Family Session Critique

edit: Deleted

The first one I don't like as they look totally pissed off!

Second would have been great had we been able to see his face, I just see a hat.

Glare in the third is overpowering.

Next two are odd in the processing for me, I would like to see that B&W in color, see the eyes.

Last one is creepy, sorry, but did you add some tonal contrast to her? It looks very un childlike, what is she holding?

I see what you were trying for, but for me, would love to see more of a soft side for the kids( not OOF, just color soft) and more of the man's features.

They all give me a creepy vibe for some reason other than #2.

I think Flo's pretty much nailed it here. I'd add that the 4th one also has an out-of-focus girl in the background who's wearing the same outfit as the baby, making it look like they're almost merged somehow. Kinda creepy.

#1 looks ok but could be improved by re-cropping. You can put the upper cross points of the rule of thirds nearly between their eyes.

#2 doesn't show enough of his face.

#3 is OK but I'm not a big flare guy.

#4 as mentioned the child in the BG is an issue. And generally a black BG is not the best for children.

#5 is a great demonstration of my BG comment in #4

#6 is odd. The light looks good but the child looks ill. Those dark bags under the eyes look like our kids just before being diagnosed with severe allergy to milk. And the dress doesn't fit with the boots.

I like the compositions, the skills I cannot fault and I actually like the sun flare one, at least the flare is on the top of his head rather than blowing out the faces.

I do however have to agree with the others, the

Love 2,3 and 5, #5 being the favourite. Beautiful eyes, good lighting and good processing.

#6, took me by surprise to be honest. I dont know whether its simply the pose of the young lady but it doesnt flatter her. Im not so sure about her boots either, doesnt seem to go with the rest of the outfit, in fact the outfit is pretty odd altogether but Im sure you had no input on that and what the customer, or family want, they get.

#4 got spoilt with the other young lady in the background, its too distracting, sorry.

Overall, I liked them.

it's the way the lights are set on that last one....I think they are to high and it's giving her shadows.

but I did a skin smoothing and a bit of fill light...seems to help some...I'm not good enough to lighten the dark shadows under eyes though.

I would bet he added some sort of process to that last one, it looks exactly like what would happen if tonal contrast were added, look at the details in the dress. Agree about the lighting though.

Here's a quick and dirty edit. The file is too little to do much with.

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Oddly enough, the boots are cool with the girly dress for me. I like different, but the contrast/lighting still needs work.