Visions In My Head

saurora

Did you ever have an idea for a shoot in your head and it just doesn't quite come to pass??? (Oh yeah, all the time!) I wanted to do some family portraits at the beach and I envisioned my great-nephew sitting in this little chair I bought for him. These shots are to be a Mother's Day gift for his grandma (my sister). Well after numerous delays due to weather and illnesses, I finally took last Friday off work because it was suppose to be nice, which it was. Finding a deserted beach was not so easy even on a Friday. Where we finally ended up, the sand looked like an army troop had stomped through. But, it wasn't too crowded. I was afraid we would not get my nephew to cooperate and stay in the chair. Actually the opposite was true. He was so overwhelmed by the roar and the hugeness of the ocean that he never left the chair! And for that matter, he wouldn't let his parents out of his site. So I never could quite capture the shot I envisioned, but came away with many others. Most importantly, we had a blast.

#1 Testing the waters


#2 Looks pretty intimidating when you're such a little guy!


#3 Came unglued when Mommy & Daddy left his side....


#4 Things improved with everyone back in the picture!


#5


#6 Let's see if Daddy can draw his name in the sand...


#7 And how fast can one little boy wipe it out!


#8 Digging and burying his feet was fun........


#9 Slinging wet sand with a shovel made everyone duck! (Escpecially the camera person!!)


#10 Some favorites...

#11

#12


#13 Too soon it was time to go....


#14 At home when I was working the shots up I realized I had taken this one...


#15 Which I did a quick (well, not too quick) down and dirty cloning job on to see if I could get the shot I "almost" was after...
and came up with this. Not a great job, but ....if the sand had been wet for reflection it would have almost been there!!!


If you made it this far.........thanks for indulging a very proud great auntie!!! :lust

System

susan-

some neat pics-

particularly liked 1, 5, 10, 11, 12-

good to see you posting-

Barefoot and Natural

OMG!!

These are all so fabulous! I LOVE the starfish one!!

You are such a great capturer (is that even a word?:D)!!

Love this series!

Heather

Barefoot and Natural

I also know what you mean by the "vision"!!
I often get so caught up with getting the one shot that I hope for, that I forget all the other shots I SHOULD get!

I have been trying for months to get the "perfect" face shots of my children and I can see in my mind what I want them too look like, but I have yet to "get it"!

But you did come away with some amazing shots!!

Heather

Scott_Quier

Susan,

Nice story and very nice pictures.

#4 & #5 - nice fill. How did you accomplish this. With flash? And, how far from them were you for these?

#5 - Did you use something like Shadow/Highlight to recover shadows?

#8 - really like that shot. The PP is very fine and the people in the background are not a huge distraction. Though, if one found them objectionable, it might not be too hard to clone them all out. There were very kind to stand in places to make that easier :-)

#10 - Very nice. I might crop it a bit closer and change th orientation to remove so much of the blown background.

#13 I like a lot. The silhouette nicely done. I might have wanted them a little more to the right of the frame, but still very nice.

Finally, I know all about this image in the mind, but getting it to actually happen can be a trying and frustrating exercise.

JimW

Saurora – Nice photos, my favorites are 1-10-11. I think you’ve captured a slice of their life that they’ll cherish. FWIW, I think a photo like #5 could be improved in postprocessing. I’m kinda new at commenting here, so not sure whether it’s appropriate to post my take on #5 or not. I’ve fooled with it a little but won’t post unless you say it’s ok. The harsh light seems like it’s blowing out the ocean a little, yet their flesh is a little dark. Tough situation. Also, the buildings in the distance are so faint that they kind of look like sensor dust. Maybe crop the sky out entirely to simplify?

Good job though. And an enjoyable post.

Jim

jeffreaux2

I am partial to 1, 2, 8, and 10. I think # 2 might look even better with the same sepia treatment as #1, and 10 might work better as a 5x7 portrait crop with the subjects shifted right to show a hint of the waterline.

Great job overall. Sheeesh....I wish I lived close enough to the beach to be able to take my nephews!!!

You lucky dog!!

saurora

Barefoot and Natural wrote:

I also know what you mean by the "vision"!!
I often get so caught up with getting the one shot that I hope for, that I forget all the other shots I SHOULD get!

I have been trying for months to get the "perfect" face shots of my children and I can see in my mind what I want them too look like, but I have yet to "get it"!

But you did come away with some amazing shots!!

Heather

Thanks Heather! I know what you mean....when you are trying to capture a certain expression of someone you know inside and out, it makes it difficult! I can't tell you how many times I've taken shots of a family member and I think to myself "That doesn't even look like him!!!". It's a challenge.

saurora

gefillmore wrote:

susan-

some neat pics-

particularly liked 1, 5, 10, 11, 12-

good to see you posting-

Thanks George...:)

saurora

Scott_Quier wrote:

Susan,

Nice story and very nice pictures.

#4 & #5 - nice fill. How did you accomplish this. With flash? And, how far from them were you for these?

Thanks Scott....forgot my flash cord and ended up not using flash. (Bad, I know). I was shooting with the 24-105. #4 was shot at 80mm and #5 at 47mm. I had turned away to walk over to my gear and totally forgot to change my settings as they changed position. :bash Seems to be a favorite trick of mine! You would think by now I would do better than that. So Yes, to your next question.

#5 - Did you use something like Shadow/Highlight to recover shadows?

Specifically on this shot I can't remember, it was under-exposed. I did use s/h on some, not sure which. I did lasso and brighten the faces. I still struggle using masks, I'm not sure why. My patience in the digital DR is getting less and less. It would really help to nail my exposures so I wouldn't be fixing things. That's another whole long story you don't want to hear!

#8 - really like that shot. The PP is very fine and the people in the background are not a huge distraction. Though, if one found them objectionable, it might not be too hard to clone them all out. There were very kind to stand in places to make that easier :-)

Thanks....one of my favorites from the day. I did clone the people in alot of the shots, but I kind of liked seeing the other little boys in the BG in this one.

#10 - Very nice. I might crop it a bit closer and change th orientation to remove so much of the blown background.

Yes, I left lots of room for my niece who will be printing out her own copies of these for framing. I don't have time for the most part to crop for my own use here on the forum. That's just too much extra!

#13 I like a lot. The silhouette nicely done. I might have wanted them a little more to the right of the frame, but still very nice.

I agree....I did crop that one. I wonder if anyone else feels the same 'pressure' that I do when I am cropping for family who print out their own copies and usually frame them. I know they don't always grasp the 2/3rds rule and probably wonder why I didn't center the subject! So I sometimes tend to slide the subject just slightly off center for them.

Finally, I know all about this image in the mind, but getting it to actually happen can be a trying and frustrating exercise.

Oh yeah....I keep trying to be more spontaneous, but I spend a lot of time agonizing before the shoot and try to come up with some pre-planned ideas so I'm not too stressed. More times than I can count, those pre-planned ideas get trashed!!! Thanks for all your great comments, Scott. Coming from you, I really appreciate them.

saurora

JimW wrote:

Saurora – Nice photos, my favorites are 1-10-11. I think you’ve captured a slice of their life that they’ll cherish. FWIW, I think a photo like #5 could be improved in postprocessing. I’m kinda new at commenting here, so not sure whether it’s appropriate to post my take on #5 or not. I’ve fooled with it a little but won’t post unless you say it’s ok. The harsh light seems like it’s blowing out the ocean a little, yet their flesh is a little dark. Tough situation. Also, the buildings in the distance are so faint that they kind of look like sensor dust. Maybe crop the sky out entirely to simplify?

Good job though. And an enjoyable post.

Jim

Thanks for the comments Jim. Please be my guest and post your results. I am aware I need to re-work this one (and a few others!) When I have so many, I get so tired, I'm not sure how they really look until I go back to them a few days later. You're right........it was hazy and those buildings were so far off you could barely make them out. I did clone in some and forgot (couldn't see them!) in others. I will clone them out!

saurora

jeffreaux2 wrote:

I am partial to 1, 2, 8, and 10. I think # 2 might look even better with the same sepia treatment as #1, and 10 might work better as a 5x7 portrait crop with the subjects shifted right to show a hint of the waterline.

Great job overall. Sheeesh....I wish I lived close enough to the beach to be able to take my nephews!!!

You lucky dog!!

Thanks Jeff! Yeah, I love living near the beach! I did process a lot of these in sepia as I love it and so does my niece. I was just trying to throw up a mixture for viewing. Thanks again!

JimW

When I have so many, I get so tired, I'm not sure how they really look until I go back to them a few days later.

Me too. That's why I have photos up all over the place in our apt. I like to live with them for a few days before deciding on final corrections.

I reduced contrast, added a curve with mask to brighten the people, and then a slight curve to darken the shadows in the ocean. Then cropped and sharpened slightly. I'm not saying it's the best, just another option. Cheers, Jim