First OCF family portrait

[ClickHappy]

Tonight was a couple firsts for me. First time outside using OCF and first time trying to get a family portrait (mine) with a properly exposed night sky.

I think we did pretty good. Here are two versions of one of my favorites. CC welcome/appreciated as I'm still learning. This was after a long day at the beach, so forgive the outfits. :)

http://photos.bnkrazy.com/photos/634095191_p8scJ-X2.jpg

Tighter crop:
http://photos.bnkrazy.com/photos/634097411_VhZrN-X2.jpg

[ClickHappy]

Here's another from tonight:
http://photos.bnkrazy.com/photos/634127680_eb8eW-X2.jpg

[cotucker]

Looks great, nice family! IMO I would like to see a little more definition in the trees. Have you tried dodging them in photo shop. Ether way I like them.

[ClickHappy]

Thanks for the comments. I haven't tried to bring out the detail in the trees. I'll see what I can do. They are about 50-60 yds away, so there may not be much there to see. It was getting pretty dark.

[white_aardvark]

I find the pictures really good - I have yet to try OCF myself and am sure I can't do as good a job right out of the box. However I think the crops are no good, sorry - you've cut everyone off at the wrong spot or there is just too much space above your heads. I make the same mistake much too often.

[ClickHappy]

Thanks for the review! I want to know what I do wrong so I can try to fix it the next time. :)

In the first one the kids wanted the moon in the pic, so unless you want to see up everyone's nose, there wasn't much I could do about the crop.

I don't like the crop in the third pic either. I should have had her move in about 3 steps closer. I was just mainly trying to get the exposure for both foreground and BG right. Light fades surprisingly fast when trying to get a picture of it. So I was working quickly to see how different settings affected the captures. :)

[bobbyz]

For next time, try to bring up the ambient by using higher ISO, lower ss or shooting a bit early.

[Mossman6]

The Mom in #1 & #2 is starring at the light, hehehe. She's also holding his you know what and it's a little distracting. nice series you got.

[ClickHappy]

HA! The first two images are the same, just a different crop. I didn't even notice the hand placement there, I assume she was trying to keep him from squirming. We had a laugh at her gazing off into space on that one as well.

I'm actually surprised the kids are looking in the right direction, as I had the camera on the tripod and there was no one directing them where to look. :)

Thanks for the comments.