single photos father daughter dance IMG_6101w

really excellent

Hi Gregory and Verena,

I know how difficult it is to get this shot as I did wedding photos for decades. You did a very good job framing it.  It is one of the hardest situations to illuminate correctly. I used to leave several pages of instructions to the photo lab, telling them how I wanted this image printed from film.

You are using digital so, I presume there is no lab.  Looking at your histogram it appears you are underexposed from half to three-quarters of a stop.  You have enough pixels in this image to manipulate it to lighten the skin tones.

Unfortunately, there is nothing one can do about the father's rather stern facial expression. He is nearsighted and is trying to use his bifocal lenses to focus on her face - it tends to make him look a little strained.

I used to talk to the father just before this picture and tell him this is the one that his future grandchildren would judge him by and that as he gazed at his daughter's face he should be smiling at those future grandchildren.  If he had had a glass or two of champagne already it usually got the look I wanted.

Regards,

Jerry

Jerry,

Thanks for taking the time to share some of your expertise. As mentioned in other shots, I am not and do not intend to become a pro wed. photog.  Here I was friend of the family just doing shots that the pro would not have gotten - hence, I tried to stay out of his way. The father, here, was more being reflective- realizing his daughter was going to move to another country and he would be missing her greatly.

It was just too dark inn the hall to do anything without flash- this was also the first time I had used the 580 speedlite to any extent - I did have it pointed up a lot when possible.

Again, thanks for your time.

G

ps, why would I want to lighten the skin tones? they look healthy to me...