First time using Live View

So, a couple of firsts for this shot. First time with Live View and first time using a tripod with the camera timer. C&C appreciated. Family shot for Mother's Day

IMAGE LINK: https://troybracker.sm​ugmug.com …lbum/n-nph5Rv/i-GDmQk63/A

Nice family portrait. Good even lighting on all faces. If it were my shot I would have backed up a bit and used a wider lens in order to include legs and feet and some of the surroundings. Maybe warm it up a touch, it seems a bit too cool. Good work over all though.

Thank you.

I debated about having the whole body vs more of a 1/2 -3/4 look. I was afraid there would be too much dead space

I did take one a bit wider and I tried to warm it up a little.

I disagree about legs and feet. If it's a family portrait, the interest will be primarily on the faces. This is a doc shot that people will look back upon in later years. For example, showing it to nieces and nephews: "This is us in 2020. That was the time of the COVID pandemic." The kids will not comment on what nice legs you had.

If anything, I would have given more room above the heads.

One thing I would have done would be to leave more room on the edges. That would present fewer difficulties were you to decide to print it and hang it on a wall. Different sizes have different aspect ratios. You need room to crop.

Thanks.

On the first one, the tight crop overhead was due to a errant leaf that was hanging down into the photo (I should have see it before!) I do have a bit of a crop on the second photo, the original has a bit more space on it.

This a uncropped version

Nice shot, I might have posed the people a little diferently with the three men in the Back and the two in front of them.

Thank you!

I am the short one on the left and I don't think I can see over any of my family! I need a stool!

duckster wrote in post #19065504
...I am the short one on the left ...

So... this changes what I was going to say! If you're going to be in the picture, the tripod becomes necessary!

First, I think the picture came out fine. I also agree with the cropping and that the feet weren't necessary.

But you mentioned that this was the first time using a tripod. I'm a fan of using tripods. I've owned several over the years and encourage others to use a tripod. I have three thoughts about the tripod.

1. When it comes to people, using a tripod can make people feel awkward and the picture comes out as "stiff". With a fast enough shutter (which you have) and a VC lens (which you have) you'll get a stable picture without using a tripod.You may or may not need or want a tripod.
   
   
2. As you progress into using flash for people/portraits, the concept of a fast-enough shutter changes. You may or may not need or want a tripod. And that's another topic for another day.
   
   
3. (This is more about the timer than the tripod), when you release the shutter the focus is determined at that time. This is a fairly common mistake. During the time that the timer is counting down, people can (and do!) move around. You're using a shallow DOF aperture (f/2.8), which increases the chance of missing focus. You probably wanted some blur on the background trees, and that was a good choice. I think this picture came out fine. Just be aware that the combination of *when* the focus gets set and how shallow the DOF is set, you could end up with a missed picture.
   

Thanks for the insights!

I was worried about movement so I did stress to the family, that once you get set, don't move! Did have a few where the focus was off a bit. I used the Live View sort of as a trial and sort of so I could see the positioning better on the back LCD.

I agree with the tripod, I usually don't use it with this lens, because of the availability of VC on the Tamron. I also figured I needed some experience with setting up and using a tripod. I don't use one most of the time doing sports and stuff, sometimes a monopod. My tripod is pretty basic, not a real expensive version.

Nicely taken. The only issue I see is the highlights, particularly in the bokeh need to be brought down some. Cropping most of the out seems to have helped a lot. You posed yourself pretty well. That said, square shouldered to the camera usually isn't preferred. But they all look natural and relaxed.... so good one.

Thank you. I very rarely take photos of people with the exception of sports so posing and such is a really weak area for me.

Everyone's eyes are dark. Here a fill flash would have been a nice touch.

Good point. Only have the on-camera flash at this point but thinking of getting a speed light

duckster wrote in post #19066971
Good point. Only have the on-camera flash at this point but thinking of getting a speed light

A late response, but you might read this. As a portrait photographer, the first thing I notice, after the exposure, is when portraits have the 'mystery hands' visible. When the subjects have their arms around someone's shoulder, or waist, and only the 'hand' appears in the image. It's like a hand comes out of nowhere and is very distracting when not visually connected to someone. I'm not a writer, so I hope this make sense, however, if you look at the portrait I think you'll get what I'm referring to.