My second attempt at a formal portrait

[dtrayers]

Some of my wife's family showed up at Thanksgiving and asked me to take their family portrait for their Christmas cards. I agreed, albeit reluctantly. Though they were happy with the result, I was very dissappointed, so much I won't show you it.

But it motivated me to learn about portrait photography and lighting. I bought a couple of books, read a lot on the net and tried again with my daughters for our Christmas cards. One of the things I learned was to start simple.

The setup was in my kitchen and shot with natural light coming in from a double wide french door to camera left. It was a high overcast day with some snow on the ground outside. I also use a white mounting board to camera right as a fill. I used a painting drop cloth as a backdrop. Shot with a 10D and 70-200 f/4 L. No flash.

http://home.comcast.net/%7Edtrayers/photos/xmas-portrait-2004.jpg
One thing I need to learn is to not crop so tight in the viewfinder so I have something to work with in Photoshop and for different size outputs (4x6, 5x6, 8x10...) This was a little too tight. I probably should have opened up the aperture a bit more as well to blur the background more. The cloth wasn't wide enough for me to position the girls farther away from it.

Needless to say, this turned out a lot better than the first attempt.

I'd appreciate any tips or feedback.

[Wrench]

Very good shot, much better than my second, or 30th for that matter. :) Don't feel bad about your DOF. It seems like it would be hard to get it perfect with that shot since you've got 3 subjects all at different distances from the lens. Only thing I would have done different is a) move the camera to the right just a hair to get rid of the slight void on the left side of the exposure, or b) have the younger of the two girls move to your left to fill that same void. HTH, remember, I'm a noob too ;)

[*MOMOFAIRFORCEBRATS*]

a very good second attempt. natural light portraits are my favorite. i would say invest in a reflector and a stand for it look on ebay for some pretty descent deals. truly if you have a ncie big window like that or glass door, a reflector is all the additional lighting you will need.

[Meerkat17]

It's a nice image - the one thing that bothers me is the child behind is reaching out of the picture (this was the first thing I saw as the photo downloaded) Had her hand been resting on her sister's shoulder it might have given the composition more flow.

Just my thoughts/view.

Regards
David

[mdude85]

nice shot -- I might crop maybe 1/2 inch off the top though.

[sparker1]

I think it is a very nice shot. The girls are well posed and the lighting is effective. My only concern is the background. A white would work, or a Christmas tree, or any number of things other than the bland drop cloth. Even blurred, it's color would not complement the scene. Still, I think you should be pleased with your progress.

[sameerb]

This photo is nice :)

I didn't like :

1. background : i feel white background would look good
2. your daughters (in black dress) hand i.e right side in picture looks little
distracting
3. Left side of the picture looks darker than right :( considering natural light it's okay

i really like

1. The expressions on the faces of your girls and snow man -:)
2. Outfit really simple but great :)

i hope this is helpful
anways it will make a good holiday post card

[daveycrocker]

very nice

see mine http://www.jessehanson.com
http://www.jessehanson.com

[Robert_Lay]

In regard to the pose and framing - the left arm of the girl behind does give a problem. I would also prefer not having the girl's left hand cut off at the knuckles.

So far as the background is concerned, it could come down in value everywhere until it reaches the level that it has in the lower left corner, which is a dark brown, and you would still get good separation of tone with the subjects.

The side lighting (what I call the modeling light) is at about the correct azimuth, but it could be much higher and give an even better direction to the facial shadows. They currently provide reasonably good depth to the facial contours but would be improved with an elevated light. I see no sign of the flat lighting which means that it is extremely diffuse - very good. The balance between the flat and modeling lighting is excellent.

A very nice portrait that you should be proud of.
Congratulations!

[ajbalazic]

Wow- that's an old post! Given such a good start, I bet your portraits are really good now.

[montreal]

I get suspicious when someone with only 2 posts revives a 13 month old thread with the words "very nice... see mine... http:/blahblahblah.com"