My 1st Practice Photo Shoot

[NicoleScraps]

This was with my oldest daughter and her boyfriend so they were easy models. I felt comfortable bossing....um, I mean, directing them into poses. I had some serious white balance problems in areas that were deeper in shadow.I am still learning though. Out of about 160 photos, I got 50 that they are dying to print. But they are not as picky as I am. I got about 10 that I think are actually pretty good. I was shooting in AV mode.

Anyways, here is one that I think is best. Any and all critique is welcome, ie, posing, settings, lighting, processing suggestions, etc. These are not processed other than cropping.
Thanks so much!!



f/7.1 ISO-100 1/25 sec

I have a few others posted on my photobucket account here

[Sterling]

You may want to remove some of your photos before a mod does it for you. One photo every 24 hours as per the forum rules.

[utsc2006]

I feel like you can't really see their faces. He's turned at such an angle I dont see his face that well. Also he's covering her face and her hair is covering her face. Maybe in this pose if they were looking at you ...his arm is also quite dominent in this pose and it looks a little funny.

[RLucas]

I will have to disagree with utsc on this one. I think the pose works because the intimacy between them is clearly shown. Now if they were looking at something off frame, it may be a little different for me.

Compositionally the photo doesn't work for me because of everything else going on. the flowers in the foreground and the support beam growing out of her head are kind of off putting to me. The flowers may have been ok if they were in bloom, but as shown, they just look like weeds.
If you have a chance to reshoot using this pose, I would suggest moving the subjects to the right in the frame just a bit. That way the support beams would frame the subjects quite nicely, and create a nice flow that would compliment the pose, and she wouldn't have the beam growing out of her head.

Try opening up the aperture a bit, and move/zoom in closer. This should give you a little more separation of the subject from the background, and get rid most of the distractions in the foreground.

It also looks a little soft. If you are shooting at 1/25 hand held, you may be getting some camera shake. If you are shooting in Av mode, opening up to f4 or so should give you more shutter speed to combat that as well.

Overall, I would say it is a great first effort, and the fact that they look so relaxed says a lot! Even though it''s family, it can still be hard sometimes.

Keep on shooting! You are off to a good start!

[NicoleScraps]

I was really afraid that opening up the aperture too much would not allow me to get them both in focus unless they were literally side by side, equal distance from me. I guess that is where experience comes into play allowing you to know the limits on things like this.
Oh and I did notice the beam in her head after the fact....I guess noticing things like that comes with experience as well.
Thanks for the input!

[kuvahmagh]

Even at f4 I don't think your DoF will be that big an issue, if it is you can always set your ISO to 200 or even 400 without loosing quality too much which will double your shutter each time and remove camera shake.

As for the beam growing out of her head, even with experience you can sometimes become to involved in what you are shooting that you only see what you want to see, some nights I have to force myself to stand back and take another look before I just shoot blindly.

[NicoleScraps]

Do you all feel that this pose from that same grouping works better?
I moved my position slightly so the beam is not coming out of her head. And I zoomed in closer on their faces, leaving out a lot more of the railing and the weeds.

[neubauer6]

I think the pose is fine. I may have cut out the flowers in front and put a little sharper focus on her face. The color temperature appears to be a little warmer too, which may be a result of your white balance choice. You could try shooting a shot with white balance set to cloudy and sunlight and see which you like better.

[wal]

IMO there is too much surrounding object...in the frame.. for example the railing on the front and beam at her back.. the color tones are nice and subtle. The interaction they have are great and creates a beautiful picture.. Nicely done i'd say.