Which ones should we pick?

Question

We had some family pictures done the other day. I'm not sure how many we're going to pick yet. Which ones do you think are the best? These are the first family pics we've ever done and we plan on getting them framed and given to family members for christmas. What do you think?

http://www.salisburyphoto.com/aaron/

gryphon: i dunno man, sears portrait studio type stuff is really generic. all the soft fuzzy quality to everything, the folded hands, fake grins, and props- totally not my style.

water skipper sucks.

Answer 1

ANY AND ALL!!! you and your family are beautiful!!! i think it's a great gift!!
edit....
WOW WOW WOW...
what a bunch of picky people on here...i bet each and everyone is a professional photographer. i didn't even notice the doorknob...just the subjects! i think it looks natural...not staged. if you wanted this staged you would have went to sears. i think there are a bunch of jealous people on here.

Answer 2

Issues with all of them, either focus, WB, composition, posing, background clutter, etc etc. My picks would be 11. 27, 32, or 36, if you must have one of this group. I would try to re-shoot. Did you do them yourself, or hire a photographer? I would ask for a re-shoot if you hired a photographer, and at no charge, because, frankly, these are some rather poor images to pay for.
Your family is beautiful, though. I like the idea of you reading a book to the baby, maybe make it "The Night Before Christmas" to tie into the holiday? Best wishes!

EDIT*
Please don't take my remarks personally, and yes, I do some photography. I understand you don't want the Sears generic studio portrait, and that's fine, but there are still "rules" to be considered in any type of portrait shot, even candid looking ones. One is body language and posing. In the first sequence of shots, mommy has her body turned away from the baby and daddy and her arm is stiff and looks almost detached. That is bad form, and could have been helped by simply turning her body toward the others instead of away. The clutter is distracting, and although the subject is the people, the background is also part of the whole and needs to be considered. Photo critique is subjective, of course, but bad color and missed focus are pretty universally considered to be something to avoid showing a client, and even candid shots, if they are a family portrait, need some amount of staging to look their best. I'm sure your family will love and treasure any one that you end up picking even if the photography technique has some flaws, though. Have a peaceful holiday season!

Answer 3

Ok, here;s my take.
First things first, find an area in your home with a plain background. No doorknobs, half windows, paintings cut in half ect. Hang a white sheet if your have to but unclutter the background. Remember there should be not competing elements in a portrait, the family IS the subject, so eliminate all distracting elements.

Try sitting on the floor, with a tall floor lamp, left or right of the subjects, just make sure the pole part of the lamp isn't in the photo. Use your flash, dialed down or in fill flash mode to fill in the shadows, or use a desk lamp w/ a flexible neck.
You can adjust the color balance in the same program you used to do the B+W effect.

OR,

Turn the couch around so it's 90 degrees to the window I saw in the pics you have, and hang the sheet behind, using the window as a main light source, and your on camera flash to fill in as needed.

Use a higher shutter speed for crisp, motion eliminating exposures.

Use a longer focal length, as everyone else said. Wide angle perspective's introduce optical distortion, produce quite odd looking renditions of the human face. Portrait photographers favor the 80mm > 180mm focal lengths, to eliminate the optical distortion, and give the subject some breathing room.

It is a good attempt, but I feel you have missed the mark.
It's not Christmas yet, so I'd say do them again.

Very nice looking family!!!

Good luck, hope this helps.

Answer 4

Hey, it's your family, not mine!

Pick what feels most natural and expresses your feelings.

Getting Technical?

Toss out the out-of-focus pics -- he shouldn't have even shown them to you.

Even More Technical?

Ask the photog to adjust the white balance, color balance and saturation of the colour shots you pick so they look more natural.

This is easy to do and he should do it at no extra charge.

Overall these are great and they only need some tuning.

Answer 5

Alright, here's my two cents.
I liked 4, 16, and 27 and really liked 6 and 19.
You both look better when looking straight into the camera, or when the camera is on the left side of your face.

Answer 6

I really like #1--you look very pretty in that one.

Also like #14, 17, 20, 27, 30--but I'd definitely choose #1 to give to family members.

Answer 7

I love the lighting, but I find the photos taken from too high an angle, elongating your noses and shot with a wide angle so any hands that come forward in the photos look huge. Wrong lens! I like the one shot on a lower angle with the book in front, but the child is soft focus. You are a really nice looking family! I would ask to have them reshot.

PS. The last black & white looks the best, but the feamle is much prettier in other pictures.

Answer 8

first of all, they all look great. I favored the close up ones of you reading the book, and the one near the end where the child is smiling big. Also the one where he is touching both of you is cute. Ones where you are not looking at the camera are the ones I'd pick. The more candid looking the better.

Answer 9

Numbers one and nine are brilliant, I missed looking at 5 to8, and I didn't go further than nine. The loading is way too slow.

But.. those two I am sure of. Beautiful family, I hope you are as happy as you look. Lizzie

Answer 10

I like Nos. 27 and 32 the best.

Answer 11

#1, you all look best there. I'm not a big fan of the door/doorknob right above your head, but hey, that's your family in your home, that's about as real as you can get!