This is part 1. Part 2 will be tomorrow. You may want to grab some tissues for this long sad story. I apologize for the length, but to truly understand the nightmare considerable explanation is required.
Once upon a time there was a family from Utah, but one of the children had moved off to Oregon with his wife and children, and another was living in Washington with her husband and children. Then a wonderful thing happened, both of the out of state families were going to visit Utah the same week. The natural thing to do was to have a family photo, as this may never happen again.
The nightmare begins.
Trying to put together one time when Everybody can meet for a portrait is more than just a challenge and as it turned out was impossible because even when everyone else could meet two of the older granddaughters could not get out of obligations at that time.
Next problem - part of one family had only a 30 minute window, so to include them the location had to be where they would be. Unfortunately the best place available was a park with no chance of a decent background.
Are you getting the picture here: (no pun intended - but it is a good one) Everyone in a hurry, much less than ideal location and two people missing. Not to mention a bunch of young children who are so easily distracted and have a 10 second attention span.
Okay, I'll admit it. It was my family and I was going to be the photographer with the help of a friend who would attempt to get everyone looking at him and smiling while he clicked the shutter.
I would not have arranged the group as you see here with all the men seated and the ladies standing, but I received certain "requests" and so that was how it was done.
The good news:
1. Everyone who could be there was pretty close to on time and looking their best - we had coordinated our clothing as you can see.
2. We found a spot where everyone was in the shade and fairly evenly lit.
The bad news:
1. Remember we are missing two members of our family.
2. Kids will be kids. Remember the part about the attention span?
3. Even though I had painstakingly focused the camera, somehow the camera had got jostled and the focus was slightly off as well as the group isn't even centered.
4. The girl on the far right was hidden behind her sister in every single shot.
5. The best background we could find was still terrible.
Perhaps the last time, at least for many years, that the whole family would be together and this is what we get? Truly a nightmare. The photo above was the best of the most people. Every large family photo is a compromise to pick the best, or in this case maybe, the least bad.
Do not despair. Come back tomorrow for a much happier ending. I will show you what had to be fixed and the finished product.
Click here to see the happy ending.
Don't be shy - leave a comment or email me. I look forward to hearing from you!
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16 comments:
You have a good-looking family, Scott! I'll be sure to check out tomorrow's blog for the "happy ending".
Nice family!!!
I know how difficult it is to take photos of even a few people, and this is a LOT of people. beautiful family and I can't wait to see how you Fixed It
very nice one Scott.
Indeed a handsome family. You are blessed!
Scoot I think you did well by looking at how many you had here.
Its hard with a group this big as I found out. I did a family also . Our big family and I trying to get eveyone to fit and the children that just dont care or like you said are very busy. I found it a hugh learning experiece and I like candid. Lovely Lovely photo.
and Scott thanks for today.
The photos I have are from last fall in Jasper Alberta Canada.
Have a fine day.
What a beautiful family you have Scott! And even with the "bad news," you were together, and that's the important part. Can't wait to see the finished product!
I'm glad you are sharing this story, Scott. I think sometimes we get discouraged looking at the beautiful images on other photographer's blogs and think everything they do is perfect. The truth is, many images don't turn out perfect, many should go in the garbage, and sometimes it takes a lot of effort to create a great image! I can't wait to see everyone's reaction and comments when you post the finished image tomorrow!!!!!
Thanks for sharing the story of your trials and tribulations in getting a large family portrait. I think we have all been there. I look forward to your happier ending.
Scott, Thank you so much for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment --- my readers comments are truly what make my day! I can already tell that I am going to have a fantastic time exploring your blog & I'm sure I can learn a ton from your beautiful work! It's great to meet another Olympus person because it doesn't happen too often (atleast for me). One more thing, my family & I are from San Antonio originally. :)
Ah, but you were together and you got a picture. You being the photographer you are were looking for the perfect picture, but it is perfect because you are together. Ok, so off my lecture now, nice looking family...and big - lucky man!
My wife would say this is a great photo because you got (almost all) the family together, despite all the scheduling issues a large family has - that's because she can look at it wearing a mother's hat. You see the 'imperfections' because you're looking at it wearing your photographer's hat (don't worry - I'm accused of that all the time).
Still, a great photo of a good-looking family. I'm sure that tomorrow's will be transformed from great to superb !
I enjoyed reading your post and seeing the photo of a HUGE family! You began defending it, so I had to keep on reading. I think you did a lovely job considering the crew, the kids, and location. I will look forward to seeing the end result.
I am exhausted just from reading that. I'll tune in tomorrow to see how it turned out.
Wow...can't believe you accomplished it. Did you take a nap after it was done? Hey. I'm blogging again. Can't beat Yellowstone experience, but I'll give it a try.
A M A Z I N G fix there Scott!!!! I love how you fixed the little girl on the right. You must of had another photo of her to do this? Very fine work. I admire your ability to make such drastic changes. I will be back...
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