First Family Portraits - outdoor

Ok had my first paid family portrait session, the family wanted outdoor pictures with the nice fall colors, only that the leaves had not started to turn yet.
The days prior to the shoot we had had a lot of rain so we figured we'd get rained out at some point, nope bright sunlight - no clouds in sight. I made the best of it and here's two of my favorites from that session.

Taken with my 50mm & tripod in Gallipolis City Park, OH. Couldn't find my reflector prior to leaving so couldn't bounce the flash. The picture with the steps and columns were some sort of fountain and just behind the fountain and a little to the side they had set up some sort of bandstand where a group was performing church music, so we were sort of limited to locations in teh park and considering I had driven an hour and the family 2.5 hours to get to the location we couldn't really switch either. *sigh*

Anyways, I showed the family the pictures and they were pleased, thought it captured their family very well so I guess job accomplished altho I STILL see stuff I want to improve on.

C&C if you want.

Pictures removed: If you wish to see them, please PM me for a link.

The poses look nice. Too bad you couldn't get the dog to cooperate . The reflector would have been a nice thing to have to get more light in their faces, but it looks like you made the best of it.

Thanks.
Ha the dog wasn't as much of an issue as the kids, once you got one of them to look the other one would look away. Gotta love toddlers. ;o) The dog is 6 months old so they haven't had her trained yet so yeah she was a bit of a challenge as well but not as much as the kids. The dog wasn't in every shot but the kids were. I should be used to the kids seeing I try to take pictures of my 3 all the time, I guess the difference is it was other peoples kids. LOL Yeah I kick myself for not looking sooner for the reflector, I didn't want to be late so I hoped the location would be perfect with light and all. No such luck.

Too bad you couldn't get better shade, the lighting is harsh, and the shadows are all over the place. maybe if you could have positioned them so the sun is behind them, sort of a hair light or kicker. On the first one I notice that there seems to be more consistant shade just behind them and just in front of them.

That being said they all look happy. And I've noticed most people aren't as picky as photographers. If they like the shots that is the most important thing. I usually end up disapointed with most of the shots I do. But I get lots of compliments.

Sue, positioning of the first is good, although the second is a little off. A good rule i have learnt in my job at the studio is to position everyone so their faces are in the vacinity of each other.
It catch's your eye, rather than seeing the child at the bottom then moving around to the top eventually.
Also remember this trick...tell mum and dad to keep smiling and looking at the camera - because they DON'T...they have to be told hahahaha....and then occupy the kids - portraits are sometimes better off on a tripod too - that way you can entertain the kids then click away without having to worry

Del

NewbieXT wrote in post #2128373
Too bad you couldn't get better shade, the lighting is harsh, and the shadows are all over the place. maybe if you could have positioned them so the sun is behind them, sort of a hair light or kicker. On the first one I notice that there seems to be more consistant shade just behind them and just in front of them.

That being said they all look happy. And I've noticed most people aren't as picky as photographers. If they like the shots that is the most important thing. I usually end up disapointed with most of the shots I do. But I get lots of compliments.

I dunno like I said the park wasn't optimal and with other stuff going on there too we were limited to the spots and angles I could shoot, i tried to get somewhere in between. They were sitting in the middle of the shaded area, there was a few places in the tree that seemed a bit open between the leaves and I'm sure that's what you're seeing in teh photo.
LOL well, the parents were happy, the kids just wanted to run around and play I think.

PIXI_666 wrote in post #2128946
Sue, positioning of the first is good, although the second is a little off. A good rule i have learnt in my job at the studio is to position everyone so their faces are in the vacinity of each other.
It catch's your eye, rather than seeing the child at the bottom then moving around to the top eventually.
Also remember this trick...tell mum and dad to keep smiling and looking at the camera - because they DON'T...they have to be told hahahaha....and then occupy the kids - portraits are sometimes better off on a tripod too - that way you can entertain the kids then click away without having to worry

Del

Thanks for the comments Dell.
Yeah the positioning in the second isn't the best, but as you probably see the mom was holding the little boy down, he did not want to stay for pictures. LOL We tried to make the best of what we had.
LOL mom and dad were smiling most of the time, the trick was to get both kids to look and smile at the same time. I didn't realize how hard it was and I even have 3 of my own that I try to take pictures of. LOL These were taken on a tripod, the more candid shots I did of the kids afterwards was handheld cuz they moved about so much. =o) Think I need a remote or something for my camera that would be great.

Their faces and pose in the first one are good. The cars behind them are distracting. There are a lot of hot spots on both that are pretty distracting.

A little fill flash would have really helped here. Other than that I really like them. Thanks for sharing.