One Year Later...Family Photo Shoot~The "O" Family

Wowza! What a difference just one year makes.  I "warned" Ronda that I would be using her family's photos as my "before and after" post, kind of like a makeover show! Haha!  Last year at this time, I was casually trying to let my friends know that I would love practice doing other people's photos besides my own kids.  I needed to work with bigger groups, different personality types and adults.  They'd be getting a great deal for my practice, some free photos.  Ronda was brave enough to be one of my testers.  My critique of my work has NOTHING to do with the wonderful family in the photos.  What I see as the artist and what they see as the models are two completely different things.  I'm looking at my technical shortcomings, things that are out of focus, or just my weirdness in general. :)

I completely fumbled through this shoot with them last Christmas.  A: we were indoors and I had NO idea what I was doing with my white light, among other things.  Along with that, I had my 3 kids in tow.  Ahhhh! This was my very first shoot with so many people and I wanted to deliver.  I had a new lens (my 50mm 1.4) but didn't even really know what I was doing with that either.  Thankfully, since then, I've been able to learn what I'm doing, why I'm doing it and how to get my photos to look the way I'm envisioning them to be.  So here's a look at 2010 Oathes family photos versus 2011!

At this point, the only adult I had really worked with was my husband, and he wasn't always a willing participant.  Adults are tougher than you might think (not that you and Ron were hard). :)  We tend to be aware of our "good/bad" sides and we are more inhibited than children are!

Yes, I completely admit that I tried to cover up technically "bad" photos with creativish editing.  It happens and I know I'm not the only person who's done it.  

I actually liked this photo of them but for the life of me couldn't figure out how to get EVERYONE in focus instead of just one person.  Little did I know that I needed to up my aperture to accommodate the amount of people in the photo.  See, those little things that I simply didn't know.  A word to new photographers, it's ok to ask questions, get HONEST critiques, not just your friends who will stroke your ego.  Seek the advice of people who's work you admire and would like to emulate and really LEARN from them.  Critique is hard but necessary to become better and better!

And NOW we come to this year!  HUGE improvement with still the same great family! I know that I have tons to learn but even something as simple as catching the light in the eyes and creating a much crisper image makes me feel that I've met some of my own personal goals!  Thanks Ronda and Fam!

First of all, being outdoors is simply better for light all around.  But at least I know how to shoot indoors since it is often needed!

 Now I know how to make the right people in focus and the others blurry! I know it sounds small, but it was like a lightbulb to me when I was given proper information! Duh! :)

 I've gotten to work with many more adults since then and I've learned better angles and techniques to evoke natural expressions and moments that really capture the personalities of the people!

I'm STILL continuing to grow, change, evolve and hone my skills! I want to stay fresh and current, not stagnant.  Thank you to countless friends who have been such wonderful resources, both in knowledge and encouragement!  Love to all! One year later...~Koren