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Some friends of ours recently asked if I could take a few family pictures of them. They've been wanting them since their 4.5 year old daughter was born but haven't been able to swing it. Of course I said yes! We set a date (this past Sunday) but it was going to be rained out, so we moved it up a day to this past Saturday and I just finished processing the set. Here are a few from the session that I really liked. C&C are most certainly welcome :-)
11 DSC00190 by Jonathan Brady, on Flickr
*the sun had already set about 15 minutes prior to this image. Thank goodness for large sensors and large apertures!
Thanks for looking! And again, C&C are most definitely appreciated.
Wonderful set. They really have a nice, touching feel to them. Warm and genuine. For me, the little angel is the star and has a very nice, relaxed vibe in these shots. My only wish is that white was not such a dominant color in all of their clothing. The brights in some of the images draw the eye away from your subjects and even out of the frame in a couple.
Brev00 wrote:
Wonderful set. They really have a nice, touching feel to them. Warm and genuine. For me, the little angel is the star and has a very nice, relaxed vibe in these shots. My only wish is that white was not such a dominant color in all of their clothing. The brights in some of the images draw the eye away from your subjects and even out of the frame in a couple.
Thank you! I totally agree that their little girl is a superstar!
And yeah, I'm with you on the white clothing. When they got out of the car, I groaned a little inside... lol She sent me some inspiration images and they were all of the "light, bright, and airy" variety so I think that's where they got that from. I frequently suggest to people that they find a photographer who fits their style rather than finding any photographer and asking them to change, but in this case, this family simply doesn't have the means to hire a photographer so I did my best to give them what they wanted while still remaining true to my style (which is usually more contrasty, bold, and has shadows). As it turns out, they LOVE these images even though it's not exactly what they sent me as inspiration. I think it might have been a case of "you don't know what you don't know" when it came to photographic/processing style.
I tried to reduce highlights in each image as much as possible without it having a negative effect, even resorting to some local work here and there. The problem is, when that gets taken too far, it's obvious. Any suggestions for anything else? Or am I simply at the mercy of white clothing?
Thanks again for the comments & critiques! :-D They are most humbly accepted!
dmacmillan wrote:
These are lovely, down to earth real photos. I知 sure they値l love them!
My only nit is I wish the flash fill was from a broader, softer source.
Thanks! And they do :-)
As for using a larger modifier... I have definitely debated getting something in the 60 inch range but I worry that its decreased portability will keep me from using it on location. I also could have softened up the shadows by not using the grid. I appreciate the feedback!
Thanks! Images 5, 6, and 7 were all taken using external lighting. I had a 600ws strobe firing through a 38 in parapop that was gridded.
All other images were natural light.
I do not think the white clothing draws the eye negatively in every shot or even most of them. I think the last shot is an example of how surrounding the whites with darker colors works very well. 5, 6, 7, and 10--no problems. I think #2 is one that does lose out to the brightness especially because her dress is actually pink. I don't think anything should be brighter than her face in that pic. How to fix it? If you could bring back some of the pink that might help. But, if the highlights are blown then there is nothing you can do outside of some clever painting.
I think there is some potential to rework the conversion of #8. The adults' shirts seem to have a blue cast while her dress is pink. Instead of just desaturating the image, work with the color channels. Darken the blues and cyans. With a slight vignette, that should create a darker frame.
But, if your clients are happy, put your feet up and enjoy your success!
