Family gettogether.. Critique/help

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

06/25/2008 03:48:32 PM · #1

Last weekend I went to my familys gettogether. I sort of volunteered to take family photos for the group. Beforehand I promised everyone a CD with the images so that we wouldn't have to hold poses while each individual came up to take a picture with their own camera. I would just take them all with my camera and send out CD's to everyone. (rolls eyes) Anyhow.. it went ok.. but a little chaotic.. everybody had their own photography advise on how things should be done. And people were still standing behind me taking picture's with their own camera. It was a bit rushed, and I learned from the experience.

Well, the pictures didn't turn out as good as I would like.. most of the photos are blurry and or out of focus. I've never taken portraits..and don't really know what I'm doing but I'm trying to learn. I'm looking for advice on what steps I can take to make these picture better in PP. I don't want to disappoint everyone. The women in my family are all big scrapbookers and are expecting good prints from me. Also, is there anything I should do to process these for best print quality? They are only getting a CD..so what ratio is best for prints? ANY advice/comments greatly appreciated. Thnx =)

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karmat

Apple iPhone 7

06/25/2008 03:52:10 PM · #2

Just glancing through, they look okay. They do appear a little soft, but it might not be too noticeable in prints, especially 4x6s. The good thing is that if you give them a CD and the prints are really nasty, just blame it on the printer. :)

(Just an aside -- last week was also my husband's family get together. They also did the red/white/blue patriotic thing).

treyvus

Nikon D7200

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

06/25/2008 03:58:54 PM · #3

I think the pics look pretty decent.

Just curious what aperture did you use? I am assuming you used your portrait lens to take these...For portrait shots with a lot of people you probably want to use 8 or higher. Some pictures look a little overexposed. I don't know if it was out of your control or not, and I don't know what time you were taking the shots, but taking these either earlier in the morning or later in the day would help. It looks like the sun was pretty strong. Another thing is I am assuming you handheld the camera. Setting it on a tripod and using a remote would alleviate some of the softness. I recently bought a remote on Ebay for just $10 (shipping included). You probably do need to spend some time and post process them a little. But overall, good job:)

egamble

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM

06/25/2008 04:01:05 PM · #4

This is why i avoid family get togethers..

06/25/2008 04:11:33 PM · #5

Originally posted by treyvus:

Well..yes the sun was strong.. 3pm.. no clouds. I decided to set everyone up in the shade. So aperture was wide open.. handheld.. (left tripod at the hotel)

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 IS USM

06/25/2008 04:13:33 PM · #6

Originally posted by karmat:

(Just an aside -- last week was also my husband's family get together. They also did the red/white/blue patriotic thing).

Haha...how crazy is that... your not my cousin are you? =)

egamble

Canon EOS-7D

06/25/2008 04:14:10 PM · #7

Originally posted by Intelli:

(left tripod at the hotel)

Don't you hate that?

The other day..I saw an amazing sunset...pulled out my camera..and CLICK. Nothing. No memory card..it was still in my card reader at home.

:(

treyvus

Nikon D7200

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 16-85 f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

06/25/2008 04:24:52 PM · #8

I believe if the aperture was wide open then that is what probably caused the images to be soft. From what I understand/read most lenses don't do too well in terms of sharpness at either end of the spectrum (e.g. 1.4 or 22). So you really want to use something in the middle to get best results (e.g. 5.6)...Also wide open aperture is probably not the best choice when you have so many people involved in the photographs. If you have just one person and you want to blur the background - yes. But when you have a lot of people you want to have decent DOF to capture the depth. For example one person could stand a little bit behind the other. If the one in the front comes out sharp, chances are the one in the back will be blurry.

jpochard

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM

06/25/2008 04:27:34 PM · #9

Left you some comments.