havasmileyday

Brothers on tiptoes

Four brothers on tiptoes, looking over a wall on the Southbank of the Thames, London. Stretching to see boats on the river and Big Ben on the other side. This w...
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Four brothers on tiptoes, looking over a wall on the Southbank of the Thames, London. Stretching to see boats on the river and Big Ben on the other side. This was their last family-visit to London before moving to another country - Smiley Day Photography captured the memories of this special day.
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Canon EOS 550D

settings

Aperture 5/1 ISO 1000 Shutter 1/640 Focal Length 21/1

upload_date

Dec, 2016

Views

961

Likes

+72

Awards

Action Award

Chatter Award

Zenith Award

Creative Winter Award

Curator's Selection

Legendary Award

Contest Finalist in Kids Being Kids Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Behind You Photo Contest

Top Shot Award

Contest Finalist in Siblings Photo Contest

Member Selection Award

Superb Composition

+17

Peer Award

+15

Absolute Masterpiece

+12

Top Choice

+12

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Superior Skill

Emotions

Happy

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in London on the South bank of the Thames river and the boys were peering over the wall to see boats on the river and Big Ben on the other side. Their family were getting ready to move to Australia and were having a "farewell London" family photo shoot with me to remember their time in London. I had only just started my business Smiley Day Photography and they were friends and my second clients. This was one of those in-between moments when the dad gave one of his twin boys a helping hand so he could see over the wall. It was completely unplanned and spontaneous as the boys enjoyed the sites but I had my camera in hand so stepped back and snapped the moment.

Time

This is probably one of my favourite shots from that day. It was already around 10am in the middle of July so the sun had already been up for 6 hours. Generally not ideal conditions but it worked!

Lighting

This was shot in natural light, in some shade and I didn't use any external lighting

Equipment

This was shot on a Canon EOS 550 with an 18-55mm lens, no flash and no tripod.

Inspiration

The boys' mum had dressed them up so sweetly and the moment just looked so classic.

Editing

This photo didn't have a lot of post processing. I changed it into black and white, increased the clarity and sharpened the image. I darkened the blacks a bit too. To be honest I was not yet very familiar with Lightroom as I had only just purchased it at the time of taking this photo.

In my camera bag

At the time this photo was taken, I didn't yet own any other lenses apart from the Canon kit lens 18mm-55mm that came with the Canon EOS 550D camera. I now usually have the same camera, a Canon f/1.8 50mm lens, a Canon 85mm lens, a 24-70mm lens and I carry a lastolite trigrip gold/white and silver/white 2 sided reflector.

Feedback

As a family photographer, you can sometimes be caught up on getting the right poses in the right spots. Keep shooting in the inbetween moments. Give the families time to relax, explore the surroundings a bit and capture the real relationships/family connection moments that just happen. I really liked the texture of the granite wall and the creases in the boys' denim shorts. It was great that the boys naturally spaced themselves the way they did, though if they hadn't I may have helped them out a little. It doesn't matter if no one is looking at the camera either. The matching outfits made this photo that much better too. Giving families you photograph some tips and ideas on what to wear for a photo shoot gives them some direction and helps them out. Hats/caps and accessories like the braces bring an extra added detail or point of interest and I highly recommend families I photograph bring these and any other items they may like to have in their photos, along. These are their photos and we want to capture the character of their family for them, beautifully. I love walls and where there's a wall, curious boys like to see what's on the other side. Always make sure the location you're taking families too is safe and visit it beforehand to be able to warn them of risks. I knew the wall was very thick and there would be no risk of them falling over the edge. (That's the mum and former teacher in me talking hehe!) Lastly, a bit obvious but when photographing boys looking over a wall, check the composition and make sure the wall is straight and feet are all in the shot with some space below. Lastly, use what's in your hand and it's good practise to get a photo right in-camera than rely on adjusting in post-processing.

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Brothers on tiptoes

Four brothers on tiptoes, looking over a wall on the Southbank of the Thames, London. Stretching to see boats on the river and Big Ben on the other side. This w... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow havasmileyday

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Four brothers on tiptoes, looking over a wall on the Southbank of the Thames, London. Stretching to see boats on the river and Big Ben on the other side. This w...
Read more

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Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.