Chapter 8 assignment: families and siblings.

[NewMemories]

1/125
f/5.6
both photos

[ejb]

I like the composition of both pictures. I would have tried (although I have no idea exactly how yet  ) to get more shadow in the background, or maybe make them somewhat more 'shadowy'overall) and that way ease out the crinkles (especially the ones in the blue backdrop on the left side of the picture).

[NewMemories]

yeah, I hate the wrinkles.  I was actually trying to rid the shadows altogether behind them.  Wrinkles and shadows are my pet peeves!  Maybe if I'd used a shallower DOF it would have blurred the wrinkles enough to make them less obvious, but i don't like going below a 5.3 or so, I don't like having the eyes in focus and the nose out of focus lol!

[ejb]

Haha, yeah, the kids/ family HAS to be in focus  . Maybe some backlighting? I'm still a real amateur, so I'm not sure if this is a solution...
In the second picture, although I really like the composition, I would try to do something about the feet, somehow they make it seem like there's 'clutter' there, at least to me they seem somewhat distracting, but maybe I'm just paying too much attention to detail, just let me know what you think  , I'm not trying to be negative or anything.

[NewMemories]

I tried to get a backlight to work but the one I have has a sensor on it that doesn't work when it's hidden behind the curtain 

I tried to crop out the cluttery feet, as I feel the same way, but the whole frame has to shrink in order to do that and I would end up cropping too close to the heads of the man on the bottom and the boy on top.  Maybe if I'd shot it even further out I could have cropped it better? 

[ejb]

[quote author=NewMemories link=topic=116.msg345#msg345 date=1295729831]
  Maybe if I'd shot it even further out I could have cropped it better? 
[/quote]
Maybe, but that might then also give too much negative space on the right, although that might just work, I'm not sure actually...
Too bad about the backlight, because I think that would solve a lot of your problems. And if you just put it in front of the curtain? Your subjects should be in front of it I guess, so it won't show up in your photograph, or am I wrong about that?

[NewMemories]

I tried putting it in front of the curtain and covering it with people, but the darn thing is so bright, it makes every picture look like I pointed my camera straight into the sun.  I don't even get silhouettes in front of it!

[ejb]

Hmmm, that is really too bad, no way of dimming it? Can't you get some advice from the store you bought it from?