I haven't done family portraits for the general public in a couple of decades. I did do it before that. When I have assignments now it is usually the art director and/or graphic designers and if there is a clothing stylist deciding backgrounds, clothing, colors etc though it is usually a calibration. The good art directors usually get my advice as well as all the others before they make a final decision.
I think Evan has made some good points. Usually the odd man out in a group shot draws the attention. In #1the grey shirt is really an attention getter because it is different form the rest. I think Dawn went with gray because it is neutral. I think as Evan mentioned if dad would have had a dark navy or black jacket dad wouldn't pull the eye so much. Maybe a green tie and jacket in #1? It is a very good famly portrait and kids can be hard to work with. Very well done.
johnld wrote:
I do like the lighting, compositions and colors, but for me, I might tone down the software effects on their faces just a bit. I once did a family shoot with similar editing and the client said..."That doesn't even look like us".
Look at some of her before and after posts. You'd hardly believe the some were the same person.
RE: the gentleman's shirt - I generally advise clients to bring several neutral options as I don't stock men's clothing; I do suggest that my main wardrobe colors are navy/dark green/red/burgundy, but there is such a wide gamut of colors within those shades that sometimes the best thing we can do is work with what the client has brought. COVID has made it unreasonable to have clients visit my home studio ahead of time to try on outfits and coordinate completely; my solution thus far has been to send images of dresses that SHOULD fit clients so they can bring whatever they have that may match. I prefer to keep it neutral because if a client shows up and the dress we were thinking would work doesn't for one of many reasons (fit/client's preference in person, etc), we still have something to work with.
I'm moving into my first commercial studio space (so exciting and also so scary) and may be more willing to have clients visit in person to try on dresses, which would help a lot with coordinating the guys to match. To summarize...yes, dad could have matched better!
As for the level of skin retouching; I'm finding that that is highly subjective from other photographers and clients alike. I love the look that I am able to give the images, and believe it or not there is not much smoothing that goes into it, at least overall. I do adjust the light that falls on the face, but I believe that there are enough images of my work out there that if a client prefers a less edited aesthetic for themselves, they have about a million other photographers to choose from! That's the beauty of us all creating different artwork and capturing memories, right?
Honestly, over the years, I've actually toned down the amount of smoothing, in no small part because of feedback I've received on this forum. I've settled into a place that feels comfortable and that my clients seem to love.
I so appreciate all the helpful comments I've received here. I have made some major positive adjustments in my edits and SOOC photographs from your feedback. Still learning always!
