Such a cute blonde (that ought to get some views!)

Scott_Quier

A young couple called and asked if I would be willing to meet them at the beach for some candid-style family portraits. It seems they had a hard time finding any photographer in the area that was willing to leave the comfort of their studio for something like this. I don't know, maybe it was an issue of finding one that would be willing to do it for the price the couple was willing to pay for it.

Anyway, we met about 1.5 hours before sunset and I'm so glad I did. We had a fun time, until park management threw us out of the playground about 15 minutes before sunset...

1. Playing in the sand


2. Running across the beach


3. And, after you play in the sand, you need to clean your hands, right?


This and the next one were taken right before sunset, so are a bit warm. I elected to keep some of that warmth, rather than "correct" the WB.

4. This child was so wired - having fun with the photog and not cooperating:D


5. Finally, we settled down. Well, just a bit anyway...


Thanks for looking. As usual, C&C is most welcome.

Awais Yaqub

very cute. great captures

Bilsen

Nice snaps but they should be named TWO cute blondes and a dark haired guy.

Particularly like the framing on the last one.

Elaine

Adorable family! My faves are the first and last! The composition of the first is quite nice. I still struggle with realizing I can get a great shot while around something like playground equipment...that last one is a great example. I really like the warmth from the sunset. Glad you snatched up this opportunity and shared it with us.

urbanaries

You always give me such useful, detailed critique so I'll try to return the favor!

#1-Love this one, as others have mentioned. The adoration of the parents is palpable. If I were to improve the emotive quality of the shot I would have had the parents closer together, touching even. That said, I wholeheartedly agree with your creative decision to leave the warmth in. Looks great.

#2-I like the freedom of the girl alone, I think I would love it more if she was engaged with the sea and not you. I mean, you're cute and all:D, but, I like to see kids into their environment. OR, engaged with the camera when in a more close up portrait, where it's all about them and their cute face.

#3- I like the scene, but could benefit from a different shooting perspective (bring your galoshes next time!). The mom is not going to like her butt in the air. (Then again, on a side note, it does amaze me sometimes what women will wear to a shoot. Every girl knows printed pants aren't flattering!)
#4, #5 - The last two are simply wonderful I bet they would look great in BW too to diminish the blue playground equipment. I think the parents sitting down would have worked, as well.

Very cute series! It's very difficult working with groups, to get them to interact naturally yet photogenically. I see you stretching yourself from the posed groupings, and doing a fine job.

photocat

Your title put me off at first... I am not interested at all in cutie blonds...
(call me difficult). Now I am glad that I looked anyway. The shot with the little girl running really touches me...
The others are good family shots, the little girl running stands out for me...

Scott_Quier

Thanks, everyone, for looking and taking the time to leave a note. I really appreciate it. One thousand views (I'm exaggerating, ok?) and one or two replies can get really frustrating. So, thanks!

JohnGalt_ny wrote:

Nice snaps but they should be named TWO cute blondes and a dark haired guy.

Particularly like the framing on the last one.

I could have done that, but then there wouldn't have been any mystery in the post. As it is, you don't know to which blonde I'm referring!

The last two were a desperation shot. I wanted (and they wanted) something a little more traditional and this is what I came up with. And it worked.

Elaine wrote:

Adorable family! My faves are the first and last! The composition of the first is quite nice. I still struggle with realizing I can get a great shot while around something like playground equipment...that last one is a great example. I really like the warmth from the sunset. Glad you snatched up this opportunity and shared it with us.

The concept I'm working with here is that of interaction. Photos of people lined up like they are the target in firing squad are boring. Allowing the people to interact with each other (and capturing that interaction - that's important too ) help, IMO, to make a more dynamic image. One can hope that the clients feel that way as well.

photocat wrote:

Your title put me off at first... I am not interested at all in cutie blonds...
(call me difficult). Now I am glad that I looked anyway. The shot with the little girl running really touches me...
The others are good family shots, the little girl running stands out for me...

Hey, thanks for the comment. I really appreciate it.

urbanaries wrote:

You always give me such useful, detailed critique so I'll try to return the favor!

#1-Love this one, as others have mentioned. The adoration of the parents is palpable. If I were to improve the emotive quality of the shot I would have had the parents closer together, touching even. That said, I wholeheartedly agree with your creative decision to leave the warmth in. Looks great.

Lynne, I did get a couple with them touching. Here's just one...

urbanaries wrote:

#2-I like the freedom of the girl alone, I think I would love it more if she was engaged with the sea and not you. I mean, you're cute and all, but, I like to see kids into their environment. OR, engaged with the camera when in a more close up portrait, where it's all about them and their cute face.

If I'd had one with her running to the ocean, hair flying behind her...that would have been a winner. Didn't get one. Here's one where mom convinced her to get her feet wet.

urbanaries wrote:

#3- I like the scene, but could benefit from a different shooting perspective (bring your galoshes next time!). The mom is not going to like her butt in the air. (Then again, on a side note, it does amaze me sometimes what women will wear to a shoot. Every girl knows printed pants aren't flattering!)

Boots - not going to happen any time soon. And, at that location, the view back up the beach is not really all that photogenic.

urbanaries wrote:

#4, #5 - The last two are simply wonderful I bet they would look great in BW too to diminish the blue playground equipment. I think the parents sitting down would have worked, as well.

Very cute series! It's very difficult working with groups, to get them to interact naturally yet photogenically. I see you stretching yourself from the posed groupings, and doing a fine job.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Time will tell if I can get this a little more under control!

Moni

For me, #1 and 2 from your original post are great but my favourite is the one of them walking down the beach in a line (your last post, 1st one)
I love that they are not looking at the camera and so it feels more real, like it is just part of their lives and you happened to be there.

Did you have to direct them a lot? What did you tell them to do? Were they looking at the camera more or at each other?

You do good work!

Scott_Quier

Moni wrote:

For me, #1 and 2 from your original post are great but my favourite is the one of them walking down the beach in a line (your last post, 1st one)
I love that they are not looking at the camera and so it feels more real, like it is just part of their lives and you happened to be there.

Did you have to direct them a lot? What did you tell them to do? Were they looking at the camera more or at each other?

You do good work!

Thanks for the comment.

To answer your question - a little education in the beginning helped a lot. I talked with them for about 10 - 15 minutes about how we were after some natural looking photos; something where they were interacting with each other, playing with each other, and basically having a good time. I didn't specifically direct them to not look at me. What I did say was that they should be themselves, do what they want and "I'll just be over here a ways off - that's why I brought this huge lens"

After about 10 minutes, I re-approached them and gave them a few (very few) small adjustments - Like the guy was spending a lot of time between his wife and the sun - causing some really dark shadows on her. I suggested he try to keep that in mind. And, the rest, as they say, is history. The were very natural in front of the camera. I think a large part of that is because I told them to pretty much ignore me and to just play and have a good time.

And, thanks so much for the "You do good work!" comment. Things like that really help when your self-confidence starts to falter.

ob81

Very Awesome. When I move to VA next year, you are hired!

ChatKat

Wardrobe Consultation
Scott,

I like that thi is natural interaction. I am sure they will treasure these for a long time. As I do more photography, I am telling people to wear solid colors - stay away from plaids and prints because it does draw the eye away from the eyes/focus and to coordinate color if they are a group. I think it really makes a difference in the final photographs.

DavidS

Wonderful captures. Beautiful light.

JimW

Scott,

Warning, nitpicking here!

Regarding the 1st photo, on my monitor it looks too contrasty. This may be only my personal taste, hope you don't mind my mentioning it. I understand that it shows the accurate scene on the beach in the sun and all. But, my suggestion is, before the shoot started, to go into your camera and set a softer curve for the capture, a low contrast curve. Or, maybe do the same in PS. Or, a great little program I occasionally use, called Photokit, has a contrast mask option in three strengths.

This would extend the tonal range and make the skin less hot, and make the entire tonal range look ... smoother.

That said, I think you did great and are brave to shoot kids and Moms in plaid pants.

jim

Scott_Quier

JimW wrote:

Scott,

Warning, nitpicking here!

Regarding the 1st photo, on my monitor it looks too contrasty. This may be only my personal taste, hope you don't mind my mentioning it. I understand that it shows the accurate scene on the beach in the sun and all. But, my suggestion is, before the shoot started, to go into your camera and set a softer curve for the capture, a low contrast curve. Or, maybe do the same in PS. Or, a great little program I occasionally use, called Photokit, has a contrast mask option in three strengths.

This would extend the tonal range and make the skin less hot, and make the entire tonal range look ... smoother.

That said, I think you did great and are brave to shoot kids and Moms in plaid pants.

jim

Thanks for the input:
I agree that it is a little contrasty. When the hot spots were first mentioned above, I went back to the CR2 file to inspect the values on both the hot spots and the black of the sweaters. The hot spots have the red channel blown, but the other two are doing pretty good. In the sweaters, the RGB values are near neighbors to (3,4,5) - very dark. As an exercise, I might go back and re-work these and see if I can pull any more detail from the sweaters (the hot spots are a lost cause). It would be an exercise as the clients have already purchased and I don't think they will be coming back for more (they made a sizable order..:D).

As for setting curves in-camera; this is a moot point as I shoot exclusively and only RAW (no RAW + JPG for me:D). Those curves have no impact on the CR2 files that are written to the card (aside from the JPG image embedded in the CR2).

Kids - no worries there. You just shoot and fill up cards until you get what you want. Besides, they can be sooooo much fun that it would be a shame to avoid shooting them.

As for the pants - I had no control over that. I know about the issue there and I asked the mother if she had read the information on my site about choosing appropriate wardrobe. She assured me that she had - so what'em I to do? You snap to, salute smartly, and start shooting. It is what it is...

JimW

As for setting curves in-camera; this is a moot point as I shoot exclusively and only RAW (no RAW + JPG for me:D). Those curves have no impact on the CR2 files that are written to the card (aside from the JPG image embedded in the CR2).

My bad. I wasn't thinking.