First Family Portrait

[Mosephus]

This is the first time shooting shooting people other than candids, not my cup of tea, but they are a close friends family. I know I had a few mistakes, the biggest for me being Framing them too tightly for printing and some focusing problems which I didn't think I would have at 5.+

Please let me know what you think.

[Karebear98]

I hate to say it but I think all are zoomed in way too close. One of the best pieces of advice a forum member gave me here is to step back and take in the scene and not to think you have to shoot everything zoomed in. Staying zoomed in constantly is a common mistake for beginners. Next time, show the rest of their bodies and some scenery around them. It is different on individuals but for groups and couples like this, I'd step back.

The second to last one was better to me (7 I think?). Next time make sure his hand is out of his pocket and show her hand resting on the tree.

[Mosephus]

Thanks for the advice.

I knew better, but I psyched myself out since they asked that they be shot waist up and that they wanted the pictures taken in their back yard, :-/ It was foolish of me, now I know. I'll keep practicing. Regardless, I think I'll stick with subjects with fur or wheels.

[reader0428]

Doing what the client asks you for is never the wrong thing. :) Not to say you can't shoot what you want to shoot too, but...make the client happy. And people often want to see their faces in family portraits. If they're buying a large wall print, full-length is good, but for smaller prints they probably WILL end up buying some of the tighter shots.

[Mosephus]

I've also learned this past week that sometimes it's ok to print the image with white or black bars above and below the image to get your desired size depending on the image.

[cstewart1977]

I think I would have liked to have the family move in front of the barn more because I'd like to see some more barn and maybe some blurry trees in the background.

[arich]

I feel like they're too tight and too high for the most part (try to avoid cropping out hands and limbs)

[Redneck]

I see a tendency to leave a lot of dead space on top. When you composite your image try to position the eyes on the upper third line instead of the center horizon.

[Karebear98]

Originally Posted by Mosephus

Thanks for the advice.

I knew better, but I psyched myself out since they asked that they be shot waist up and that they wanted the pictures taken in their back yard, :-/ It was foolish of me, now I know. I'll keep practicing. Regardless, I think I'll stick with subjects with fur or wheels.

I know exactly what you mean by doing what people ask...it throws you off your game. I think if it were me, I would have done each shot the way they asked and then done one taking the whole picture in, so you can show them the comparison and what it looks like.

The "waist high" thing is typically said because people think they are fat....but what I notice is they actually look bigger when you have to cut them off like that and stay so zoomed in. By shooting zoomed out also, you can show them that by taking in all of the scene, the focus isn't on their mid-section and they will see it's not as they pictured in their head.

I'm not a pro yet, still learning myself so take it as you might, but hopefully you can help people see their body image isn't always as bad as they think it is by doing what you know is best.

[Mosephus]

Thanks for being critical everyone, I appreciate it. Keep it coming if you got it, any grips with focus or exposure?

[digidawg87]

On the first group try to get ladies in the middle guys on the end.

[RickD]

Originally Posted by Mosephus

Thanks for the advice.

I knew better, but I psyched myself out since they asked that they be shot waist up and that they wanted the pictures taken in their back yard, :-/ It was foolish of me, now I know. I'll keep practicing. Regardless, I think I'll stick with subjects with fur or wheels.

When I first started, I did the same, then I realized, nobody else is looking through the glass, but me. Also I've convinced myself that candids are no different than posed. I take them even when they aren't ready. I just tell them they are test shots so I can check the lighting.

I pretty much will do what the client asks for, but I'll do a few shots that I want too. They really don't know the difference, plus you can always crop the shots

I would say for your photos, the main goal is to use the "Rule of Thirds". In general keep the eyes on the thirds, similar like #4. (#4) If you are going to keep it tight, try offset the subject (the tree to the left of the frame), maybe a stop off the DOF, and don't cut the limbs.

Keep shooting. Hope this helps.

[reader0428]

For focus - it looks like your apertures were 5.3-5.6 With a group this size I use at least F8 if everyone is not on the same plane of focus. When I have a group that's two levels deep, I focus on the ear of someone in the front row, and that usually maintains sharpness from the front to back row. You can also elevate your camera position a bit and have them look up at you to get them more on the same plane.

This is by no means the greatest group shot in the world (was a down-and-dirty for a Christmas email and I used only a bounced on-camera flash and the self-timer to get myself in the shot, ha) but I used f8 and focused on the ear of the lady on the left (wearing a blue shirt), and everyone is reasonably in focus.