A Mother's Love

Shot this of my Daughter and her two boys (Clay and Conner)
Let me know what you thank.

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Did not think it was that bad. 56 views and nothing.

I think it's a great capture! I'm curious what the color version looks like but I think B&W really works!

It is a pretty cute little setup with the 3 of them. My critiques would be that the lighting or processing is very flat. It is all mostly middle gray with no highlights or gradation to the lighting/shadows. This could probably be fixed with a different black and white conversion from the RAW.

My other critique is that it isn't a great capture of any of their faces. Your wife is looking thoughtful, which is nice. The older boy is very serious and the youngest is looking off. Of course I realize it is difficult or impossible to direct the kids how to look but maybe it is a case of just having to sit with the shot for 2 or 3 minutes until you get the right frame.

I also think you could burn out your wife's hips to pure black and remove that from the image. It wouldn't be odd because it would just look like she was positioned lower and not directly behind them and then it would simplify the composition a lot.

I agree with Hoff, and I also think the way mom is holding her her neck is a little awkward. To achieve the type of tender love feeling you were going for the subjects have to look completely comfortable, ya know? It is very hard to do with little ones, but connecting with them before you lift the camera always helps - get them playing around, then move to a true moment cuddle for capturing.

I thank you all for you critiques, they help me improve.