Family session - would like C&C

I shoot for fun, never been paid for anything (not nearly good enough). Occasionally, a friend will ask if I can take some pictures of their kid and I'm always happy to oblige as it gives me a new subject besides my kid! lol Recently, a friend and her son were over playing with driveway paint (food coloring, water, and corn starch) and I snapped a few pics of her son and shared them with her. She instantly said "you're taking our Christmas card picture!" So... the pressure was on... lol I've never taken a photo of a family before, not like this anyway - snapshots only so I was really nervous. Mom didn't really give an idea of what they were looking for until we were literally standing at the location she chose (and each location after). So I was just going with the flow.

Everything turned out well and they love the pictures, but their standards aren't as high as mine, or the folks on this board for that matter. So I thought I'd post some for a little good 'ol C&C, if you please

Feel free to be honest about what you see. I honestly want to learn so I'll happily accept any criticisms as long as they are accompanied by specific recommendations for improvement. Everything was shot with the Canon 6D and either the Canon 50mm f/1.4 (and probably the 430 EX II speedlight mounted on camera) or the Canon 135mm f/2. Also, as I'm sure you'll be able to guess, their son was NOT cooperative at all.

Thanks!

1. First shot of the day. Ordinary to me but it's what Mom wanted. What could I have done to spice it up?

I really like 3, 4, and 5 with the ones with the boy in them being my favorites. I guess I like photos that don't look posed too.

The lighting there was a little splotchy. Don't really know what it would have taken to improve that, but that is the main thing I see that could improve the photos.

You've got a great eye for capturing the moment and have basics of good composition.

#8 is a great capture, and great uses of the sun as a rim light. dandy lens there, and I would do more like this one.

Things to help some of the others:

#7 is a great example of a good portrait that needs a balance of cool and warm light, and a different background, or the same background in a different time of day. They are cool in the foreground, being in shadow, and the background is in sun. #6 suffers the same issues. If you have a program to take a full cto filter and take it over the couple, you'll see them warm up to match the back ground better. Another alternative is to take it to black and white.

Finding great light and using it to your advantage is what is needed in these, photos, #8 is an example of great light. Study up on White Balance, and the ways you can make it work to your advantage and you'll see an improvement in your photos. Some use a grey card, some have whitebal, I use a photovision target card, but they are all different methods to the same result.

You did a great job! I don't know your shooting settings, but look at your white balance. You can use the different white balance settings on the camera, or an Episodic disc to get warmer skin tones. Also, if you don't shoot full manual (where you choose all of the settings yourself) then try spot metering. That will also improve your skin tones.

Thank you all for the feedback. Some really good stuff in there and some of it was already put to use by me going back and reprocessing the images a little.

I tried to avoid the areas with little patches of light shining through the shade but wasn't able to do so 100% successfully.

I tend to shoot in full manual, RAW images so I can play with whatever I want (thankfully) Picture 7 (the couple) was definitely mixed light. I went back and used LR to selectively select them and warm them up, definitely made a difference in the image. Thank you ksbal!

I have a WhiBal card but rarely use it as I just tend to slide the LR slider until I'm happy. But I'm realizing that may not provide consistency for a group of images - so it's definitely something to think about.

Thanks again and I hope others may find some opportunities to help me improve! I'm definitely at the beginning stages of learning how and what to shoot and all feedback is helpful!

Jonathan

Thanks for starting this thread. You got some good feedback and your pictures are great examples for me. They are all great shots. #8 stands out for me because of the rim light.

My recommendation would be to work on incoperating ur speedlight more. The flash on #2 stands out to me and makes it feel artificial. I think it would have been a better shot if it blended better. Off camera with a soft box maybe? I think #1, 6 & 7 would have benefited little bit from more of a fill light.

I know the extra setup of a light stand and softbox forces you to be more intentional with your background and composition. I try to play with my 430exII off camera all the time but I find that my candid shots are way better. I definitely need to work on more skill and less luck ߘ

I am definitely no expert feel free to correct me if I'm way off base.
Great job

Just my peraonal preference, if there were more lights on the subjecst face would be even better... but must be difficult since you are probably using long range lenght

Here is my critique of the images you have posted.

1. Diffused fill flash (shoot through umbrella or bounced on a stand, above the comp). Nice pic, tighter crop will make it better. Contrasting highlights and shadows take away from the shot. Being that far back, you could probably shot at a lower aperture to get just a little more separation between them and b/g. They are on a pretty level focal plane.

2. Diffused fill flash (shoot through umbrella or bounced on a stand, above the comp). It will take away the lip hot spot. Shoot lots of images so you have a good selection from the jumpy kid. Mom looks slightly detached. Dad is not the directing the shot.

3. Meh, not sure if is even worth showing to family, you seem to have enough if it wasn't included.

4. You don't necessarily need a filler here. Light is consistent, but low power filler would be ok. Try vertical orientation. Warm smile. Be careful on arm position (flares the jacket and makes her look wider than she needs to look, she's a slender girl). That being said, she hidden by the tree and you got away with it. Crossed arm shots like that are for comps from elbows and up only. The diagonal branch her left arm is around, bugs me.

5. See #3

6. Best shot. Diffused fill flash (shoot through umbrella or bounced on a stand, above the comp). Tighter crop.

7. Tighter crop but I would see how the shot would look for a cut off between elbow and hand (if there is any comp left). Something tells me it is cropped too high. Vertical orientation.

8. It's ok. If you experimented with flare, you done a nice job. Scale back on the yellow cast just a bit in either LR or PS HUE/SAT adjustment layer. You may have to mask them to retain the full comp yellow/green. It just look s a little to army green for my liking.

But hey, they look pretty good. In focus and happy. I'll be honest, the images tell me "we are family and we haven't had pictures done forever". The better you get and the more you do, the following will start to come easier:

- Location
- Posing and Directing (body positions and having the ability to get the kids to be some sort of on point)
- Camera settings and modifiers
- Wardrobe

It sounds obvious, but if you can get all the above worked out, your images will tell a different story. BTW, these are also my struggles.

lost track of this thread until now. Just wanted to say thanks to those who responded after my last post! I'm definitely taking the feedback and implementing it as much as possible going forward! In fact, I have another friend that asked me to take some pictures this coming weekend. I don't have an umbrella or softbox and I don't know that I have enough time this week to snag one and learn how to use it properly in time for this weekend. So I'm going to do my best to look for better light and compose my shots better.
Thanks again!