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Uncle and Aunty only had a PSD camera, so I thought that I'd do them a favour and take some half reasonable portraits of their offspring...





Both shot with the kit lens, 1/60 @ 5.6

Honest and harsh feedback encouraged... I've just been foolish enough to donate a free family portrait shoot as a prize in our school raffle, so I need all the pointers that I can get...

p.s. strangely enough... these pics looked much better when printed...

First photo//
Not sure if the kid was moving or due to camera shake but seems a bit too soft for me. Was there any PP work on this? The eyes are nice, sharp and bright though Also might want to consider blurring the bkg a bit, as the grid pattern is a bit distracting.

I like the natural smile and inquisitive look on the child's face though.

Second photo//
Nice and casual, but pity the child wasn't looking at you. I understand it's really hard to get children to look at the camera especially when you have to consider timing and patience of everyone involved.

Not sure what's happened in this photo, might be during PP(?), but the child is once again blurred and the father seems to be over sharpened as there is a very distinct line/halo around the left (his left, our right) of his face.

I'd also be more inclined to blur the background just a tad more.

Sorry for the long winded comments Leek Great job though scoring a family portrait shoot, any experience is good experience.

Good luck with the photoshoot.

Definitely a little soft except for the Dad, but nice facial expressions and good shots. Sometimes soft baby shots are fine, good work, Max

John: what PiroStitch said re: the softness and sharpening, not that the softness detracts from the image that much, we're nitpicking here. That, and what's wrong with colour? My first impression was that these shots are a bit bland in B&W. Maybe I've just been looking at too much B&W/sepia stuff lately though.

Thanks everyone...

re: the softness... I used a glamblur action on both photos... maybe I overdid it...

B&W vs. colour... I don't know why I chose B&W... I just thought it looked better...

Both photos were with natural light - no flash... the first was indoors and the second by the light of the setting sun at about 4pm...
The group portrait was heavily cropped due to the fact the the mum had baby sick all over her left shoulder

I like the pose of the mother in the second. Just a little bit too soft as has been said, and I do agree that color might have made more sense (don't know why though).

OK... for those who questioned the B&W... here are the colour versions side by side with the B&W versions... Which do you prefer???
Bear in mind that the colour versions have not had the glamblur treatment...

The colour ones look much better.

G'day,
Prefer the B&W for the baby and would blur the background as has been mentioned (great shot of the young'n though!), but I prefer the colour for the family shot, not sure why though

With the glamblur, can it be done on a separate layer or something and erase the blur just on the eyes/lashes etc for sharpness? Just a thought, take with a grain of salt

Offering the family portrait shoot is a terrific idea, get experience and the family gets a great memory as well, both win

The baby shot I would prefer B&W, your family shot looks better in colour