# Family shot - what should I print it on?



## Garasaki (Aug 27, 2015)

Hi all,

Got this shot of my kids a few weeks ago.  It, of course, has sentimental value for me and I'd like to print it to hang above the couch.

What medium do you viewers suggest for it?  Canvas, metal, or framed paper print?




all 3 by John Bixler, on Flickr


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## wyogirl (Aug 27, 2015)

ok... I'm going to be honest... but I'm not being mean.  I know and understand the sentimental value... I'm a mom... I get it.  BUT because the girl in the middle has her hand blocking her eye... that makes the picture not as good as it could have been.  SO... having said that.... I'd just print it on regular photo paper and put it in a cheap frame.  You will eventually get a better picture that will warrant spending the money on metal, canvas or custom framing.  For the record, I'm a huge fan of metal prints.  If you want to upgrade it a little, try luster or metallic paper.


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## Designer (Aug 27, 2015)

Paper.  If it was a little more formal, then canvas.  

Why is this shot sentimental?  (If you can talk about it, that is.)


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## tirediron (Aug 27, 2015)

I like fine art canvas (As in:  REAL fine-art canvas from a reputable lab, NOT Wal-mart or similar "fine art") for works like this.


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## Garasaki (Aug 27, 2015)

It's not so much the picture that is sentimental, I guess, but it is I think the only shoot I have of all 3 of my kids where there isn't one of them blinking, or looking the other way, or some such.

It's certainly not a perfect picture (my son, who is usually incredibly photogenic, looks unusually serious, and my oldest daughter has loose hair everywhere, and I'd love to have had my flash on to provide some fill flash), but to me it's a great reminder of their personalities and the time I spend with them.  I'm going through a divorce and would like this as a focus point for my new house.  Something I can look at every time I walk into and out of my front door and bring a smile to my face.


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## wyogirl (Aug 27, 2015)

I think the picture and the expressions are nice.  Its just that hand in the face that kind of splits the kids in half.  If its important enough to you to warrant the cost... then metal is the way to go.  If you like it but don't want to spend as much for a large metal print, Pearl Paper is beautiful and so is metallic paper.  Both would look nice hanging in a department store frame on the wall.


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## Designer (Aug 27, 2015)

That's what I was wondering.  If you get to spend more time with them (I hope you do), keep on taking photos, as I think you will eventually get an even better photo. 

Trying not to be hyper-critical.


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## rexbobcat (Aug 27, 2015)

I like the hand.


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## Garasaki (Aug 27, 2015)

I find the critical feedback to be very useful, so don't feel like you have to hold back. 

It helps me grow as a photographer, which is great.  I've grown a lot already by listening to the feedback here, give to both myself and to others.

One thing about her hand placement, is that it draws my eye to her visible eye.  It's almost as if she's demanding your attention go to her eye, which I think I managed to get as the focus point (of the camera).  I think it would be interesting to see the same photo with her arm doing something different - I'd be curious how different the photo "feels".


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## wyogirl (Aug 27, 2015)

I agree that it draws your eye to her visible eye... she is the primary focus of the group.  It kind of cuts off your older daughter from view.  I see the middle child first and the other two are secondary.


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## snowbear (Aug 27, 2015)

Split the difference between paper and canvas; see if you can get it on a nice textured (like watercolor) paper.



rexbobcat said:


> I like the hand.


Better if it were a finger.


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## rexbobcat (Aug 27, 2015)

snowbear said:


> Split the difference between paper and canvas; see if you can get it on a nice textured (like watercolor) paper.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Heh, that would have been cool too. This way though it reminds me of a kid pretending they're shooting off a rocket ship or airplane.

It's also just different and more genuine than a photo of the three of them cheesing.


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## MRnats (Aug 27, 2015)

I like the pic, FWIW. I find the fence post more distracting than the hand. I've also only printed on canvas and liked it. Want to try the other 2 options soon.


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## vfotog (Aug 27, 2015)

Garasaki said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Got this shot of my kids a few weeks ago.  It, of course, has sentimental value for me and I'd like to print it to hang above the couch.
> 
> ...



Your kids are adorable. I think a major crop would make this a better shot and focus more on the kids too. I'd crop it to ratio, from the lower right hand corner. It minimizes the sky, but more importantly, gets rid of the dead space on the left, and the fence post. None of that adds anything to the image.


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## dcbear78 (Aug 27, 2015)

I third the fence post crop idea. Was the first thing I saw. 

I'd go a canvas, just not a super expensive one. I think with the kids in the corner it would look good. 

And this brings up a really good point for us photographers. A photo doesn't have to be perfect. Emotional attachment is far more important. You are selling the memory every bit as much as the art.


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## medic2230 (Aug 27, 2015)

I like her hand being up too. 

I know my son does certain things and to everyone else it may look kind of weird or something but to me it's a true image of him when he does it. I can look at photo's of him when he's doing something and it fits right in to his personality and I'll remember exactly what he's doing or saying at that time. lol


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## The_Traveler (Aug 27, 2015)

If you like the composition and framing, go for it but the relative dullness and coldness of the faces will not look as good in a print.(note the blue tint in the girls shirt)
IMO, you need to bring only the figures up a notch in brightness and warmth to get rid of the blue undertone that will deaden a print. Don't do anything to the background


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## dcbear78 (Aug 27, 2015)

Really hope you don't mind... But this would be my take on it. Removed distracting fence altogether. And added a bit of my style to it. But everyone has their own preferences. I am still not happy with the girl on the right....


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## Garasaki (Aug 28, 2015)

Thank you everyone for your responses.  I really hadn't done a lot of postprocessing to this one (just sharpened and cropped).  Thanks for the feedback on the fencepost especially.  It does draw your eye away from the kids.

Traveler, thank you very much for your advice on the color correction.  I will keep that in mind.

dcbear, at first I was like wtf when looking at your version, but wow it's growing on me very quickly.  A lot.  Would you mind a brief outline of what changes you made?

Both of you made color changes that will compliment the room it's going in, so that's awesome.


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## Granddad (Aug 28, 2015)

I like the hand, too. And the crop and warm-up. It won't win prizes but it's a great shot of your kids* for you*. I have no advice on printing; I don't print many of mine so I have little experience.

Next time you get them in this kind of situation - click, click, click, click. Or set it to continuous. It's digital, all it costs you is time. With kids especially the difference between a prize winning shot and a waste basket shot is micro-seconds.... and a good pinch of luck! I know pro kid photogs may argue with me but I'm not a pro kid photog and it sounds like you aren't, either.


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## Rob5589 (Aug 28, 2015)

Garasaki said:


> It's not so much the picture that is sentimental, I guess, but it is* I think the only shoot I have of all 3 of my kids where there isn't one of them blinking, or looking the other way, or some such.*



That's not sentimentality, that is unbelievable luck! Cute pic although I would crop out the fence post.


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## bcgrafx (Aug 29, 2015)

I like metallic and metal as well, but think about the light entering your room where you want to hang. If it is direct from your view, the glare from metal and metallic sometimes makes the picture unviewable. I really like lustre for portraits like this if the light is an issue, metallic for the added depth if lighting is not an issue.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk


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## jsecordphoto (Aug 29, 2015)

I would never print portraits on metallic paper, but maybe that's just me. I would go lustre paper or canvas


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## Darkstreets (Aug 29, 2015)

Garasaki said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Got this shot of my kids a few weeks ago.  It, of course, has sentimental value for me and I'd like to print it to hang above the couch.
> 
> ...


That is a seriously strong image. I love everything in it from the rather shallow DOF, the applied rule of third and if course the subjects themselves (including the tension created by that hand). Really really well done!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## Darkstreets (Aug 29, 2015)

Btw the fence post adds to the image and provides a sense of context. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


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## Garasaki (Aug 31, 2015)

jsecordphoto said:


> I would never print portraits on metallic paper, but maybe that's just me. I would go lustre paper or canvas



Why's that?


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## jsecordphoto (Aug 31, 2015)

I think it would make the skin tones look really weird, and look tacky. I barely like how metallic paper looks for most landscapes, the only thing I would print portraits on is matte, lustre, or canvas


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## Garasaki (Aug 31, 2015)

Thanks for the reply jsecordphoto.  I havent' seen any metal prints, that I am aware of.  Just the sort of feedback I was interested in.


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## jsecordphoto (Aug 31, 2015)

Garasaki said:


> jsecordphoto said:
> 
> 
> > I would never print portraits on metallic paper, but maybe that's just me. I would go lustre paper or canvas
> ...





Garasaki said:


> Thanks for the reply jsecordphoto.  I havent' seen any metal prints, that I am aware of.  Just the sort of feedback I was interested in.



There are metal prints, and metallic paper prints, which are different. I love metal, which are printed on aluminum, and try to primarily sell my landscape photos on that medium. Metallic paper is reflective and I find it to look kind of cheesy, like those animated poster things they used to sell in the mall


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## Garasaki (Aug 31, 2015)

Metal prints is what I was looking at, for clarification.


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## fernandezinmecca (Aug 31, 2015)

Metal print!

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## Peeb (Aug 31, 2015)

My take (similar to another one or two):


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## Garasaki (Sep 2, 2015)

Well I've been working a bit on this.

For Aluminize prints, the maximum aspect ratio of "rectangles" is 1.5.  I do not like the way the image looks at that aspect ratio.  But here is a tight-ish crop that I could do on paper or canvas (aspect ratio is 1.77)




Kids over couch 177 by John Bixler, on Flickr

However Aluminize prints have a "panorama" option, with an aspect ratio of 3.  This is a composition I was working on that would do that.  I really like strong horizontal elements so I'm leaning towards this....




kids over couch v2 panorama 3 by John Bixler, on Flickr

Curious which cropping you prefer?


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## Peeb (Sep 3, 2015)

Looks nice!


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## Garasaki (Sep 3, 2015)

The panoramic crop isn't showing up on my computer, so here it is again in case others are having the same issue




kids over couch v2 panorama 3 by John Bixler, on Flickr


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## Garasaki (Sep 9, 2015)

Thoughts on either cropping?


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## medic2230 (Sep 9, 2015)

I like the panoramic crop and think it will look good printed like that. Especially if you're going to hang it over a couch or something like that.


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## FKP007 (Sep 12, 2015)

I like the hand. It's real, it brings a character to the image.

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## jcdeboever (Sep 12, 2015)

That little boy looks like a handful[emoji56]


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## Garasaki (Sep 24, 2015)

I just placed the order for an Aluminize print...!  Here's where I ended up:




kids over couch v2 panorama5 fullsize by John Bixler, on Flickr


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## ak_ (Sep 24, 2015)

Garasaki said:


> I find the critical feedback to be very useful, so don't feel like you have to hold back.


I'd crop it to exclude the fence post etc.


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## ak_ (Sep 24, 2015)

This also looks good.



Garasaki said:


> I just placed the order for an Aluminize print...!  Here's where I ended up:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## MLCIII (Sep 27, 2015)

I think her hand adds interest, fwiw, and I like it! The crop ration is sweet, too. I don't like the post on the left, but it doesn't seem to bother you, so that's really all that matters.
In the future, and talking specifically about printing/presenting, I would suggest that you find a purpose and fill it. So instead of shooting, then finding a cool photo in the set, then deciding to hang it billboard-style above the mantle... Start with the idea that you want a family photo above the mantle, and shoot shoot shoot until you get the one you're proud of. Make sense?


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