# Family portrait taken; looking for advice and feedback.



## wackocrash5150 (Dec 28, 2013)

I was recently at a family Christmas function and before hand, was asked to bring some gear to snap some Santa photos. Well one thing lead to another and next thing I knew, I was doing many family group portraits. Now I'm a true amateur. I've never done this for money and have never done an "on location" thing, with the exception of a friends house in which I had hours of prep and setup time. This time I had about 15 minutes from the time I dropped my bag to the time that Santa entered the room. I have a combination of some decent and some beginner gear. I have a 3 piece 250w strobe kit from Amazon that i decided to bring rather than speedlights simply because of power options due to the number of photos I'd be taking. I was using a 6D and started with an EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II and then switched to the kit 24-105mm L for the wider group shots. I used a tripod with a wired remote. I varied the settings a bit but generally they were f8 in Av mode. I put the ISO at about 400-640 to keep recharge time down a bit. I snapped A LOT of pics.... lol

For post-edit use LR5 and PS-CC. Once in LR I'd foolishly crop first (gotta remember to crop last) apply lens correction, export to PS and remove blemishes from the wall behind and zits from faces and whatnot, then apply a layer using the Imagenomic Portraiture plugin, then use a brush to sharpen up the eyes and hairline a bit, then back into LR to apply Perfectly Clear plugin for a bit of pop.


This is one example is took on a 10 second timer and am just looking for some tips and feedback. I'm really enjoyed doing this despite the pressure in the beginning. Everyone who got prints from this shoot was VERY happy with them. I'm just looking to get better. 

Thoughts for things I think i've learned? Perhaps ease up on the Portraiture plugin and CROP LAST. lol (People wanted different sizes of prints and it was a pain in the ass!)

Thanks in advance.

Leon


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## ScottyP (Dec 28, 2013)

Well lit and good exposure. My only niggle would be the background. It would be a little better if it was solid wall, or solid window, or if the window was centered or something. Or even have them farther from the wall so it isn't quite so sharp?

If you don't have a backdrop, or a less distracting wall, perhaps you could shoot outside if it were day. 

Also, in this one you cropped the right side a little too much and cut some elbows off.


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## wackocrash5150 (Dec 28, 2013)

ScottyP said:


> Well lit and good exposure. My only niggle would be the background. It would be a little better if it was solid wall, or solid window, or if the window was centered or something. Or even have them farther from the wall so it isn't quite so sharp?
> 
> If you don't have a backdrop, or a less distracting wall, perhaps you could shoot outside if it were day.
> 
> Also, in this one you cropped the right side a little too much and cut some elbows off.



Funny you mention the backdrop because i brought one with me. I didn't get a chance to use it though due to time and space constraints. (there was only a foot or two of room behind.) Perhaps I should've prioritized that a little bit more.... hmmm .... good ol' hindsight.

As for the crop/elbows .... scroll over  (I thought the same thing at first... lol) Although when I think, you're kinda right regardless. I should've cropped a tad less as the matting of a frame does come awfully close to the elbows.

Thank you ScottyP. Anything else?


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## ScottyP (Dec 29, 2013)

Oops. I didn't realize the picture scrolls.


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## jdramirez (Dec 29, 2013)

Ditto about the background. Ich. Everyone's eyes are open... so that's half the battle right there. I'd maybe suggest cropping the top of the image... there is just a good deal of open space that feels like it should be filled with people. 

Otherwise... good use of depth of field (no one is out of focus), well lit (not too much glare from the flash), but they kinda seem unenthusiastic... maybe crack a joke... so they smile all at the same time.


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## DanielW (Dec 29, 2013)

I second the background advice, but the lighting is very good!
Can you explain further how you distributed flashes/strobes/boxes for this photo?
Well done!


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## Albi86 (Dec 29, 2013)

I'm less convinced by the lighting. The left side looks clearly brighter than the right, in my opinion. The head tops are also a bit undefined.


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## YuengLinger (Dec 29, 2013)

Great photo of a wonderful family, and nice grouping. Constraints understood!

Yes, the contrast on the image right doesn't quite match the perfection of image left, but easy fix once spotted.

Happy New Years!


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## Jamesy (Dec 29, 2013)

Great job - I agree with the comment about the background but given the timelines and space constraints I completely understand. I have done similar selfie family/group shots and usually opt for a composite approach to mitigate the blinlkers! The one piece of advice I might offer is to fined your own 'mark' in a test shot and get back in that same spot as you are slightly blocked (I assume that is you in the top right of the photo. There is also a grandkid slighly blocking grandma.

All the best for 2014!


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## jdramirez (Dec 29, 2013)

Jamesy said:


> Great job - I agree with the comment about the background but given the timelines and space constraints I completely understand. I have done similar selfie family/group shots and usually opt for a composite approach to mitigate the blinlkers! The one piece of advice I might offer is to fined your own 'mark' in a test shot and get back in that same spot as you are slightly blocked (I assume that is you in the top right of the photo. There is also a grandkid slighly blocking grandma.
> 
> All the best for 2014!



For blinkers you can tell people to close their eyes until a second before the shot and all of the eyes will be open.


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## wackocrash5150 (Dec 29, 2013)

The lighting was done with 2 strobes at 45 degrees left and right, angled down using 33" shoot-thru umbrellas. The right strobe was stuffed in a corner and I didn't have much access to it so I made adjustments from the left one. I was a bit nervous about that one because it was exposed to kids running back and forth.. lol. I am actually in the top left of the photo; top right is my brother-in-law. Wardrobe wasn't really planned for this event and i'm not well versed in posing a group. I do notice the fact that Colin is partly blocking Grandma every time I look at the photo. If space allowed, I would've loved to have used the 3rd strobe that came with the kit but it simply wasn't an option. 



YuengLinger said:


> Great photo of a wonderful family, and nice grouping. Constraints understood!
> 
> Yes, the contrast on the image right doesn't quite match the perfection of image left, but easy fix once spotted.
> 
> Happy New Years!



Could you explain a little more what you mean and how you'd correct?






Albi86 said:


> I'm less convinced by the lighting. The left side looks clearly brighter than the right, in my opinion. The head tops are also a bit undefined.



Forgive if this seems like a dumb question but upon reading that, am i to assume that with group shots, lighting is supposed to be even/uniform as opposed to key/fill like single subject portraits I've done before?



This is great people. Exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. Thnx


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## Jamesy (Dec 29, 2013)

I think you did a good job posing people - many triangle formations which keeps the eyes hunting from face to face. The challenge in large groups can be to avoid blocking one subject with another. Models tend to not move but these types of family portraits everyone is wiggling around and often joking with each other. It is difficult to see unless you are behind the camera examining the scene.


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## Albi86 (Dec 29, 2013)

Albi86 said:


> I'm less convinced by the lighting. The left side looks clearly brighter than the right, in my opinion. The head tops are also a bit undefined.



Forgive if this seems like a dumb question but upon reading that, am i to assume that with group shots, lighting is supposed to be even/uniform as opposed to key/fill like single subject portraits I've done before?



This is great people. Exactly the kind of advice I was looking for. Thnx 
[/quote]

It can be a style choice of course, but in my opinion a gradient light in a group shot introduces an involuntary "priority" effect that is not pleasant. As if, so to say, the people on the right were less important.


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## wackocrash5150 (Dec 29, 2013)

Albi86 said:


> It can be a style choice of course, but in my opinion a gradient light in a group shot introduces an involuntary "priority" effect that is not pleasant. As if, so to say, the people on the right were less important.



Actually, that makes perfect sense. Very well explained and duely noted. I'd never thought of that before. 
I imagine that this would've been one of those scenarios where a light meter would've been handy.


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## mrsfotografie (Dec 29, 2013)

Great lighting I think! The positioning of the people looks good too, at least to my untrained eye (I'm not an expert on portrait photography). Only niggle except the background of course is that the one time I did a portraiture course, I learned hands are important and the poor kid in the middle has his hands cut off :-[


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## wackocrash5150 (Dec 29, 2013)

Ok. I took a quick look at the photo in Lightroom again and it turns out that i DID leave myself some wiggle room with the cropping. I was initially concerned about shifting too many faces up top. I was following what i know of shooting and editing a single subject and kept the Rule of 3rds in mind. I have recropped for the purpose of posting it on this thread, to see if i'm getting the right idea on the feedback i'm getting. By repositioning the crop, it lessens the background and includes the hands at the bottom. Again, when compared to the initial post photo, the cropping is the ONLY thing I changed. Let me know good/bad.


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## Jamesy (Dec 29, 2013)

I much prefer the crop on the second one - it seems much better balanced.


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## mrsfotografie (Dec 29, 2013)

wackocrash5150 said:


> Ok. I took a quick look at the photo in Lightroom again and it turns out that i DID leave myself some wiggle room with the cropping. I was initially concerned about shifting too many faces up top. I was following what i know of shooting and editing a single subject and kept the Rule of 3rds in mind. I have recropped for the purpose of posting it on this thread, to see if i'm getting the right idea on the feedback i'm getting. By repositioning the crop, it lessens the background and includes the hands at the bottom. Again, when compared to the initial post photo, the cropping is the ONLY thing I changed. Let me know good/bad.



I think it's better. The kids hands now work as an eye catcher (the green object helps) that draws you into the frame, there's an interesting 'V' shape going from there that invites the viewer to explore the picture.


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## chauncey (Dec 31, 2013)

Heeding the advice of those that have gone before, I might add the following...take numerous pictures with perhaps a second delay between them. This enables you to go into Photoshop, you do use Photoshop don't you, and clone/cut & paste/whatever the changes in the various micro-expressions that normally occur. Voila, you now have the best of each person in that group shot.


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