomaniac's input below]

8. [In the "cross-fire" of their cameras]

9. [Bounced flash, some brightening]

bbjones · May 11, 2011

Fun idea!
I like the dueling cameras one; I think #5 is my favorite. It's good to be able to see your face. The different poses for each person have a lot of energy, and kind of draw your eye around in a circle.

But it looks like one of your sons has gone rogue! He's shooting a Nikon!

lkbart · May 11, 2011

Maybe a title like Family Feud, Caught in the crossfire, or maybe I taught them better?

Nice stash of cameras, btw!

sapphire73 · May 11, 2011

bbjones wrote: »

Fun idea!
I like the dueling cameras one; I think #5 is my favorite. It's good to be able to see your face. The different poses for each person have a lot of energy, and kind of draw your eye around in a circle.

But it looks like one of your sons has gone rogue! He's shooting a Nikon!

Thanks for your feedback on these photos. I've added another of the "action" shots for consideration:

11. Getting a Different Perspective

The son shooting with a Nikon has been known to borrow my Canon, but his only regret about going with Nikon is that he is unable to use my lenses!:D

konomaniac · May 11, 2011

It looks like you had a lot of fun with this challenge. I like either 5 or 8 - 7 is actually my favorite pose, but the lighting (in my opinion) is much more natural in 8.

sapphire73 · May 11, 2011

konomaniac wrote: »

It looks like you had a lot of fun with this challenge. I like either 5 or 8 - 7 is actually my favorite pose, but the lighting (in my opinion) is much more natural in 8.

Yes, this was fun! Thank you for your detailed input on these shots. I'll try reprocessing 7 in Lightroom as the exif data is almost identical for 7 and 8 (flash didn't fire, iso 1600, f/11). The shutter was open for a smidgin longer on 8, so it may have picked up a bit more of the gold tone from the reflector.

lkbart wrote: »

Lillian, thanks for the feedback on these. Just want to check whether you were agreeing with Brian that it was:
a) a fun idea?
b) that #5 is your favorite?
c) that one of my sons has gone rogue with his Nikon camera?:D

Over the past few days, I learned a lot more about trying to balance flash when shooting outdoors. One of the most useful things I finally absorbed was the direct relationship between the manual flash setting and the recycle time! (I was researching this because I originally hoped to try for some rim lighting or having us with our backs to the setting sun but ended up changing locations to make it easier to get around.)

sapphire73 · May 11, 2011

konomaniac wrote: »

It looks like you had a lot of fun with this challenge. I like either 5 or 8 - 7 is actually my favorite pose, but the lighting (in my opinion) is much more natural in 8.

I've gone back and reprocessed #7 and replaced the earlier version of that shot above. It just needed the WB set to daylight to warm it up like 8. So glad I am shooting RAW these days!

Gretchen

konomaniac · May 12, 2011

sapphire73 wrote: »

I've gone back and reprocessed #7 and replaced the earlier version of that shot above. It just needed the WB set to daylight to warm it up like 8. So glad I am shooting RAW these days!

Gretchen

That looks much better. I like it.

lkbart · May 12, 2011

sapphire73 wrote: »

Lillian, thanks for the feedback on these. Just want to check whether you were agreeing with Brian that it was:
a) a fun idea?
b) that #5 is your favorite?
c) that one of my sons has gone rogue with his Nikon camera?:D

Yes, yes & yes!!! Except now I think I might prefer #11 that you've posted - the Canons ganging up on the Nikon & setting him straight?! & I like your "different perspective" title

sapphire73 · May 12, 2011

Just want to check whether you think this idea for a self-portrait with kids is different enough from the other self-portrait entered previously? If not, I am quite willing to bow out.

If I enter one of these, it's hard to decide which one to use. I like the playfulness of the "action" shots (5 and 11) but they feel a bit busy to me. Both 7 and 8 have some appeal. I think the image used for 9 & 10 has more interesting lighting and the composition reflects our being close as well as sharing our enthusiasm for photography, but no one has mentioned this shot. If the effect of the lighting is a problem, I could try to play with the processing a bit more.

Btw, here is the original shot converted from RAW to jpg with no additional processing. You can see the effect of the flash bounced off the gold side of the collapsible reflector.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Gretchen

sapphire73 · May 14, 2011

Trying Out a Split-tone and BW Version
Tried two other ways of processing these images tonight and wonder whether any of these are better than what I posted before?

13. Like Mother Like Sons (split-tone of action shot)

14. Like Mother Like Sons (bw version of 9 and 12)

I'm also wondering whether folks think this idea is different enough from the other self-portrait that was entered earlier?

Thanks,
Gretchen

lkbart · May 15, 2011

As far as it being different enough, I noticed that the other self portrait with 2 daughters is going to be removed, but I think yours is enough different even if that one stayed. With the theme being Mom, there's bound to be multiple mom shots, so unless you were blowing bubbles with your sons, I don't personally think you would be encroaching on that entry, but that's just my opinion.

As far as the processing on the last 2, I'm not a huge fan of B&W, that's just me. I kinda like the split tone, but think the coloration makes the people blend into the background too much.

I think part of the reason I like the action shots (in the gazebo) is because of the color palette - the pretty blues & browns of the clothes & hair stands out well against the lush green background.

sapphire73 · May 15, 2011

lkbart wrote: »

As far as it being different enough, I noticed that the other self portrait with 2 daughters is going to be removed, but I think yours is enough different even if that one stayed. With the theme being Mom, there's bound to be multiple mom shots, so unless you were blowing bubbles with your sons, I don't personally think you would be encroaching on that entry, but that's just my opinion.

Thanks for giving me feedback on this. I thought there would be more self-portraits or shots of a mom with new baby, etc. in this particular challenge.

lkbart wrote: »

As far as the processing on the last 2, I'm not a huge fan of B&W, that's just me. I kinda like the split tone, but think the coloration makes the people blend into the background too much.

I think part of the reason I like the action shots (in the gazebo) is because of the color palette - the pretty blues & browns of the clothes & hair stands out well against the lush green background.

Thanks for giving input on the last two images. Since the input has been somewhat varied, not sure which one I will enter but am thinking "Like Mother Like Sons" might be more effective as a title than "Nature or Nurture?".

WhatSheSaw · May 15, 2011

I like the 2 action shots best. The triangle of the 3 of you works. And I like them in color. I think I favor #11 - a bit more dynamic.

sapphire73 · May 15, 2011

Sounds like the consensus is the action shots. I'll take another look at them. Thanks!

sapphire73 · May 15, 2011

Am I Getting Any Warmer?
Here are a few more edits, figuring I'll learn something by experimenting:

15. Wider version of 11

16. Something of a Bleached Bypass Effect

17. Tighter Crop of 8

Any of these better than previous versions? The main reason I went back to them was to work on NR a bit more, but couldn't resist trying a few more things.

Thanks for your help,
Gretchen

sapphire73 · May 16, 2011

I ended up going with a new edit of my first entry, in part because it was the photo that my 2 models preferred. Such a mom thing to do!

Appreciate all the input. Looking forward to getting back to landscapes and/or macros where I am on slightly firmer (or at least familiar) ground!

Gretchen

#76 - MOM - Nature or Nurture?

Comments