Spring Portraits - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

04/08/2004 09:45:51 PM · #1

I took a few portraits of my daughters. I am going to take some portraits of my friends kids and was wondering what you thought of these and maybe give me some tips on other poses and backgrounds or props. Thanks!

crabappl3

04/08/2004 10:12:56 PM · #2

As always, you capture these young ladies wonderfully. You always seem to capture their beautiful spirit!

-danny

KevinRiggs

Canon EOS-1Ds

04/08/2004 11:09:07 PM · #3

Sonja,

Your little ladies are so lovely. Wonder where they get that . . . oh yeah. In clockwise order from top left:

Lila's pose with bunny is a cute pose and it she's a doll. I like how you exposed for her lovely little locks; that hair just has depth to it. It looks like you got a little close to overexposing the shot between the dark shadow in the bunny's ear and under the collar of her dress. I think you could clear those up with selective layers to blend those shadows out as they aren't too deep and it is such a nice composition. I might set the pink bucket up on something about 2 inches and crop at the hemline of the dress as the legs don't add anything and its just more skintone to work on.

SpringGirls1 is a perfect pose. You couldn't ask for a better shot as it looks completely natural and those girls are darling; I hope mine sits as still but at 14 months the Vegas has the odds set high against me. :) It looks like this has a little too much harsh light as well with the harder shadows showing up above Lila's glove and behind the flower. I like the depth of color on the dresses but both girl's skintones seem just a little washed out (I realize that they probably have very fair skin) but you are losing just a little definition under the eyes of your older daughter (Chan?).

springchan1re is a wonderful shot. You lose a little definition to the exposure and a little to what appears to be gaussian blur but for this shot I think that both of those totally work. Both effects help highlight the more important facets of this work, namely the wonderful color and texture of her hair, her smoothly blessed skintone that belongs only to children, her unbelievable eyelashes that emphasize the innocence with which she looks at the blossom and the light pink of her lips. I really like this shot. If you set out to capture this shot like this then kudos to you. This has a dreamy quality that I think would be difficult to duplicate on demand.

springchan2cp is similar in subject matter to the last except for two main areas: the first being that it is much more engaging on a personal level since she is looking out to the viewer and IMO too much detail is lost in the cheek to the lighting. I can appreciate both this photo and the last I commented on as nice works of art but if they were of my child I would see the last version as more about the innocence of youth or some other intangible characteristic like ever-springing hope that floods and baths youngsters with possibilities. This version of the shot, however, would be on my desk because it "feels" more like someone to whom I'm connected. You still captured the hair, the lips, most of the skintone/complexion but you've now added to the full eyelashes with those beautiful eyes. Nothing can tell that story a parent feels when he/she looks up and catches those eyes and remembers all the learning and playing and interaction that have gone on behind them and through them. This is a personal shot and its good but just a touch less lighting and I think you'd really have a superb shot here.

If you're looking for Easter shots some options might be a red wagon with a bunny (even a stuffed one) being pulled by junior or the littlest lady at the party; have a child hold a few decorated eggs in hand and toss one in the air without trying to catch it, have him/her look at the camera instead and you can get an action shot that looks like he/she is juggling an Easter egg; those small gloved hands holding the Bible; have the girls stand back-to-back holding similar flowers and have them each look down into the blossoms (you can take that color, B&W or even just a silhouette).

Well, that's enough for now (I bet I have like a whole darned page, sorry).

Kev

04/09/2004 10:39:30 AM · #4

Thank you, Crab! (hug)

Wow, Kevin! I am very thankful for your comment/critique. You are the best. Thanks for taking the time to do that for me. It really helped. I am going to go back and remess with these shots now.

Funny thing is I took about maybe 30 shots of the little one and this is the only one I got that was worth keeping. The one with the two girls is the only one I got worth keeping too. Those 2 year olds are tough to get to sit still. It was fun though.

Thanks again, Crab and Kevin.

Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF

04/10/2004 04:44:20 PM · #5

Here are some more Easter shots. I took these today during the Easter egg hunt. Lila was so funny, she grabbed one candy and sat down and wanted to eat it. She didn't want to grab anymore, so we had to help her out or she wouldn't get any as fast as the kids were moving through the park.
This is the first shot of her after she found some candy.

This is her and a friend. She was eyeing the other girls candy.

She is enjoying her candy here.

Now the little girl is eyeing her candy and Lila is telling her mom what she got.

Lila doesn't care about the Easter bunny here. She just wants the candy. At one point she tried to take the basket. hehee..

faidoi

Pentax K10D

04/10/2004 04:51:20 PM · #6

B&W pictures with hand coloring?

PaulMdx

Canon EOS-1D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

04/10/2004 04:55:08 PM · #7

Really nice shots, Sonja. I particularly like the partially-saturated set. And who IS that person in the bunny outfit?!

KevinRiggs

Canon EOS-1Ds

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

04/10/2004 05:06:08 PM · #8

Sonja,

You really are the master of these partially saturated type shots. I'd love to work with you sometime to produce some older type photos with some models. You just capture such a feeling of time and nostalgia that this could have been old photos you sitting on the ground (not that you're old; not that there's anything wrong with that).
Great compositions. These would have to be treasures for the family album.

Hope you all had a ton of fun today.

Kevin