Photo Shoot at the Beach

DavidS

I did a photo shoot for a family at the beach last weekend. Here are a few shots. The light is a lot different than it was two months ago. I started two hours before sunset, just as I did before, but the light was not to good at first. You can tell in my first shot that it was not that great. The light did get better as we got closer to sunset. I have a lot to learn. Your C&C is welcome and requested.

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I would like for more of the dad to be visible, but it was a grab shot


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Thanks for looking.

Elaine

Nicely done, David! I can see what you mean about the light. The last two especially have beautiful light and color. I think #11 is terrific!!! I would probably clone out the grass above the girl's head, but I love their expressions, composition, light and color! My next faves are 5, 10, 12, and I also love #2. Wonderful, in-the-moment family capture, and I like the processing, too. #1 has great smiles! And you've captured a nice variety of sweet family moments. I'm sure they'll be very happy!

SloYerRoll

All the shots are well done. But 11 really stands out as top pick!

JimW

David,

First, this does not look like an easy thing to do. Tough light that you can’t control, 5 people, and the pressure of getting some great shots right now while we’re here on the beach. There’s something about being on the beach that makes people expect a sort of “look”, even if the conditions don’t provide that look. I think you did pretty well, but not great.

Overall, with family on the beach, I’m expecting warm and soft. However, these look sharp and hard, not soft. I don’t just mean sharp as in unsharp mask, but also as in too much dof. In #9, everything is tack sharp, from front rocks to back rocks. In #1 too, everything looks tack sharp. Plus those grass sticks are coming out of his head. Even the ocean looks sharp. I know it’s hard to make the kids in focus on #1 while throwing the grass out of focus, but maybe you could have pulled them much further away from the grass to provide some depth?

In #1, since the light was still cold, can you cheat in post, reduce the cold and increase the warm?

I like #2, excellent. I also like #11, but a long lens wide open might have softened the grass. Please take my comments with a grain of salt, as I don’t shoot much on a beach, and can appreciate the difficulty.

Cheers,

Jim

System

david-

some really great photos and looks like some very good advice from jim w-

Mitchell

David, you're getting really good at these!! #2 and #11 both work well for me.

DavidS

Thank you Elaine, Jon, George and Mitchell. I appreciate the encouragement. Jim, I am grateful for your detailed and straight forward critique. I want to get better and your advice helps me do that.

amscout

those are great! #s 2, 7, and 9 were my faves.

evoryware

I love that the little girl is just doing her own thing in these pictures.

I really like #2, #7, and #10 and the color in 12 is nice.

DavidS

Thanks evoryware