Last weekend I had the opportunity to shoot this nice young family for their fall portraits. Unfortunately, living on the west coast of Canada in October often means rain, in which we had plenty of that day. Rescheduling was not an option for them, so we did our best and tried to incorporate the rain into the day.

Any C&C welcomed and appreciated.

Cheers,
Rick



# 1,2,3

#4,5,6

#7,8,9

#10

my subject became my lightstand too

Any C&C on anything would be greatly appreciated. My limited photography skill has increased more in the past few months that I've belonged to FM than the previous couple years since I started exploring photography, and I try to take your comments with me to future photoshoots to grow.

Cheers,
Rick

#2 and #7 are very nice shots of the family. The last shot is fun

I know what you mean about the weather, I'm doing fall/winter shoots now here in Seattle and it's been horrible weather in general.

wow.... did everyone else see those leaves ?

holy toledo... we don't get anything like that in southern Arizona.

very cool !

- travis

some really mice work.

I love 5 and 7. It's great that you turned a bad situation into some great work. My only gripe about some of these is the focus. A few look a little soft, probably from a shallow DOF due to the low light. What lens/camera did you use for these? Nice colors, I look forward to seeing more of your work.

I didn't have a chance to read all the responses and so don't know if anyone else has made the following comment: PLEASE remove the apostrophe from the title of the first photo. As an English teacher, I could hardly look at the pictures themselves without knowing that you had immortalized a grammatical error for the EHMANS. The apostrophe is used to make a possessive, NOT a plural. By the way, I love the photos. It's just that my grammar is much better than my photography skills.

The weather indeed has been ugly Andy.. and as it usually goes, the very next day was sunny and warm. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Thanks for the kind words Travis. Shooting later into the fall around here means a lot more rain, but it does make the colors in the leaves a lot more spectacular.

Thanks for the kind words and taking the time to comment SJMD.

Hi Kelly. I used a 40D and an 85L for most of the portraits that day. I haven't checked the exif, but it most (if not all) in this series. If not the 85L, it would have been a 24-70L. The 85L is still new to me and I'm still learning to keep sharp shots at wide open apertures. Thanks for taking the time to comment.

Thanks for taking the time to comment Vicki. I've fixed my grammatical error as pointed out Thanks for the kind words on my photography


Cheers,
Rick

I like #5 (parents in OOF background) and #11 (strobist padawan)

Nice set, I think you did a great job. I might add a touch of sharpness to the subjects, they do seem a little bit soft.

SJMD wrote:
some really mice work.

Mice? They must have been hiding in the leaves.

Hi Rick

I like this series, you have captured some nice momentos for the family. The last of the kid and the lightstand is pure genius. Great subject ,great capture and out of the norm for most which in turns makes it a winner. Now with that said there are a couple of minor fixes that you could have done while shooting and its not apotrophes

#5 nice shot good execution, for something different next time have the couple in behind the child kiss while shooting the same frame. It will give a whole different emotion to the same exact photo. Nice photo regardless!

#6 There is no connection with your subjects. I think I know what you were trying to capture but the timing was off. As far as it being soft it is but it certainly does not ruin the shot. The photo to me is about the connection of family and the mom is looking at the child but the child is looking at the sky and the dad is staring you down. It just didnt work but a few seconds before or after may have. So just take the extra time and watch and direct the scene before hitting the shutter.

# 7 Much better you have engaged all to look at you, the nitpick is the top of the frame you have that bunch of leaves sticking in there and it is distracting the eye from the subject. A closer pov or a different angle probably would have solved this for you. The same bunch of leaves is also having the same effect on number 6.

#10 Have the girl look down at her guitar or what until she does so before taking the photo. While it is a nice shot as is, it makes one wonder what she is looking at. I think the interaction with the instrument would make a better shot.

#Last shot and number 3 GREAT! wouldnt change a thing.

#4 is probably the weakest of the bunch as the child is not engaged by the lens and other than nice colors and the parents liking it it offers nothing for a neutral viewer.

As far as the weather etc, you did what a pro does you made something out of what you had. Cannot ask for better than that!

I hope some of my comments help you out.

Good light to you



Dave

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions Clarence and Justin.
I believe the nearby traps had the mice at bay Seth, but you never know.. there were lots of leaves

Dave, thanks for taking the time to review each of my images and break them down for me individually. While I wont spam the board explaining or agreeing with each comments, I can tell you that i have read, re-read, and re-re-read your post many times and will try to take a great deal of the information you shared with me to my next shoot and hope the next one turns out better.

Cheers,
Rick

Rick, Thanks for reading them. Again these are only my opinions but I do hope there was something useful in them for you.

Also there is a typo in the comment on the girl and the guitar. Its supposed to read wait for the girl and not what for the girl

Happy shooting
Dave