does this look professional?

[wigglebugsmom]

I did my first family picture photo shoot today. Do you think it looks professional? What do you think of the cropping? Did I do the black and white conversion well? How is my exposure? Thanks for any input. By the way that is me and my family I took these with a tripod and a remoteProject 52 Family Photo - a set on Flickr
here are a couple of the pics from that set

Camera Nikon D60
Exposure 1/4000 sec
Aperture f/2.2
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 100
Exposure Bias 0 EV
Flash No Flash

[BigFuzzy]

If I had to be completely honest, I'd have to say no. But then, I have a very high standard for what I consider "pro". The main reason I say this is the lighting.

Both of them are lacking good light in the face of the subjects. In the b&w one it feels that there isn't enough light in the faces, and there is no light in the black areas of the clothes. It's just dead black with not detail really.

The second one has very blown highlights in the faces of the two subjects which could have been fixed by better placement of subjects or use of flash. But as it stands, those bits are very over exposed.

Composition, to me, is very standard (ie a bit boring) "standing in the exact middle of the frame" for me to like it.

Having said that, should you be happy with these perfectly decent self-taken family photos, yes.. are they "pro" to me (which was the actual question), no, I don't think they are.

Sorry to sound harsh, it's not my intent.. I hope I just push you a bit to do something different, something everyone else with a camera can do.. or at least ask yourself, how can I make these a bit different and stand out more.

Good luck!

[wigglebugsmom]

I do not think you are harsh at all. I agree with everything you said! I am looking for imput so I can get better. The only way for me to improve is to practice and get feedback. Getting feedback it the difficult part. I would also like to know where to look to see good examples. Thank you for the feedback. You did not say anything I already thought myself.