Closest thing I've had to a real gig

Let me know how I did. I was very nervous.
1.

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Cool! you did very well! #2 needs a tighter crop though.

Thanks! I agree on 2. I actually had them with me when we reviewed them and they said hold off on the crop until they decide what size prints they want.

For some reasons the links were broken there for awhile. I think they are fixed now.

Yeah,# 2 has to much head space. I wish I could see the eyes. Especially on #3,I can see her's but not his.
Also,I would lighten the background some on #3.

I like the poses, and would agree with a tighter crop on #2.

I can't tell the true eye color of any of the people, though. That's what I find so frustrating about trying to photograph people outdoors in natural light (including in open shade). They're either squinting, or the eyes are just too dark. Trying to fix that with strobes and modifiers and/or reflectors is its own hassle.

They look great. Agreed on #2 as mentioned.

Very nice for your first shoot. It looks like you planned ahead for the most part except for the shoes. Flip flops...

Ha! It never occurred to me that I should give input as to the clothing. These are neighbors of mine and I kind of just said call me when you're ready. They considered bringing their black poodle. I said, "Great, nothing like a jet black dog in a sea of white shirts to test my skills!"

Wow! That's it, everything else has already been pointed out.

Nice set of images, well lit, well posed, crisp. Agree on #2 - you have to play with it to see what will work. 2/3 works to crop it down well.

Yeah, good job!

1. hot spot on dads head, faces are in shadow, i would have popped OCF for fill
2. white shirt is totally blown out on the kid, got to keep them oput of the sun
3. this one is the best, dad is still squinting

my best advice is to control the time of day that you shoot...early morning or late afternoon, if they want to shoot at 12 noo id tell them go find another photographer ( i do realize that you did this as a favor) unless you got really big flashs (AB1600) don't try to compete withthe sun. advise client on what to wear I advise against white and black tops, (people love the white for photos, not sure why) but if they insist on the white tops expose for the white shirts, and I always try to mention footwear or some kid will show up in flip flops. see pics 1, and 2

you have a 580, you would be suprised what you can do with a little fill flash get that thing OC buy a cheap light stand and shoot through umbrella.

will227457 wrote in post #13236157
1. hot spot on dads head, faces are in shadow, i would have popped OCF for fill
2. white shirt is totally blown out on the kid, got to keep them oput of the sun
3. this one is the best, dad is still squinting

my best advice is to control the time of day that you shoot...early morning or late afternoon, if they want to shoot at 12 noo id tell them go find another photographer ( i do realize that you did this as a favor) unless you got really big flashs (AB1600) don't try to compete withthe sun. advise client on what to wear I advise against white and black tops, (people love the white for photos, not sure why) but if they insist on the white tops expose for the white shirts, and I always try to mention footwear or some kid will show up in flip flops. see pics 1, and 2

you have a 580, you would be suprised what you can do with a little fill flash get that thing OC buy a cheap light stand and shoot through umbrella.

thanks Will!
I tried most of the things you suggested. These were shot at 4:30pm. I cringed when I saw them wearing white but never thought to advise against it before hand. I did try the flash but they wanted a blurry background and I don't have dark filters. When I did use the 580, even dialed down, the pictures were blown out. I also tried a reflector but it was windy and I couldn't get it to stay aligned. I have studio lights but not portable power.

I guess I just need to practice more with fill flash.

Thanks a ton for the advise!!!

Not sure where the concept of white shirts in portraits came from because digital has problems with white as far as exposure. It has notably less exposure latitude in the highlights compared with normal contrast negative film. I've seen exposure problems when a family wears white shirts for portraits. Either the shirts get totally blown out of the image is under exposed to not blow out the white shirts.