A Family of Four

A shot of some friends from church. I was using my wife's D60 body just hours after my D70 went down for the count. In the future I will make sure that I keep myself familiar with the backup body.

Admittedly, I am very new to portraiture and have a lot to learn. So, how did I do?

Very nice shot Barry,love the textured backdrop and the pose.

Nice arrangement yet a little "static" ... like a snapshot.
Have the folks looking at each other for communication? ... or
3/4 turn with the ladies.
Too tight at the bottom. I feel the gentleman is "chocking"
Exposure is good yet there's disturbing shadows in the bground.
Have them move away from the bground to blur it out.

I'm not a portrait photo'er yet this is what I see.
Hope this helps . . . GT

You've got them framed pretty well, maybe take a step back next time. Color seems a bit over done? - looks a bit almost orangey or something. You must have helped your subjects seem comfortable, they seem relaxed which made for a natural, pleasing portrait.

robbie wrote: Very nice shot Barry,love the textured backdrop and the pose.

Thanks Robbie!

Gary Trent photography wrote: Nice arrangement yet a little "static" ... like a snapshot.
Have the folks looking at each other for communication? ... or
3/4 turn with the ladies.
Too tight at the bottom. I feel the gentleman is "chocking"
Exposure is good yet there's disturbing shadows in the bground.
Have them move away from the bground to blur it out.

I'm not a portrait photo'er yet this is what I see.
Hope this helps . . . GT

Good insights Gary, I must admit that i was a little distracted trying to get the D60 set up. I didn't really put much focus on composition. I hear you about the shadow too, I really need to embrace my lights. Thanks again for your honest opinion.

icepics wrote: You've got them framed pretty well, maybe take a step back next time. Color seems a bit over done? - looks a bit almost orangey or something. You must have helped your subjects seem comfortable, they seem relaxed which made for a natural, pleasing portrait.

I shot with a gold reflector light mod and because of that I had to drop the white balance all the way down to about 4000k in post to cool it off. I barely saved the shot, had I not shot in RAW ... it would have been toast. When I gave them the pic, the daughter said, "maybe we can add a little more color in PS.

Good eye Sharon!

I liked the 'choking' tag..me too felt that. Another thing which I felt is - may be my prb - that I felt some of your subjects are a bit tilted to the right....apologies if im wrong there Otherwise, I like this one.

McBeth Photography wrote:

Gary Trent photography wrote: Nice arrangement yet a little "static" ... like a snapshot.
Have the folks looking at each other for communication? ... or
3/4 turn with the ladies.
Too tight at the bottom. I feel the gentleman is "chocking"
Exposure is good yet there's disturbing shadows in the bground.
Have them move away from the bground to blur it out.

I'm not a portrait photo'er yet this is what I see.
Hope this helps . . . GT

Good insights Gary, I must admit that i was a little distracted trying to get the D60 set up. I didn't really put much focus on composition. I hear you about the shadow too, I really need to embrace my lights. Thanks again for your honest opinion.

litaliangod wrote: I liked the 'choking' tag..me too felt that. Another thing which I felt is - may be my prb - that I felt some of your subjects are a bit tilted to the right....apologies if im wrong there Otherwise, I like this one.

McBeth Photography wrote:

Gary Trent photography wrote: Nice arrangement yet a little "static" ... like a snapshot.
Have the folks looking at each other for communication? ... or
3/4 turn with the ladies.
Too tight at the bottom. I feel the gentleman is "chocking"
Exposure is good yet there's disturbing shadows in the bground.
Have them move away from the bground to blur it out.

I'm not a portrait photo'er yet this is what I see.
Hope this helps . . . GT

Good insights Gary, I must admit that i was a little distracted trying to get the D60 set up. I didn't really put much focus on composition. I hear you about the shadow too, I really need to embrace my lights. Thanks again for your honest opinion.

You bring up a good point about the tilt. I shot this and then saw that the fence boards were not completely square with the frame.... so I adjusted to straighten the lines. It never occurred to me that the fence might not be square, lol.

Funny, never thought about that the fence might be leaning - I guess tell the subjects to lean the other way! I noticed too they're all wearing gray so it makes for a fairly neutral color scheme, probably a bit more challenging to bump up the color a bit so it still looks natural.

Always takes time and practice getting used to a new camera. You seem to have a knack for other styles of photos like scenery, and do well working w/people, so the techniques of portraiture will come along too I'm sure.

Beautiful shot! I agree, step back a bit. My only nit is the position of the people. Too geometrical?