Friend and her siblings

Did my first real shoot today. I am quite pleased with the results but I want to get others' input. This is the first shot I have edited. Taken with 7D + Sigma 30. Lit with 430EX and Vivitar 285 both shooting through umbrellas. I may have underexposed the background a little TOO much is my biggest concern. Thoughts?

Also I am new to editing portraits as well. I just sharpened the eyes and mouths a little and added a little more contrast. Any other steps that would help them pop?

Also does WB look good for skin color?

Looks good to me.

WB looks fine to me. yeah, I think the background is a little dark, but I still like it!

Thanks for the replies. I'm adding some more shots as I edit them.

I agree that ambient is too dark, easy fix for next time though.

43 North wrote in post #10123510
I agree that ambient is too dark, easy fix for next time though.

Definitely! Live and learn.

Not bad. But yes the background is way to under exposed. But you know what to do next time now.

I see that when we get the BG too dark, it almost looks like the BG is a prop and the subjects are posing against it. Especially true in the last shot of the 2 boys. Everything else looks GREAT. Good WB, exposure on the subjects, sharp, etc.

Curious, how much did you intentionally underexpose the BG? Looks like maybe a full 2 stops? If so, I'm only going 1 stop!

dave

I might suggest to hide some of the subjects hands (behind backs into pockets etc.) especially in #3 there are a lot of hands showing that can be distracting in group portraits. in the last shot the hand is closer to the camera than their faces and at the edge of frame. These two factors make it appear very large.

interesting blog on posing hands:
http://portrait-photographer.blogspot.​com/2009/05/hands.html

Good family photos all in all.

Thanks for the tips. I wasn't watching the background exposure close enough, as I was more concerned about getting the people exposed correctly haha. For these shots the BG is probably about 2 stops underexposed, yes.