Had some trouble with this family.

erikadorie

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erikadorie

Sorry I forgot to add any pictures to the last post (Family Portrait Trouble)
I usually shoot smaller groups and I had an opportunity to shoot this family 9 members. I found that most of the images were to be thrown out due to parents doing weird hand motions bc of the child, closed eyes, etc. It was very cold this day, I did not have anyone to help with a reflector, overcast. I shoo with a canon 30D and a 580EX flash. I believe I opened my aperature to 10 or so? I remember opening it wider than I usually do. I shot mostly with a 18-55mm lens. I am curious if anyone is willing to take a stab at some finishing work with these, please PM me and I can somehow send the RAW files. I'll post just a few.

Thanks
erikadorie

ps. I am looking for critiques on my images, not my personal character, I have had this problem in the past telling me that I should go in a different career path. I usually post on here what I am needing help with, so obviously this is not my best work. Thanks

Ok well I can't figure out how to post the images here but I'll post a link to them instead.
http://erikadorie.smugmug.com/gallery/3943044#229043759

If you have suggestions for my website as well I would appreciate those too! I'm not very techy like that and there are a few things I've forgotten how to do since the first time I created my site, I probably should have never tried to update it.

heatherfeather

For me one of the big problems is your angle of shooting and posing. Larger people need you to shoot from a little above. Most of your pics are from low- like you kneeled down or something.

As to the poses- larger framed people don't look as flattered when they are squatting or crouching because it makes their knees the most prominent part of their body and due to perspective bigger their knees appear larger than in real life.

But it seems like for the most part you got the focus and exposure right on!

AnthonyS

It seems like the white balance in all of them is different. Were you shooting in WB auto? It helps to find a preset and leave it for the condition or set it before you start snapping.

Also in some of them it looks like they are overexposed. Try metering down a bit next time & constantly watch your LCD for results. Trust me it helps to fix mistakes on the cammera instead of PS.

I will try and take a crack at it if you want

erikadorie

heatherfeather wrote:

For me one of the big problems is your angle of shooting and posing. Larger people need you to shoot from a little above. Most of your pics are from low- like you kneeled down or something.

As to the poses- larger framed people don't look as flattered when they are squatting or crouching because it makes their knees the most prominent part of their body and due to perspective bigger their knees appear larger than in real life.

But it seems like for the most part you got the focus and exposure right on!

Most of the shots I shot dead on, I didn't even think about that being a problem, I even had a ladder with me the whole time! I'll have to remember that. Thanks.

erikadorie

AnthonyS wrote:

It seems like the white balance in all of them is different. Were you shooting in WB auto? It helps to find a preset and leave it for the condition or set it before you start snapping.

Also in some of them it looks like they are overexposed. Try metering down a bit next time & constantly watch your LCD for results. Trust me it helps to fix mistakes on the cammera instead of PS.

I will try and take a crack at it if you want

I usually do weddings so I'm in one location most of the night and I find the correct balance, but I was everywhere that day, so I just cheated a little. Most likley won't be doing that again.

I would love you to try. Can you get to the images or should I send them? I would also like to know what kinds of things you did so I can learn and maybe fix the others. Thanks