Daughter, Mother, and Grandmother (6 images)

Scott_Quier

A friend of mine approached me, asking how much I would want to make some location portraits of her, her mother, and her grandmother. I offered her a deal and these are some of the resulting photographs.

An interesting side note: As I was growing up, I was of the opinion that "old folks" didn't have anything left to contribute. As I continue to mature (you think I'm grown up now - yeah right!), I have come to realize that these "old folks" are gold mines of humor, wisdom, and interesting life stories. Case in point here, Edna, the grandmother, was just so much fun. She had a little problem getting in and out of the chair, but when I suggested that it was time for her to sit in her daughter's lap as the daughter used to do when she was a child, she was all over that idea like white on rice - lots of fun!

As always, C&C is most welcome.

1. Not too sure about the sepia toning of this. I think I'm going to have to work it up a littel more. I followed the "directions" in the DGrin action tutorial and this is what I got. Any thoughts on this one?


2. I don't remember what they were looking at, but something caught Edna's and Paula's attention.


3. The youngest lady's BF came along for the ride and we were able to talk him into joining in the fun.


4. This one's for urbanaries, just to prove that I can do this more than once!


5. Mother and dauther. Right after I made this one, mom said something about there being a limit to the amount of cuddling with her daughter that she could stand. She was laughing and smiling as she said it, as was daughter.


6. One of the directions I give for the "kiss shot" is "No Laughing!" So, of course, the started to crack up. They were just starting to crack a grin so I figured, why not and told them again (in a playful, scolding voice), "No Laughing". And, we got this one..

~Jan~

I love #5!

rwells

Scott,

Good job, as always...

I like #1 best, but I'm not a fan of sepia (I know, that's my problem). I'm not sure if its natural, but it looks like you burned-in around the bottom edges. Looks strange.

I LOVE their facial expressions, especially Edna's

Seneca

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Number 5 is my favorite...so romantic - so warm - so touching. Get's me into the mood to go and kiss someone - Male that is. .

Great job Scott.

hamster

What a bunch of gorgeous women. Your photos are really lovely.

Scott_Quier

rwells wrote:

Scott,

Good job, as always...

I like #1 best, but I'm not a fan of sepia (I know, that's my problem). I'm not sure if its natural, but it looks like you burned-in around the bottom edges. Looks strange.

I LOVE their facial expressions, especially Edna's

Thanks for the comment.


What's going on here is that I applied a rectangular vignette. Along the right edge, it's quite hot so the vignette had a limited impact there. This makes the area around the ladies' feet look like it's burned in.

Scott_Quier

Seneca wrote:

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Number 5 is my favorite...so romantic - so warm - so touching. Get's me into the mood to go and kiss someone - Male that is. .

Great job Scott.

Thanks for the very warm comments. Keeping with the tone of your reponse, "You make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." As for the kissing of someone male, well, I volunteer!

hamster wrote:

What a bunch of gorgeous women. Your photos are really lovely.

Yeah, I also think the women are wonderful. As nice as the look, they are even nicer people. We had a great time.

~Jan~

Scott_Quier wrote:

Thanks for the comment.


What's going on here is that I applied a rectangular vignette. Along the right edge, it's quite hot so the vignette had a limited impact there. This makes the area around the ladies' feet look like it's burned in.

I think vignettes are a personal choice. I LOVE them and add them to most of my pics. Others don't like them and criticize me for that.

pyrtek

I also don't like the sepia. I'd either tone it down (a lot) or, preferably,
just do that picture in B&W. Number 5 is also my favourite. Fantastic expressions
on their faces and just a wonderful moment. Good stuff.

Flyinggina

What a great series and what attractive subjects! I love the way the three women look in #1. The sepia treatment on my screen looks too bright and perhaps too magenta (?). So to me it doesn't look sepia but more like a sort of duotone. How does it look as a print? Anyway, I like the idea of a sepia print for a three generation photogrtaph. #5 is really a wonderful capture and #6 is great fun.

Virginia

urbanaries

Whoa! Awesome stuff!
1. What an amazing, storybook shot! Their expressions couldn't be any more warm. The picturesque tree in the background and the wicker bench are absolutely perfect context. I couldn't imagine a better "generations" portrait. Fantastic.

Regarding the sepia tone. I think you are on the right track; it is definitely what the doctor (jones?:D) ordered for the image. however it is a bit too magenta (as opposed to brown) for my eyes, and I just calibrated my monitor. Maybe a toned BW as opposed to Sepia? I definitely think some color should be there, but more subtle.

The vignette is also very appropriate, but you might want to consider an oval one, the rectangular is jarring, and there's not enough "feather" to it.

2. Cute moment!

3. This is a sweet moment (although watch shooting into the ladies' chin)

4. OMG thanks for the shout out! I love this one, I like the midnight sepia action (?) on it. Amazing example. You are the KING!!!! goosebumps! I was 100% satisfied with being single until this shot. Thanks!:cry I do think I gave you my case of the center compositions, though.

5. Very sweet! Love the composition. You do such a great job at color shots, I'm always impressed. Your flash balance is impressive here!

6. Absolutely adorable, I think its my favorite. The muted colors are fantastic. I just adore the expressions, and the shot itself is amazingly sharp. I can't help but try a portrait orientation crop, hope you don't mind.
171353366-L.jpg

What a great session, you are turning out some stellar work, Scott!

Elaine

Hi, Scott! Nice work! I like #1 and 5 the best. I agree that the sepia seems a bit strong or something...I wonder what a B&W with a touch of sepia would look like? And I might be tempted to at least try an oval vignette or feather the rectangular one more. Anyway, despite those finishing details that are personal preference, the shot is lovely and special! I like the composition on #5 and the fact that they look so natural. Well done!

saurora

Hi Scott! Very nice series. I'm a sucker for family portraits....especially generation shots!!! I love the setting of the first one in particular. I agree with the other comments so far regarding the sepia tone and using an oval vignette. I also agree with you that older folks are wonderful to be around and can still teach us alot! They should love these shots!

evoryware

I love the first one except that it has tree out of head, instead of tree as framing device. Maybe you could have moved them and the chair to the left or you walked to the right. Regardless of my nitpick that is my favorite shot.

Scott_Quier

Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments. I really appreciate them.

I, also, am not too keen on the sepia treatment of the first one. I have some work do do in sorting that out. The square vignette was an, obviously, failed attempt.

As for the case of targetitis and trees growing out of heads - well the location was selected by the client, and I pretty much had to work with what I had. This being a park, there were concrete trash cans all over the place. I attempted to move one out of the way and just about had a coronary. This is just about the framing I could find that eliminated the trashcans.

Flyinggina

Scott_Quier wrote:

As for the case of targetitis and trees growing out of heads - well the location was selected by the client, and I pretty much had to work with what I had. This being a park, there were concrete trash cans all over the place. I attempted to move one out of the way and just about had a coronary. This is just about the framing I could find that eliminated the trashcans.

Concrete trash cans. Yikes!! But no harm done. The trees really aren't growing out of anyone's head in #1. I love the capture and think you placed your subjects well in this one and all the others. Bet you clients will absolutely love the series.

Virginia

Scott_Quier

Flyinggina wrote:

Concrete trash cans. Yikes!! But no harm done. The trees really aren't growing out of anyone's head in #1. I love the capture and think you placed your subjects well in this one and all the others. Bet you clients will absolutely love the series.

Virginia

Thank you for your kind words.

The youngest lady is my client. She called me Tues afternoon after she had reviewed the gallery. She was very thrilled with the photographs.

I'm thinking I'm just more critical of my work than my clients. I guess that's a good thing if I continue to strive to meet my expectations.

m_granite

3&5: Way cool, love the timing.