Getting family photos (yourself in it as well)?

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langdoy
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p.1 #1 · Getting family photos (yourself in it as well)?

I'm sure everyone has the same problem, you are either a pro photographer or a hobbyist with all the fancy gear, but all your pictures are of everyone else. You're never in any picture. This isn't a problem, but it would be really nice to have your own Family photo shoot.

The problem I'm sure many of us have is...
1. We can't take the pictures ourselves, we need to be IN IT!
2. We don't want to pay a crazy amount of money because we think we can do it ourselves. I spent a lot of money on good gear, I don't want to pay for a shoot.
3. The other things that we feel towards the other photographer if we actually did have someone else shoot it.

So here's the story. I shoot for fun, took me years, but I have some nice gear. 5D Mark iii and a few L lenses. We went cheap since we didn't want to pay much, so got a groupon from a local photographer. But the thought was, even if it was cheap, you call yourself a photographer selling photo sessions, so you should have some expertise with an outdoor shoot.

Anyway, long story short, the problems were (beach outdoor shoot)...
1. We didn't get much direction of what to do. Photographer asked us what we had in mind
2. Photographer was a quarter of the time just playing with my kid
3. (not really a problem) but they came with a D80 and a generic flash
4. Didn't tell us how to pose or was not prepared to get the kid to look at the camera
5. Didn't seem like they took many pictures (my choices might be very limited later)
6. Even though they shot at that beach often (as they said), they didn't know other places to shoot other than on the sand near the water
7. Haven't seen the pictures and it was getting gloomy because of the weather, but seemed to use direct flash on almost all shots. Seems like they will come out harsh with not much of the background
8. We were doing our own poses, but they weren't ready with the camera. Seemed to keep fondling with the settings
9. Seemed to miss shots. My kid was laughing or I was throwing him up in the air and their camera flashes seconds later.

So what I'm wondering is for those that have the same situation/feelings as me...
1. How do you get yourself into your own family photos (my kid is 2, it's hard for me to be the photographer)
2. Since you have your own gear, have you paid for a photoshoot from another photographer and how much did you spend?
3. Is it wrong to be so critical of the other photographer?

Again, I haven't seen the pictures yet, but this was the overall feeling I got from the actual shoot.

Aug 06, 2012 at 07:04 PM

omarlyn
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p.1 #2 · Getting family photos (yourself in it as well)?

langdoy wrote:
I'm sure everyone has the same problem...You're never in any picture.

Yes, that's the way I like it!

langdoy wrote:
The problem I'm sure many of us have is...We don't want to pay a crazy amount of money because we think we can do it ourselves. I spent a lot of money on good gear, I don't want to pay for a shoot.

I can build a house all by myself...it'll probably take me 20 years though! Just because I CAN do something doesn't mean it's not more convenient to have someone else do it...possibly with even better results.

langdoy wrote:
But the thought was, even if it was cheap, you call yourself a photographer selling photo sessions, so you should have some expertise with an outdoor shoot.

Just because someone says or markets themselves as an 'expert', doesn't mean that they are. This is not just limited to photography/photographers, this would be true of ANY business. Also...by my experience, whether a service is "cheap" or not rarely has any bearing on the actual quality. I've seen many services offered at premium costs but with less-than stellar results (and visa-versa as well). Research into the service provider & references are a far better way of determining quality results. Besides, EVERYONE with a camera advertises themselves as a 'professional photographer'.

langdoy wrote:
Anyway, long story short...

Too late!

langdoy wrote:
So what I'm wondering is for those that have the same situation/feelings as me...
1. How do you get yourself into your own family photos (my kid is 2, it's hard for me to be the photographer)

I rarely attempt to do so except for those 'FaceBook' type grab-shots. In fact, some of those shots are very amusing in their own way!

langdoy wrote:
2. Since you have your own gear, have you paid for a photoshoot from another photographer and how much did you spend?

Sure, we've done that a few times (though I've also done the wireless remote set-ups as well). I look at it like this...if I were a doctor, I might prescribe some medication for myself, but I wouldn't perform surgery on myself! I'd get someone else for that!

langdoy wrote:
3. Is it wrong to be so critical of the other photographer?

No, it's not wrong for you to be critical BUT, did you spell out your requirements & expectations in detail? If you purchased a used $3k economy car, you have the right to be upset that it does not look, feel, or function like a new luxury sports car...you have that right...but you would also be unreasonable in your expectations. Reasonable expectations have to match the product or service level you are purchasing. Since you did not spell out your criteria to the photographer and it does not appear that the photographer did not spell out anything either beyond being "cheap", then I'd say you got exactly (no more, no less) than what was advertised & paid for.

Omar

Aug 06, 2012 at 07:53 PM

nelvayut
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p.1 #3 · Getting family photos (yourself in it as well)?

It's already too late to regret. Maybe next time you need do more research about the photographer you want to hire and you need to tell what you want.

For our family portraits usually, we do our own either its a studio, garden or a beach pictures. We use a tripod and remote and trigger every 3 seconds. You can do your own composition and whatever pose you want. My husband and I also alternate in taking pictures.

5D3 and 1D4 can do face detection. Sometimes you'll get some OOF especially if the subject is a little bit far and you use f/2.8 but that's normal because you use a remote to trigger. It's just need more practice.

Aug 08, 2012 at 01:31 PM

borderlight
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p.1 #4 · Getting family photos (yourself in it as well)?

How do you get yourself into your own family photos

I usually ask a slim photographer to stand/pose next to my wife as I take pictures of the family. Then I perform a simple Photoshop head transfer. Result: I look good, my wife agrees, and nobody is the wiser. I usually get a discount too.

Aug 08, 2012 at 04:27 PM

WiredMike
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p.1 #5 · Getting family photos (yourself in it as well)?

borderlight wrote:
How do you get yourself into your own family photos

I usually ask a slim photographer to stand/pose next to my wife as I take pictures of the family. Then I perform a simple Photoshop head transfer. Result: I look good, my wife agrees, and nobody is the wiser. I usually get a discount too.

+1 For the laugh on this one!

Aug 08, 2012 at 04:44 PM

rico
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p.1 #6 · Getting family photos (yourself in it as well)?

langdoy wrote:
So what I'm wondering is for those that have the same situation/feelings as me...
1. How do you get yourself into your own family photos (my kid is 2, it's hard for me to be the photographer)

Once a year, I take a family portrait in the studio whether they want one or not. It's extremely tricky to get everything properly aligned, posed and exposed when you're in front of the camera. Four-year olds respond well to silly sounds, but that won't work forever. No PW appears in the final frame.

Aug 09, 2012 at 04:32 AM

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