Cornwall girls

I went to Cornwall with some family and friends recently and have five minutes to myself so thought I would share some images with you guys:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3831/9...e187886d_b.jpg Phoebe in the grass by Darren Joseph Gregory, on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2834/9...9e185ee6_b.jpg Running through the grass by Darren Joseph Gregory, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7380/9...484eac4c_b.jpg Phoebe the champion by Darren Joseph Gregory, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5461/9...8276f89e_b.jpg Friends for life by Darren Joseph Gregory, on Flickr

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2840/9...2330ff8d_b.jpg Kelsi sunset by Darren Joseph Gregory, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5447/9...e8e77b4d_b.jpg Phoebe by the car by Darren Joseph Gregory, on Flickr

A very enjoyable set of shots Darren. The kids look like they are having fun. I'm no portrait expert so I can't comment specifically from that point of view. In any case, these are fairly candid and you probably didn't have a lot of control of everything a photographer would like anyway.

The first one works quite well for me, despite the rather harsh backlight. I would be inclined to tone that light down a bit in pp if possible.

In the third and fourth, I'd suggest you reduce the exposure/brightness of the whole image (in pp) a tad. In the fifth, it looks liked you've used flash which gives a better exposure balance between subject and background although I think you could make some improvements in pp with selective decrease in brightness of the background.

The subjects are all well focused and I think you've used a suitable DOF.

All in all, nicely done.

Dave

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Originally Posted by dje

A very enjoyable set of shots Darren. The kids look like they are having fun. I'm no portrait expert so I can't comment specifically from that point of view. In any case, these are fairly candid and you probably didn't have a lot of control of everything a photographer would like anyway.

The first one works quite well for me, despite the rather harsh backlight. I would be inclined to tone that light down a bit in pp if possible.

In the third and fourth, I'd suggest you reduce the exposure/brightness of the whole image (in pp) a tad. In the fifth, it looks liked you've used flash which gives a better exposure balance between subject and background although I think you could make some improvements in pp with selective decrease in brightness of the background.

The subjects are all well focused and I think you've used a suitable DOF.

All in all, nicely done.

Dave

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Hi Dave

Thanks for your comments it was good fun photographing my son and the girls. As you can imagine most were fairly candid and there where many photos taken that just were not "keepers".

I took my flash with the specific intention of using it but I foolishly forgot to take my light stand and brolly. You are correct though that picture five was using the bare flash.

I might take on board your comments and have another edit when I have the spare time.

Thanks again and enjoy your day.

Great shots, Darren. #4 made me chuckle aloud. I thought your exposures a little high but intentional, and like them very much. I'd probably nudge down the highlights in #4 and maybe #1, but I'd be proud to have shot these.

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Originally Posted by kdoc856

Great shots, Darren. #4 made me chuckle aloud. I thought your exposures a little high but intentional, and like them very much. I'd probably nudge down the highlights in #4 and maybe #1, but I'd be proud to have shot these.

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Hi Kevin

I was going for a bit of a blown out kind of look that is very popular at the moment and in my opinion perhaps over done. However I was curious on how learn to shoot like that, another string to my bow so to speak.

Off to Calpe, Spain this weekend so hopefully some more portraits and landscapes and this time I intend to ensure I pack my light stand and brolly.

I cannot speak to the "blown-out", "sun-flared" look since I have never tried that style of portraiture... However, I like number five. I played it by reducing the brightness and adding some contrast in her face while also reducing the background brightness. The reduced brightness gave some shadow detail which added depth to the portrait... I also reduce the saturation in her dress a bit and added some warmth to the image. I just wanted to say that your shooting was not far off despite using on-camera flash...

Darren I really enjoyed these images, for some reason 2 just seems to fit in her surroundings so perfectly that I prefer it as my favorite.
Some really nice work here.

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Originally Posted by rpcrowe

I cannot speak to the "blown-out", "sun-flared" look since I have never tried that style of portraiture... However, I like number five. I played it by reducing the brightness and adding some contrast in her face while also reducing the background brightness. The reduced brightness gave some shadow detail which added depth to the portrait... I also reduce the saturation in her dress a bit and added some warmth to the image. I just wanted to say that your shooting was not far off despite using on-camera flash...

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Hi Richard

Thank you for your comments.

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Originally Posted by jamn4ex

Darren I really enjoyed these images, for some reason 2 just seems to fit in her surroundings so perfectly that I prefer it as my favorite.
Some really nice work here.

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Hi James

At the time of that photo the children were running around through the sand dunes so I totaly agree with you that the photo fits the surroundings and mood.

Thanks

Love them all but I am a sucker for family portraits (as some may well know with my own). I particularly like no 4 and just love the B & W .

Joanne x

A great set of photos. I would have ordered them differently as the three of phoebe in the same dress tell a great story just on their own - the B&W conversion for the sad face just sums up the mood perfectly.

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Originally Posted by kaye leggett

A great set of photos. I would have ordered them differently as the three of phoebe in the same dress tell a great story just on their own - the B&W conversion for the sad face just sums up the mood perfectly.

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Hi Kaye

Thank you for the comments. What a wonderful point about the picture numbering. Somtimes we take photos and forget about the storey telling.

I am almost embarresed by that considering that I have thought recently about putting my pictures into a blog format online particularly when there are a number of images from a particular "event" such as our trip to Cornwall. My thinking being that a short storey (blog) to accompany the storey telling of the images would work well. Yet I couldnt even get that right when posting here.

I must remember to learn form my mistakes.

Thanks again

Darren