4th of July shoots - part 1

I haven't posted in a few days:
1. because I have been cleaning up my house
2. I have been making a tutorial for a coconut bra / grass skirt lei which means I have not only been making those things, but also taking pictures of each step.  Tedious!

I posted an open invitation on Facebook a few days ago for a free 4th of July/Luau photo shoot.  I wanted practiced putting together a "set", as well as the normal lighting/color/composition practice.  I had 3 people take me up on it.  I did one shoot Saturday, my friend Tiffany and her adorable son Kingston.

those eyes!

Here are some with "as shot" juxtaposed with the finals

I thought their skin tone was good, but the foliage background was a little washed out.  I overlayed the original image with a duplicate, set the duplicate to multiply, adjusted the opacity and mask/erased Tiffany and her son.  It gave the green the depth it needed.

Here are a few "as shot" photos I loved.

 This one is my absolute favorite

Learning Process

So, I had a good time, but this was supposed to be practice, and practice it was!  I wasn't really happy with my 4th of July setup, I only got 2 pictures out of it and I wasn't in love with either of them.  I needed to move the chair/table around a little bit more.  I moved it for light but I think I should have been more creative with the composition.  I had pictures of Kingston holding an American flag as well as the ice cream cone, but he wanted to stick the bottom of the flag pole in his mouth (holding the flag upside down) and he clearly knows where ice cream is supposed to go!  

My other major issue was that a lot of photos were garbage because of some sort of motion blur or were slightly out of focus.  A lot more than I'd like to admit...like.. most of them.  here is an example of one I almost cried when I realized it was out of focus

I like Tiffanys face better in this version.

I am very happy with the photos with the mimosa tree behind them.  I only wish that it was still in bloom, it has such pretty pink puffs!  Mimosa trees have a pretty color, an interesting leaf pattern, and they make a more uniform background.