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Archive 2013 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom

  
 
friscoron
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


While I do lots of FPJ, due to my busy schedule and constant shooting and editing, I just hardly ever do a portrait session with my own kids. More than a year ago, I was doing it so much with them that they were getting sick of it. So it's nice to be busy, but you can't neglect those under your own roof. And with my 91-year-old blind Mom visiting from New Mexico -- some of you may remember her from the photo story of my Dad passing last year -- I decided this weekend to do a backyard shoot.

So here are a few shots from the session showing the different looks I went for with each kiddo. When they were smiling or laughing off-camera, it was due to my wife Beth getting them going, especially Casey. She had him cracking up.

Comments welcome.

1. Casey, 6
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7392/9489972455_627c80bd14_c.jpg

2. Elle, 11
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7406/9498140777_3118e4a70c_c.jpg

3. Mia, 8
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2876/9489971505_96ccff5da7_c.jpg

4.
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2882/9490066415_3cae3eef81_c.jpg

5.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3823/9490065693_5d259a9313_c.jpg

6.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5331/9490064707_76427cbd2d_c.jpg

7. My Mom, 91
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3713/9492860420_384f66345c_c.jpg

8. Here was my miss, my failure. We did this shot (check below) last summer and I've decided to shoot a version of it every year for as long as they'll let me. Last year, I was really patient, and had quite awhile to work with the light. This year, I shot this two months later so the light was in a different part of the backyard and I only had a couple minutes of this sunlit backlight left, so I was impatient. I'm trying to decide if I should let this picture represent this version of the shot for 2013, or if I should re-shoot it and get them posed better. Here is the flawed 2013 shot:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7393/9492767958_ded6b20f17_c.jpg

9. Here is the 2012 version that I like a lot. A 24x36-inch canvas print is hanging in our living room. By the way, I used the actual version for the canvas print, and that's why you see each side duplicated at its end. That was the side of the canvas print. Because it is on the side, you don't even notice the redundancy like you do here.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3779/9489972961_df41555422_c.jpg

Edited on Aug 13, 2013 at 12:50 AM · View previous versions



Aug 12, 2013 at 12:03 AM
Jim Rickards
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Wonderful pics, Ron. Nice job. It's the whole package - nice light, strong compositions and wonderful expressions.

In the last two shots, my fav would be #8, the second last one. Why? Both have the nice backlight, but the sun peeking through the trees does draw the eye in #9.



Aug 12, 2013 at 12:15 AM
Bruce Sawle
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Great looking family. Fun to shoot the kids formally. I do this every chance I get. Each vacation presents me with a new location. I like the idea of shooting in the same location.


Aug 12, 2013 at 12:33 AM
bbourizk
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Lovely Ron.
I prefer 8 to the last one, as Jim mentioned the bright sun in 9 draws the eye there.
I also like the idea of doing the same shoot in the same location, did you think about the same pose for the kids as well?.
All the best mate
Bud.

PS: Great portrait of mum, she looks fantastic.



Aug 12, 2013 at 05:26 AM
gempixel
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


These are great! like #6


Aug 12, 2013 at 08:11 AM
BobnJake
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Beautiful family Ron, you are truly blessed
Bob



Aug 12, 2013 at 08:26 AM
friscoron
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Jim Rickards wrote:
Wonderful pics, Ron. Nice job. It's the whole package - nice light, strong compositions and wonderful expressions.

In the last two shots, my fav would be #8, the second last one. Why? Both have the nice backlight, but the sun peeking through the trees does draw the eye in #9.


Thanks, Jim! The kids are getting better at getting into these sessions as they get older. In previous years, it was always a bit of a challenge with them.

It's interesting that a couple of you are liking 8 over 9. I actually shot into the sun with the intention of having bright spot. For whatever reason, I like it. Maybe because that was what I envisioned, I'm not sure. All I see when I look at 8 is their awkward posing.



Aug 12, 2013 at 09:32 AM
Yudhi
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


BobnJake wrote:
Beautiful family Ron, you are truly blessed
Bob

+ 1



Aug 12, 2013 at 09:33 AM
friscoron
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Bruce Sawle wrote:
Great looking family. Fun to shoot the kids formally. I do this every chance I get. Each vacation presents me with a new location. I like the idea of shooting in the same location.


Thanks, Bruce. I think it's great to do portraits like this in different places when you go on vacation. I had seen a series of pics of two sisters beginning when they were kids and going through every year of their adult lives, and that was in the back of my mind when I decided to do this. When you do something consistent like this, you're able to really hone in on the differences in each pic.



Aug 12, 2013 at 09:35 AM
friscoron
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


bbourizk wrote:
Lovely Ron.
I prefer 8 to the last one, as Jim mentioned the bright sun in 9 draws the eye there.
I also like the idea of doing the same shoot in the same location, did you think about the same pose for the kids as well?.
All the best mate
Bud.

PS: Great portrait of mum, she looks fantastic.


I've thought about using the same pose, and probably I should have them all standing next to each other instead of using the stool. That way, you can really watch their growth spurts from one year to the next. I have to think about this one.

Thanks for the comments, especially about my Mom.



Aug 12, 2013 at 09:39 AM
friscoron
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Yudhi wrote:
+ 1


Thanks Bob and Yudhi!



Aug 12, 2013 at 10:01 AM
friscoron
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


gempixel wrote:
These are great! like #6


Thanks! That one truly is who she is.



Aug 12, 2013 at 10:06 AM
canerino
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


solid work, ron!

one thing that I think would help add some depth to the images would be to move your subject away from the 'background' a bit. i'm specifically talking about #5, 8, 9. I think they are really good images, but some separation from the background would make them stronger.



Aug 12, 2013 at 10:11 AM
friscoron
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom



Chuck,

Thanks for your comment. In 8 and 9, they were 20 or more feet away from the tree and I was happy with the OOF look I got on the trees for that one. I'm not sure about 9, but I was shooting at 2.8 for 8 and got the effect I wanted.

On 5, she was only about 5-8 feet from the tree, and you're right on that one. She was too close, and I didn't get the OOF effect I really wanted there.

Thanks,
Ron




Aug 12, 2013 at 10:24 AM
canerino
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


you also got some crazy cloning stuff going on in the left and right sides of 9


Aug 12, 2013 at 10:27 AM
boxman
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


I enjoyed your pictures, Ron. Your mom looks like a character!

I didn't get the photo bug back (I had it in high school) until after my kids were grown, and regret not having pictures like yours. That's why I love photos like yours and Canerino's.



Aug 12, 2013 at 12:22 PM
friscoron
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


canerino wrote:
you also got some crazy cloning stuff going on in the left and right sides of 9


Chuck, if you read my notes that went with the picture, I addressed that. I cloned the whole thing to be wider so it would be on the sides of the canvas. I realized, after I uploaded this, that I grabbed the file I used for the canvas print. It's pretty typical to do it like this on a canvas print as it's not noticeable.



Aug 12, 2013 at 02:08 PM
deinfaces
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


Beautiful. Great separation from the background. Only 1 nit - #2 has no white of the eyes.


Aug 12, 2013 at 02:11 PM
friscoron
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


deinfaces wrote:
Beautiful. Great separation from the background. Only 1 nit - #2 has no white of the eyes.


Do you mean it's blue instead of white, Bob? I just looked at that when you made the comment, hadn't noticed that before.



Aug 12, 2013 at 02:18 PM
deinfaces
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Family portraits: My kids and my Mom


That's it!


Aug 12, 2013 at 02:22 PM
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