family portrait

first studio family portrait.

Nice shots. I like 1 & 3 the best. On #2 I think it would be better sans thumb. I like the idea of #4, but IMO it needs more light so the right eye on dad isn't in shadow

thanks. really appreciate it.

A hair light to separate them from the background might have been a good idea, or if you don't have one, a different colored background perhaps? Also, a reflector would have kicked up some extra side light to lessen the harshness of those sideshadows. Darker skin absorbs a lot more light than lighter skin, and that has to be taken into account as well. Those technical issues aside, and THEY might not even see those, your poses are appropriate for a young family. I can see the family pic, number 1, framed on the desk areadly! I love that last one especially. very cute!

To me it seems the light is much too hard. I don't think most people like to see hard edged shadows on their faces.

Did they want to have sunglasses on their head?

ariananeal wrote in post #10174497
Did they want to have sunglasses on their head?

the mom wants the sunglasses on her head...told her to take it off..and she doesn't want to... eh...what can you do?

suecassidy wrote in post #10173704
A hair light to separate them from the background might have been a good idea, or if you don't have one, a different colored background perhaps? Also, a reflector would have kicked up some extra side light to lessen the harshness of those sideshadows. Darker skin absorbs a lot more light than lighter skin, and that has to be taken into account as well. Those technical issues aside, and THEY might not even see those, your poses are appropriate for a young family. I can see the family pic, number 1, framed on the desk areadly! I love that last one especially. very cute!

I had a speedlight over there heads... you can see it bouncing on the little boy's hair.. I guess I should have maximized the power .. I think it was just at 1/8.

I was using a white translucent umbrella camera left AB800 and a beauty dish AB1600 on the right. anda 430EX II speedlight on a boom over there heads.

maybe next time I should light up the background too , no?

That's a boy? oh. in any event, you aren't using your hair correctly if that is how it turned out. You might want to find a dark haired subject you could use as a model to nail that issue down before you do another sitting with dark haired clients. You can play with the hair light or lighting the background, until you get the separation that you like. What you see with your eyes is completely different than what you will actually capture, so kept that in mind when experimenting.

So you had lights on the left, lights on the right, a light overhead -- looks like you just need to adjust the lights differently to get the desired results, as these shadows are producing what looks like a 4-1 lighting ratio, while you probably wanted a 2-1, or 3-1 at best.

It brings up an interesting subject when you say you tried to get Mom to remove her sunglasses and she wouldn't. I've used to have that kind of attitude when I first starting shooting portraits years ago, except it was with huge watches or oversized bracelets at that time. Once in a while, someone with a Rolex would insist on hiking the suit jacket up a notch and WANT it to be shown. Rather than argue, I would shoot it and let the unspoken "I told you so" hang in the air when it gleamed distractedly in the finished product. Once I turned 40 years old, I wouldn't argue, but I developed my people skills to the point that nobody ever said no. When I turned 50, I was polite but firm, and became very authorative and matter of fact and got very good at directing sittings and that continued to work for me. Perhaps you can be more authoritative and explain to her that it will cause all kinds of technical reflection issues (which it did), won't look like she "envisions" it would (which it didn't) and that after you get the shot "in the can", you'll do a few with the glasses on her head, if she reminds you. Chances are she won't.
in any event, they are a cute family!

Overall, I think you did a nice job, especially for your first studio portrait. I do think the light is too harsh. It makes their faces too shiny, like they're perspiring. You can tone that down a bit in pp. Are these the original crops? If so, they feel a bit too cramped. I hope this helps.

Tim

suecassidy wrote in post #10176143
That's a boy? oh. in any event, you aren't using your hair correctly if that is how it turned out. You might want to find a dark haired subject you could use as a model to nail that issue down before you do another sitting with dark haired clients. You can play with the hair light or lighting the background, until you get the separation that you like. What you see with your eyes is completely different than what you will actually capture, so kept that in mind when experimenting.

So you had lights on the left, lights on the right, a light overhead -- looks like you just need to adjust the lights differently to get the desired results, as these shadows are producing what looks like a 4-1 lighting ratio, while you probably wanted a 2-1, or 3-1 at best.

It brings up an interesting subject when you say you tried to get Mom to remove her sunglasses and she wouldn't. I've used to have that kind of attitude when I first starting shooting portraits years ago, except it was with huge watches or oversized bracelets at that time. Once in a while, someone with a Rolex would insist on hiking the suit jacket up a notch and WANT it to be shown. Rather than argue, I would shoot it and let the unspoken "I told you so" hang in the air when it gleamed distractedly in the finished product. Once I turned 40 years old, I wouldn't argue, but I developed my people skills to the point that nobody ever said no. When I turned 50, I was polite but firm, and became very authorative and matter of fact and got very good at directing sittings and that continued to work for me. Perhaps you can be more authoritative and explain to her that it will cause all kinds of technical reflection issues (which it did), won't look like she "envisions" it would (which it didn't) and that after you get the shot "in the can", you'll do a few with the glasses on her head, if she reminds you. Chances are she won't.
in any event, they are a cute family!

thank you so much...really appreciate it. what do you mean when you say 4 to 1 then 2 to 1?

Tim Park wrote in post #10176168
Overall, I think you did a nice job, especially for your first studio portrait. I do think the light is too harsh. It makes their faces too shiny, like they're perspiring. You can tone that down a bit in pp. Are these the original crops? If so, they feel a bit too cramped. I hope this helps.

Tim

thank you... yes it's my first studio portrait. These are originals.