The Wife, Daughter and Son

A fine set (y) I love the vintage feel of these (y) overall a really nice set, my only slight niggle is that on the second you've cut off the top of your poor wife's head :bang: the only thing that I really noticed from the set that I didn't like (y)

Matt
MWHCVT
 
MWHCVT said:
A fine set (y) I love the vintage feel of these (y) overall a really nice set, my only slight niggle is that on the second you've cut off the top of your poor wife's head :bang: the only thing that I really noticed from the set that I didn't like (y)

Matt
MWHCVT
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Thank you for your honesty, glad you like them - With regards to the second image that's by no means deliberate, the original image has too much rear tilt on so to bring her more up right I rotated the image until it appeared more a relaxed pose.. but now that you mention it, could be that I expand the canvas and apply more back ground giving me more room to rotate without cutting of the head.. (y)


EDIT: Ok, made a quick change - hope that works :)
 
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Martin.D said:
Thank you for your honesty, glad you like them - With regards to the second image that's by no means deliberate, the original image has too much rear tilt on so to bring her more up right I rotated the image until it appeared more a relaxed pose.. but now that you mention it, could be that I expand the canvas and apply more back ground giving me more room to rotate without cutting of the head.. (y)


EDIT: Ok, made a quick change - hope that works :)
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Much better (y) now a perfect set :clap:
 
1, 2 and 4 for me. I'm not worried about the crops, processing is great and the fact they looked relaxed speaks volumes about how you handled the situation. I. Think I would revisit the processing on 3 and 5, but that is merely my preference. Well done.
 
Will B said:
1, 2 and 4 for me. I'm not worried about the crops, processing is great and the fact they looked relaxed speaks volumes about how you handled the situation. I. Think I would revisit the processing on 3 and 5, but that is merely my preference. Well done.
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Thank you - I think due to the fact I'm always photographing my family they are used to it now :D
 
A really fantastic set. Can I ask how you lit 3&5 please? I know you said natural light, but I wouldn't know how to do something like that. And is that a studio backdrop you're using?
 
TopBanana said:
A really fantastic set. Can I ask how you lit 3&5 please? I know you said natural light, but I wouldn't know how to do something like that. And is that a studio backdrop you're using?
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Thank you - We live in a bungalow and our windows leading on to the terrace are very big - perfect for drawing in natural light. When ever I photograph the children I always make sure they are positioned with the light to there frontage. The backdrop is simply the back wall of the dining room, wall papered with standard wood chip paper and painted light grey. The kids are about 1 meter away and when using a large aperture 1.8 in this case (Nifty Fifty)
the back wall is totally blurred out..

The shot below is similar, cluttered background but blurred enough not to distract the eye from Lucy - using the same window for natural light..


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Excellent set, really loving the lighting and the framings :) I'd be really interested to know more about your processing on these, if you dont mind, as I really like it especially the 2nd photo, thanks
 
Good set all-round, lovely eye lights & crisp. Nice treatment. Impressive especially with a single flash. Good DOF on the 4th image
 
Beautiful set Martin and yes they do look so relaxed which is half the battle, and like you my kids are my life and I am always photographing them so I can look back and see how much I enjoyed them merry Christmas mate..
 
First off here is the set-up shot for the first 2 images of my wife.. Single softbox fired with modified ETTL cable using Cat 45 cable (Unlimited length :D) - Silver reflector mounted on a pin board. She was standing so at the time the chair was not there and the flash and reflector were raised to the ceiling..Height of 2 meters and 16cm...

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Creaxel_photo said:
Excellent set, really loving the lighting and the framings :) I'd be really interested to know more about your processing on these, if you dont mind, as I really like it especially the 2nd photo, thanks
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Thank you... I can go in to more detail if required but really the first one I've tried to keep the image as natural as possible by simply upping the lighting and playing around with shadows and highlights etc

The second photo is a combination of the above and the photos below using masking layers to alter the colour..

I wrote a short tutorial here concerning some of the detailed work...

davekiddle said:
All stunning portraits. As said, the lighting, framing and general 'feel' is superb! I'd also be interested in your PP methods :)
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Thank you - See above comment and if you require more info on the PP work for the latter images let me know..

Peter_Hartland said:
Good set all-round, lovely eye lights & crisp. Nice treatment. Impressive especially with a single flash. Good DOF on the 4th image
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Thank you kindly..

owen said:
Beautiful set Martin and yes they do look so relaxed which is half the battle, and like you my kids are my life and I am always photographing them so I can look back and see how much I enjoyed them merry Christmas mate..
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Thank you very much and Merry Christmas to your good self and family (y)
 
Love this set with 2 and 4 being my favourites. Would love to know how you processed 4. You discuss processing of only the first two in the post above right?
 
Nice as always Martin, you should not leave it so long next time.
 
dubcat said:
Love this set with 2 and 4 being my favourites. Would love to know how you processed 4. You discuss processing of only the first two in the post above right?
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Thank you - Later this evening or tommorow I shall knock something up that outlines my PP work for that 4th image..

tiler65 said:
Nice as always Martin, you should not leave it so long next time.
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Thank you Tom - I try not to, spend a lot of time over on POTN :p
 
Thanks for taking the time and effort to explain your lighting, it's invaluable for beginners like me and really appreciated.
I'll have to go and buy a silver reflector now!
 
TopBanana said:
Thanks for taking the time and effort to explain your lighting, it's invaluable for beginners like me and really appreciated.
I'll have to go and buy a silver reflector now!
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No problem but I'm no expert! I have a good friend who's Knowledge using strobes has helped me a great deal. I much prefer outdoor photography but given the current weather condition's photographing my family kind of passes the time. I like experimenting with single strobes it's cheaper and just as effective as multiple ones. I only used the reflector to bounce the light back in for fill, if that's the correct term.

By the way, if your going to purchase a reflector purchase the 5 in 1 - some times the silver side is a little harsh and for women it's not always pretty to see harsh lighting and therefore I believe gold warms the light up as well as softens it..
 
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Hi thanks for the information, really appreciated :)
Keep up the good work
 
Thoughts from an incompetent:

No. 1 - Love the lighting and everything, but your wife's expression seems to be one of "Oh God, how long do I have to hold a smile?"

No. 2 - Particularly like this. The tilt of the head, the eye contact and the plaintive expression really draw me in.

No. 3 - I think that I'd perhaps like to see a little more brightness in this. It doesn't seem to me to be as sharp as it could, that would most likely be a downsizing issue, though.

No. 4 - Love the lighting, but would like to see a bit more sharpness. Either it's a downsizing issue or my glasses need changing again.

No. 5 - Pretty much as no. 3

Love the natural poses of the kids. It always seems to me to be pretty difficult to get my family to pose without it all getting a little too cheesy.
 
Creaxel_photo said:
Hi thanks for the information, really appreciated :)
Keep up the good work
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Hey no problem and thank you..

mr_pants said:
Thoughts from an incompetent:

No. 1 - Love the lighting and everything, but your wife's expression seems to be one of "Oh God, how long do I have to hold a smile?"

No. 2 - Particularly like this. The tilt of the head, the eye contact and the plaintive expression really draw me in.

No. 3 - I think that I'd perhaps like to see a little more brightness in this. It doesn't seem to me to be as sharp as it could, that would most likely be a downsizing issue, though.

No. 4 - Love the lighting, but would like to see a bit more sharpness. Either it's a downsizing issue or my glasses need changing again.

No. 5 - Pretty much as no. 3

Love the natural poses of the kids. It always seems to me to be pretty difficult to get my family to pose without it all getting a little too cheesy.
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^^ Great information and thank you .. Given the Len's I was using Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II "Nifty Fifty" I don't think I'm going to get any sharper! I already assumed most were sharp enough.. With regards to 3 you're right, the layer was sharpened using a High Pass filtered layer of 9 pixels plus selective masking due to it not being 100% in focus.. by the way given the large aperture for the natural light photo's the main focus is on the eyes..
 
1 the best from the first lot, the rest are really good as well, but that first one just really stands out for me.

That most recent one you posted though is even better, if it wasn't for the hair across the right eye and the slightly too tighter crop on the left elbow it would be the best of the thread imo.

You've really got the eye contact with your family nailed, makes such a difference to an image.
 
ACW said:
1 the best from the first lot, the rest are really good as well, but that first one just really stands out for me.

That most recent one you posted though is even better, if it wasn't for the hair across the right eye and the slightly too tighter crop on the left elbow it would be the best of the thread imo.

You've really got the eye contact with your family nailed, makes such a difference to an image.
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Thank you - 1 is my favorite too :D For me it's important to make such an image as natural as possible and I think with this particular image I did just that.. One to hang above the office desk :)
 
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