Andrew
I really like this. The grouping is very natural and relaxed. I am not the worlds greatest fan of formal portraiture so I find this kind of shot very refreshing. With a portrait shot I would normally observe that you have no separation between the background and subject but it actually works really well here. The little guy at the front must have moved since he is slightly blurred or just as likely it is possible that he is just on the edge of the forward focus zone since the girls arm is also blurred - exif says of the focus;
You were pushing your luck with 1/40 sec where kids are involved (even with IS). I know you are using a Rebel but given that you are converting to b/w I feel you could have edged the ISO up to 800 to obtain a faster shutter speed. IS is good but I would not stake my life on itAt 3.1m, with a depth of field of about 1.1m, (from about 45cm before the focus point to about 63cm after)
All that said I still like it a lot - and nice family by the way
My word! There is so much expression and character in every single one of their faces. (The sly smile on the little boy to the right....) Also, there's such a mood with the setting, too. It's really wonderful! I do wish a little that the mom's bangs weren't in her eyes but, then, I think it could be argued that it's a good thing, too. Maybe, it says something about her. Also, it's nice that there's space on the left of the frame but it's nicely shadowed so that we can focus right on them. Thanks for sharing this. It's really fun!
How come you both can see the image and I can't?
I'm not an expert in 'super Jiro X-Ray vision', but it seems to be displaying when I open the post.... Not sure - let me know if I've done something wrong please!