I've been shooting a fair bit lately for family and friend parties and get-togethers. In other words, I was invited as a friend or member of the family and I brought my camera to take pictures. I wasn't asked to do it nor was I paid so these are not client shots or anything.

These are all done casually so no poses or setup, just trying to snag shots with natural light as people did their thing. All shots were taken with a Canon Rebel XSi with 85mm f/1.8, typically with the lens at f/3.2 or higher.

1.


2.


3.


4.


Sorry they're a bit big. Let me know what you think of the composition, editing, and general feel of the photos.

 

They're all nice, and I think you have a great eye for color. #2 is my favorite, but I'd hold back a bit on the sharpening, as it's starting to halo. I'd also crop it differently, but that's just me, there's nothing wrong with the current crop.

 

I actually did not sharpen them except on conversion (standard sharpening for screen, per Lightrooms standard setting). Maybe some of the backlight is making it look like a halo? I'll have to check the original when I get home.

How would you crop #2? More vertical as opposed to the "square" look?

 

I also thought the square shape was a bit odd, no reason why, it just seemed odd to me.

Love the bokeh on that lens.

Overall, I like them

 

Nice shooting, Im liking them

 

Not a fan of the sepia'ish tone...it has its places, but this isn't one of them.

 

Different strokes, I guess. I usually heavily dislike sepia but I thought it worked for this one.

I may look at another edit to see what I can come up with. I hate to do all the pictures the same way (or very similar) so if I find a shot that works with an editing style that I normally dislike, I take advantage of it.

 

[QUOTE=JonBoy,Apr 14 2010, 09:24 AM]I actually did not sharpen them except on conversion (standard sharpening for screen, per Lightrooms standard setting).

 

Another shot of my son from today.

 

I like these a lot. Sepia doesn't bother me much if not over done, I think it works well here, some better than others. I love the square format, but I am a bit biased as I used to shoot with a square format Rolleiflex.

The last photo of your son is nice because the cooler colors coming though on the overalls and the helmet are just enough to notice, but not too gimmicky or over done, (like the red flowers in a b/w photo that has become the effect of the month).