My first Photo Shoot~

[avdh20]

This is my first time actually shooting someone who knew I was shooting them. Its my nephew and niece. What better people to practice on than family, kinda makes it easy. I think that most of them turned out alright. I do see some places that need improvement. Please let me know what needs to be done next time in your eyes so I can learn from everyone. Thanks.

|1|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/3348/thekids020a4yd.jpg

|2|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/5184/thekids050a5rm.jpg

|3|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/9742/thekids055gb503hf.jpg

|4|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/6703/thekids056gb455ir.jpg

|5|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/2276/thekids0843rt.jpg

|6|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/8722/thekids120a1fi.jpg

|7|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/5681/thekids163b6nw.jpg

|8|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/7927/thekids1850jo.jpg

|9|
http://img235.exs.cx/img235/6312/thekids303a4ra.jpg

|10|
http://img199.exs.cx/img199/213/thekids320b9mi.jpg

[Titus213]

Very nice. The one comment I would have would be try to better control the shadows on the faces. Shooting outside in bright light is tough, but the photos that don't have the shadows on the faces look much, much better than the others. Good control of DOF and I really like the poses. That little girl is going to cause some young men troubles I'll wager. I particularly like #2, #4, and the last two, the last two being far and away my favorites. Good looking kids who appear to enjoy posing.

[*MOMOFAIRFORCEBRATS*]

i LOVE 3&4

on the others the blowouts are a bit bothersome- i can generally handle them as long as non are on skin. try positioning with light behind them when able to so that anything BLOWn will be hair or something no too disrtacting ( mostly the two aimeags where the boy is bright)

all the others look nice - just those two i mentioned are stunning....

[bmer]

nice work :) I realy like #4

keep going



-Mathieu

[avdh20]

Very nice. The one comment I would have would be try to better control the shadows on the faces. Shooting outside in bright light is tough, but the photos that don't have the shadows on the faces look much, much better than the others. Good control of DOF and I really like the poses. That little girl is going to cause some young men troubles I'll wager. I particularly like #2, #4, and the last two, the last two being far and away my favorites. Good looking kids who appear to enjoy posing.

Thanx for the comments. Shooting in direct light as I found it was really hard. I was only using the flash thats on the camera, but it seemed not to be working good enough to get rid of the shadows. Do you think that an external flash would help? My niece is cute but when there cute they also bring the attitude. As I say again thank you for the comments and Ill try to get the shadows out next time.

i LOVE 3&4

on the others the blowouts are a bit bothersome- i can generally handle them as long as non are on skin. try positioning with light behind them when able to so that anything BLOWn will be hair or something no too disrtacting ( mostly the two aimeags where the boy is bright)

all the others look nice - just those two i mentioned are stunning....

Thanks for the comments. Blowouts? Not to sure what you mean. Is it the color in the face or the white light/contrast area's. 3&4 are two of my fav's too. Let me know what you meant on blowouts, that would help alot. Thank You.

~aj

[MT]

#4 is exceptional. #9 is very very good. As noted elsewhere - watch blowing out the highlights.

[smittymike19]

couple of suggestions....try and limit the number of pics to maybe 3 or 4 per post.Posting 10 pictures at once is overload. You are only going to get general comments on all of these. What you should be shooting for is specific comments on all of them, but it just wont happen with 10 shots all at one time.
So for my general comments:
1. try and pick a time of day where the sun is not at high noon, and this will be half of the battle won. Most of the problems I see with your shots are with controlling the sunlight which at high noon is very harsh.
2. a few of the pics are simply beautiful. The one of your niece in B&W with her hat “glowing” and the one of your nephew laying in the grass are both terrific. Also the one of your niece sitting (B&W) and the last are too.
I would have some more specific comments if there weren’t so many pictures but it is too overwhelming to try and comment on each. Overall, 50% are awesome, 50% are washed out/too harsh lighting. But to me if I can get 5 good shots out of a shoot, im happy (and the 5 of your I like are great).

[jgbeam]

That's a delightful set of shots. Hardly worth mentioning the couple of small issues but I agree with trying to get highlights under control, especially the boy's forehead in a couple of shots. Go to your information display on the lcd and look for flashing portions of the image, which indicate blown highlights (lost detail). The histogram also tells you if highlights are clipped (blown) if the curve crashes up against the right side of the diagram. When you have this happening you need to either adjust the light or use exposure compensation.

It's pretty easy to control once you are aware of the problem.

Jim

[pushtoexit]

Thanks for the comments. Blowouts? Not to sure what you mean. Is it the color in the face or the white light/contrast area's. 3&4 are two of my fav's too. Let me know what you meant on blowouts, that would help alot. Thank You.

Blowouts are basically an over exposed area of the photo where the detail is lost as a result of the over exposure. Very typical of natural lighting shots where there is huge differences between shadow and highlights across your subject.

I think you did a great job on your photos.

[Mills]

I enjoyed your shots. For me # 2, #4 and the second to last were the best.

[smittymike19]

photos 1,5,6...look at the foreheads, they are all "blown out". come to think of it these 3 are the only ones idont think are great, all of teh others are awesome. 7 of 10 is pretty good batting avg...lol

[smittymike19]

ps, someone get the lawn mower out...yikes. i am a lawn freak so to me it just stands out..sorry. :)

[exposingmyself]

:D 2, 3, 4, 9

[Ballen Photo]

These are GREAT! :D The models are excellent as well. ;)
My Faves are #2, & 9. #2 has a kind of "Norman Rockwell" look about it.
-Bruce

[Steve Parr]

Shots 2, 3, & 4 are really, really nice...


Steve

[*MOMOFAIRFORCEBRATS*]

yes blowouts are the very bright white areas. they are not borthersome to me on any spot but a face- when on a face htey do distract. i find that on a bright day when you can aim to have a session at around 1hour before sunset maybe 90 minutes- the light is fantastic at that time. of course when overcast shoot midday...

you did do very well for such harsh light conditions.

[Phil V]

4 and 9 are excellent (even with blown highlights), however there's only so much dynamic range. Photography isn't a mathematical exercise, those 2 shots are perfectly exposed, composed and timed. If there's anyone out there who can alter the dynamic range of the sensor, or turn the sun down a little, then their highlights wouldn't have blown. For the rest of us, they're perfect.

[smittymike19]

:D when i say lawn freak i mean.....(this is the side of my house).

[toddb]

3,4, and 9 are my favorites. I have a hard time in direct sunlight as well. I got a 32" circular diffuser but haven't had a chance to try it out. The only problem you need someone to hold it for you. I'd like to get a really big one. I sometimes you my 550EX when it's sunny and I get some pretty good results. Worth trying.

[jukas]

I'd really like to see #3 and #9 in B&W. Any chance of posting a conversion?

[Wavy C]

These are great pictures to get from your first photoshoot.

Especially like the highly saturated colours in many of them. Do you turn up the saturation settings on your camera or do it in post-processing?

[avdh20]

Thank you everyone for your comments and advice. I suppose next time I will pay more attention to my highlights when taking a picture. I appreciate all your support, Happy Shooting!!!


3,4, and 9 are my favorites. I have a hard time in direct sunlight as well. I got a 32" circular diffuser but haven't had a chance to try it out. The only problem you need someone to hold it for you. I'd like to get a really big one. I sometimes you my 550EX when it's sunny and I get some pretty good results. Worth trying.

Thanks your for you input and comments. There was actually another photographer using a N*k*o* out there the same time I was. He had his wife helping him with his diffusers. Now I know why he was using them.


I'd really like to see #3 and #9 in B&W. Any chance of posting a conversion?
Here ya Go.

http://img202.exs.cx/img202/2635/thekids055gbbw9dy.jpg

http://img202.exs.cx/img202/9254/thekids303b6ke.jpg

[avdh20]

These are great pictures to get from your first photoshoot.

Especially like the highly saturated colours in many of them. Do you turn up the saturation settings on your camera or do it in post-processing?

Thank You. I have the settings turned up on the camera and in post processing. I just like pictures rich in color.

[smittymike19]

Thank You. I have the settings turned up on the camera and in post processing. I just like pictures rich in color.
that explains it. i thought they were pretty colorful.. i just lloked at tehm again, and really they are a great set of pics. :)

[avdh20]

that explains it. i thought they were pretty colorful.. i just lloked at tehm again, and really they are a great set of pics. :)

Thanks man, I like your lawn too. Obviously the place I was taking the pics, was a field though and not someones house. Its a historic place with some old buildings, so I dont think that they have a maintenance crew. Ill ask them if they need someone though. LOL.

[MrChevy]

I like 4-5-6, 9 is great! and 10 looks good too. Nice shots.

[markubig]

2, 3, 4, 8, 9 are fabulous!!! Great job!

[smittymike19]

Thanks man, I like your lawn too. Obviously the place I was taking the pics, was a field though and not someones house. Its a historic place with some old buildings, so I dont think that they have a maintenance crew. Ill ask them if they need someone though. LOL.

ah was wondering why there were those cool rustic brick walls and such.. great place to shoot.

[Kiernan]

I think they're all pretty darn good photos! #4 and #9 I'd call my favorites. I certainly don't envy her father when she gets a bit older and the boys start calling. Very cute kids.

[TSEE]

I love them all, very nice.

[roanjohn]

GOod job!!! A reflector would probably fix the shadows on the face.........With some fill flash of course.

The best time to shoot portraits outdoors is when its an overcast day........then you can use a small aperture to blur your background.

Ro1

[pradeep1]

Very nice work. I see the boy needing some serious corrective eyewear. Consider shooting him without it. It would bring his eyes to more normal dimensions. Many people in my family and in my wife's family have to wear soda bottles to correct their vision problems, and I tend to shoot them without glasses. It brings back the normal pleasing dimensions we are used to seeing....that is of course your subject wants photos without glasses. Some people take pride in their look with glasses....but I don't know what this little kid would think.

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

Those are AMAZING pictures! Especially three and four. love them! Fantastic work!