Group of 4 Portrait - hard to pose help?

Something not quite right.

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I wish that everyone was sharp in the picture. The kid on the left seems to be blurred too much. Also, the kid second from right has too much shadow on his face.

I hope that this helps.

Stacie

This image should have been exposed at around F 8 to F 11, that way all of the faces would have been in focus.

Posing. This is a candid shot and candids are generally unposed. However, one can 'rough' in a pose in a candid shot that looks like it is unposed!!! Here is how I would have done this shot I would have seated grandmother in an overstuffed chair, turned 45 degrees away from the camera position. The young man would have been posed standing behind and a little beside her possibly with his arms folded across the top of the chair, depending on his height. Then I would have seated one twin on one arm of the chair and possibly the other on the other arm, both leaning in a little toward grandma. I may also have stood the second twin beside big brother, again depending on his and her height in relation to one another and the position of her eyes when standing next to grandma. The 'rule' is no head should be directly above or below another unless there is lots of body to support the upper person and no head should be directly beside one another. The ideal situation would be for the lips of the upper person to be at the same level as the eyes of the lower person. I have posted an posed studio portrait below. This pose is 'fun' enough that it could be used as a candid portrait in a living room situation.

Benji

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For one, you have 3 rows of people for 4 persons - you should have had 2 rows at most to minimize required DOF.

chrnat,

I think you havbe two great informal "portraits". Technical problems aside I think the client (Grandmother?) would be quite happy with the warmth and fun indicated by the poses in both shots. Rigid, professional "informal" studio template poses are a bore.

David

absolutly right david

They were fun shots we had a great time

Its great not to get too hung up on technicality

Looks like a DOF problem as the Kid on the left seems to be out of focus. What lens did you use ? Perhaps you need to close the aperture a bit if using a longer focal length or use a wider angle if you prefer to keep the aperture open.