my botched Christmas photo--need suggestions

[theresa_skutt]

<p>Before you say it, I know how bad it is. My daughter is fake-smiling, the curtains compete with the outfits, the shadows are harsh. My question is should I try again in this place, or revert back to the studio? This didn't go as planned, but I'm not a hairdresser, and the stress of getting them ready ruined the mood, plus trying to be hairdresser/stylist, mom AND photographer didn't work this time.<br>

Scrap it? Try again?</p>

[theresa_skutt]

<p>I forgot to post the photo!<br>

<em>Also, if I head to the studio, what background would you use?</em></p><div></div>

[rffffffff]

<p>It may lack imagination, but with those dresses I would try again on simple black.. I think it would look nicer than the location you have chosen, and I think a second go sometimes can make the mood a little easier... Smack yourself in the face a few times in order to get them to smile... It works for me! =o)</p>

[gia_hillenbrand]

<p>Here is my late night attempt :)</p><div></div>

[gia_hillenbrand]

<p>also, you have a great yellow mustard wall - use that...or a nice white backdrop - </p>

<p>very pretty dresses</p>

[marc_david]

<p>I would go for black/dark bg and some great lighting ( your lighting here is flat). My lighting would be beauty dish as main, umbrella fill, hair light for separation, maybe a light on the bg right behind them... If you want to stay at home, find a better, cleaner background, get more separation between daughters and bg. Lighting can remain the same as what I've described.</p>

[mel_unruh]

<p>Try again. You already know what went wrong wrong, so that one was for practice. Lets take a look at your post.<br>

..Stress ruined the mood... So, change that. Get someone to help you or change the concept so the kids look at it as a blank slate and not a repeat of another boring photo shoot like last time. Perhaps it's now a tea party with formal pictures :-)<br>

I agree about the curtains. So, you either put the girls into solid colors or you move to camera right. Coordinate the colors and the patterns. You are decorating your portrait. Background & foreground should compliment the subjects and not conflict. Would you wear a flower pattern belt with a striped dress? Probably not, because it would be too busy which is another way of saying they conflict with each other.<br>

Shadows look like from a shoe mounted flash on camera. Camera rotated to portrait position and now a shadow thrown to the right. A flash bracket would keep flash in center of frame. You could get a large piece of foamcore board (white) and aim the flash backwards at the board. This simple trick will convert your flash head from a small light source to a large light source (via the bounce). You can also get something like a stofen flash diffuser. Bottom line, you need to soften the light.<br>

Real smiles. Nobody will smile for a stressed out photographer. Relax and have fun. You smile and they will smile. Be funny and offer some ice cream when its over. Did I mention having fun? I hope this helps.<br>

Mel</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Keep it! I like it. It's not too overworked and the colors are very contemporary. You might work with some dodging and burning, but you're close.</p>

[tim_ludwig2]

<p>Hi, Theresa.</p>

<p>There is much to like about the potential of this image, mainly the lovely girls.</p>

<p>There is also much that you will never fix if you stay this course.</p>

<p>Remember that one of the key goals in portraiture is the old adage "the eye goes to the point of greatest contrast". Kind of like the "Squeaky wheel gets the grease". We'll you've got mostly squeaky wheels going on here with terribly distracting background elements and most notably, two dresses that will always compete with each other for attention. </p>

<p>In all successful portraiture, the faces and specifically the eyes MUST be the point of greatest contrast.</p>

<p>The background is easy. As others have said, go with black or something very deep toned with no patterned elements to distract from the subject. The dresses, while beautiful on their own, are a disaster together. You have two colors that are almost the direct opposite of each other on the color wheel...a riot of contrast that the human eye can't even physically focus on at the same time. Red and blue wave lengths are so far apart and so different in physical length, that the eye literally has to refocus slightly when bouncing from one to the other.</p>

<p>Couple that with the large amount of extra flesh that all short sleeved garments display, an effect that draws the eye away from the faces, and theree is no fix, only a complete restart.</p>

<p>Put the girls in matching dresses or ones that closely relate in tonality, preferably long sleeved. Then use a background that compliments the garments in tonality and has no bold straight lines or patterns to draw the eye away from the faces. </p>

<p>(Use that yellow wall only if they are wearing a matching yellow, and a white background only if they are wearing white or soft pastels that keep a high key flavor. Otherwise you are back to the same problem of background and garments over-reaching the faces.)</p>

<p>Once those things are harmonious instead of competitive, work on the relaxed atmosphere that others have stressed. By taking it slow and easy and introducing fun to the event, like a themed portrait or talking about fun things that the girls have done together on vacation, or fun things that are just around the corner, like parties, Christmas, a trip to the zoo or circus, dinosaurs, what they want on their next birthday cakes, etc.; you make the kids part of your team and have fun so that all you have to do is be ready to trip the shutter at magical moments.</p>

<p>As far as equipment for the lighting, I find even a beauty dish is too small and harsh a source for anything more than a single head where you want a glamour effect like a magazine cover. </p>

<p>Use a white umbrella at about eye level (for the subject) for fill and as big a soft box as you can beg, borrow or steal for the main. Place the main well around to whichever side you want the direction of light to come from (at least 45 degrees away from the camera) and elevate it several inches so that shadows fall instead of being almost level with the subjects. Then pose the girls so that no shadows fall from one child across the face of the other. That may mean having the child farthest away from the main move forward a couple of inches so that both are in clean light.</p>

<p>Always place the fill on the same side of the camera as the main, but keep the fill near the camera and "float" the main until you see the pattern you want. Make sure the main is about two stops brighter than the fill and you should get lovely results.</p>

<p>Best of luck! You've got a terrific start with those to faces. Just make it easy on yourself by simplifying with these few rules.</p>

<p>Tim</p>

[theresa_skutt]

<p>I can't really re-do it, because it's someone else's house that I borrowed. That also means I didn't use studio lighting, just my wedding setup (bracket, diffuser, bounced off ceiling)<br>

I didn't know how much the curtain pattern would interfere because I was focused on how great that chair & window were. After I posted this, I realized that the colors <em>don't go</em>, even though the styles match. Blue, green & red & black don't mix with a lime green background! It was so pretty in my head, but alas, not in reality.<br>

I'll head to the studio, and do the red dress possibly with that chair, on black. Maybe the blue & green on white. Sigh. Thanks, everybody.</p>

 

[melinda_gaus]

<p>This isn't really helpful in the photography realm, but I LOVE the dresses!</p>

[mt4x4]

<p>I'd try again, it has the potential for a very nice portrait. The only issue here is the direction of the light.<br /> <br /> Did you use pop-up flash? If you don't have a speedlight that you can bounce off of the ceiling, try shooting without flash (in the same spot) when there is a little more light coming through the window. Windows generally make good light sources.<br /> <br /> Otherwise I'd say you have the making for a very nice portrait.</p>

[joann]

<p>Hi Theresa, I emailed you earlier about painting in a different background. I didn't spend too much time on this small file but I changed the background completely and painted the girls some. I too love the dresses and your girls have such beautiful blue eyes!<br>

<img src="http://www.schowphoto.com/girlspainted.jpg" alt="" width="462" height="648" /></p>

[Alex]

<p>Wow that is one transformation there.</p>

[gia_hillenbrand]

<p>you could always select the kids, remove the background completely, and place them in front of a fireplace or something...</p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p><em>"I didn't use studio lighting, just my wedding setup (bracket, diffuser, bounced off ceiling)..."<br /></em><br>

The shadows to the right side of the girl in the blue dress doesn't suggest a flash on a bracket above the lens but rather to the left (and fairly low) of the camera. A touch less power from the flash would help balance the lighting. If you move the girls further from the wall it would also give more space for the shadows to fall which would make it less noticeable. If you end up shooting using a two light setup, suggest that your fill be one stop less than your key light, if you add a third hair light you can go two stops hotter for dark-haired subjects but one and a half stops hotter for blonds. Keep the fill fairly close to either side of the camera centered near eye level.</p>

[theresa_skutt]

<p><strong>Jo</strong>, OMG. Wow! My only criticism is my daughter's smile, which is my fault. <br>

I wish I had emailed you sooner, so I had a chance to re-shoot and send you two portraits to choose from before you went through the amazing effort. I already have them bathed & planned to do their hair again, etc. and try the in-home studio black route. Stay tuned, and see if there is improvement in the girls' expression. If it doesn't look better, I assure, you, I'm taking yours!!!</p>

[theresa_skutt]

<p>By the way, thanks for all the kind words about the girls everybody, in case I didn't say so before =)</p>

[joann]

<p>Hi Theresa, seriously, I didn't spend a lot of time on this because it was just a small jpeg so I couldn't really get detailed about it. I'm glad you liked it and seriously, I am happy to give it the full treatment with a larger file. I'm looking forward to seeing your reshoot!<br>

Thanks and I'll check back with you :)</p>

[dean_tomasula1]

<p>Instead of going to all that trouble, I would move them in front of the window in daylight and use a reflector to reflect light back on them so you don't get a silhouette, just using natural light. Definitely get them away from that green wall! Or, same setup, but bounce the light off the ceiling. You can use anything for a reflector -- large white bed sheet, large sheet of aluminum foil, large fome-core board, white sheet of poster board -- if you don't have a "traditional" photo reflector like a Photoflex panel or something.</p>

[theresa_skutt]

<p>OK, here's the re-shoot. I made a list of all suggestions for the next time I shoot in such a situation! Thanks.....</p>

 

[theresa_skutt]

<p>(forgot to reduce the size...trying again)</p><div></div>

[tim_ludwig2]

<p>Theresa,</p>

<p>This is splendid! What a beautiful pair of little charmers. Muting the tones of the dresses makes this so much more effective. </p>

<p>Since these particular dresses are sleeveless and you are stuck with them, my only comment is just for the sake of argument, not a critique in any way. Just take a card that is large enough to cover most of the print and use it to block/crop the image into the sleeve of the girl on the left or crop on screen and take a look at how much more attention their faces get without the distraction of the long bare arms.</p>

<p>This image is absolutely light years ahead of the first effort. Congratulations.</p>

[JTG1]

<p>Heres my take on the first shot, would have replied sooner, but kinda busy at the moment.</p>

<p>~Jack</p>

<div></div>

[JTG1]

<p>I think I like full colors better with this shot. And I don't mind the arm's it makes it more endearing.</p>

<p>~Jack</p>

<p> </p><div></div>