Composition/pose, help!

babowc

I'm having a dilemma, and I was hoping to get some input on these three images.

I recently took holiday pictures for my girlfriend's family, however I feel as I hopelessly screwed up the posing (among other aspects) of these pictures. I was hoping to receive some input on which seems better, or if none works.

They are SOOC converted to JPEG.. I will be cropping.
The effect I wanted to achieve with the lights in the BG failed miserably as I stopped down to get everyone in-focus, and not think about the DoF.

1.

JIN_0993 by babowc, on Flickr

2.

JIN_0995 by babowc, on Flickr

3.

JIN_0994 by babowc, on Flickr

anonymouscuban

They're all pretty much the same shot. Here are my issues with the pose but before, let me confess that I struggle with posing more than two people. Something that I'm trying desperately to improve. Easy to nit from the comfort of my chair; different story when I'm behind the camera.

First, mom is way to square to the camera. Very static pose. I like that you positioned her up front, kind of portraying her as the matriarch, but just to boring. It would be better if she was more to camera right. Maybe with her knees slightly pointing towards camera left so she's not so square. I think dad is fine. Girlfriend I would have posed slightly more towards camera left so she's not directly behind mom. This would place them all at different level and also create a nice triangle. That table and other stuff on camera left... can it be removed for the photo? It's quite distracting. If you can't, then I would compose the shot in Portrait orientation so less of this stuff is showing. Lastly, if you can open up the lens more, I would. That will blur light strands and other decor a bit more so it doesn't compete so much with the family.

Hope that helps.
-Alex

anonymouscuban

BTW, I think you did a good job of picking up the ambient light of the BG lights. Do you have a flash? I would suggest adding a bit of off camera flash on your subjects, just to add a bit of pop and bring them more to the forefront of the image. OH... and can you place them further in front of the tree and stuff? If so, I would try that too to blur the BG even more.

babowc

I whole heartedly agree with the problematic posing.. I should've taken more control over the posing! And I feared that my GF was too directly above mom's head, as well.

I have something a bit more dynamic for poses, but mom's face is OOF due to the shallow DoF.
I took the pictures on the opposing wall of the formal dining room and the space was very limited. Those were with a 85mm..

What to do? I was looking through these last night and tonight, but I don't think these are anywhere near print-worthy... My plan was to print these on canvas as a Christmas gift to them.. I think a re-do is in order...

Oh, and these were:
f4, 1/5 sec, ISO640, radio triggered SB900 on shoot through umbrella, and camera left at 45* at IIRC 1/2 or 1/8 power.

Qarik

okay so for 3 people try to make triangle with their heads through standing and sitting. the daughter is growing out of her moms head right now which is is an issue. Also to achieve the christmas light bokeh..they have to be much further from the tree..and with 3 people I don't think you have big enough living room to get the separation while keeping everyone in focus.

zoomer

Two isn't that bad. Very underexposed. Bring up the exposure crop the sides to make it a vertical and go with it. Yeah the ladies heads are a little stacked but not a deal breaker for a quick casual portrait like this.

babowc

Qarik wrote: »

okay so for 3 people try to make triangle with their heads through standing and sitting. the daughter is growing out of her moms head right now which is is an issue. Also to achieve the christmas light bokeh..they have to be much further from the tree..and with 3 people I don't think you have big enough living room to get the separation while keeping everyone in focus.

Yeah, my GF growing out of mom's head was my biggest concern
I tried to work with the room I had, but <10ft with the 85 wasn't enough!

zoomer wrote: »

Two isn't that bad. Very underexposed. Bring up the exposure crop the sides to make it a vertical and go with it. Yeah the ladies heads are a little stacked but not a deal breaker for a quick casual portrait like this.

I'll try the vertical and post it up!

babowc

JIN_0995-2 by babowc, on Flickr

I couldn't go with a vertical due to lack of height.. but this is a 4x5 crop.

Is it too tight towards the top of the frame?
I just did a quick edit in LR4.. I still need to clean up the brush strokes and clone out the table stub.

anonymouscuban

Much, much better.

red_zone

you've fixed your exposure problem, and even with the tree in focus in the bg, the tighter crop brighter faces give a much higher emphasis on your subjects. Great save.

babowc

Should I try applying blur to the BG?
I've decreased the BG exposure to give the subjects a little *pop*.

I'm new to editing, but I assume it wouldn't be too difficult with the brush tool in LR4..

BrettDeutsch

Very good save. I don't think you need to blur the background at all. If you don't do it perfectly, it'll look fake. And what you have works just fine.

babowc

After a bit more in post, off to print!