Official Obama family portrait by Annie Leibovitz

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Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/8.0
Focal Length: 42 mm
Exposure: +0.35
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off

Artist: Annie Leibovitz
Copyright: Official White House Photo
 
Not great, and the girls arm on Obamas shoulder is shockingly bad and irritating and distracting!
 
Jeez, I have taken family shots that are better than that :lol:, there are so many distracting elements in the shot, body parts chopped and generally poor enviromental composition.... imho of course ;)

Then again, she got the job and got paid by the president... not me :D
 
One of them isn't looking at the camera. At first sight I thought that one had her eyes shut.
I though that this woman was out of existence?
Maybe this is proof that none of the work in her portfolio is actually by her?
 
she probably had about 30 seconds but it does look like one of the secret service took it with a P&S
 
I have to say, I'm pretty surprised by this shot.

Going on Annie's back catalog I actually think this is the intended result, but I'm still surprised. It does have a nice warm feeling though.
 
It doesnt look like a Leibovitz but it conveys the sort of image Obama is trying to put out right now and its a lovely family portrait, they all look very happy. However it does look like Annie had a bout 10 minutes to take it :)
 
I wonder why they didn't get the official White House photographer, Pete Souza, to do it.
 
Rather bland I have to say, I'm not expecting them to be doing the conga with a left leg in the air and wearing top hats but I was expecting something with a bit more pop and compositionally more pleasing?
 
Like the poses etc but the background annoys the t1ts off me... I know it's supposed to be informal but blimey.... Still it MUST be good if it's by Leibovitz....

Carl
 
She probably stole the credit from the maid who actually took the photo :D
 
It's better than this.....

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I mean Ms Leibovitz no arm though :naughty:
 
I thought we had a thing about not ripping someones photo's apart that where not here to defend there work ?


pro or non pro.
 
..MD.. said:
I thought we had a thing about not ripping someones photo's apart that where not here to defend there work ?


pro or non pro.
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They're in the public domain (and placed there by, or with the permission of, the author), ergo it's fair comment....I think :shrug:
 
We're not ripping it apart. Just passing opinion.
 
Bleddy hell! Did she use a point and shoot on that one?
 
Dont you hate seeing photos which any1 could have taken and then get annoyed because that photographer is getting paid sa hoooo much to take it when im pretty sure most people on this site could have done better
 
..MD.. said:
I thought we had a thing about not ripping someones photo's apart that where not here to defend there work ?


pro or non pro.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

holderbeam said:
Dont you hate seeing photos which any1 could have taken and then get annoyed because that photographer is getting paid sa hoooo much to take it when im pretty sure most people on this site could have done better
Click to expand...

No one on this site has spent a lifetime building up the skills and then the reputation to be in the situation to take that photo. So, no, I don't get annoyed. It's very easy to sit at a computer tearing into people, it's a lot harder to get out there and build a reputation as one of the best in the world.
 
Glenn Surtees said:
She probably stole the credit from the maid who actually took the photo :D
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^^^ :lol:

I don't think there is anything casual going on from Ms Leibovitz. It looks to me like it's been very carefully and deliberately contrived to look like A N Other's family snap. Just like Mr President ordered :thumbs:

PS If you've been reading the copyright thread going on in Business, I notice she wimped out on that and handed it all over to Mr P. How unprofessional. Selling her profession down the pan :shrug: ;)
 
Jayst84 said:
Agreed.



No one on this site has spent a lifetime building up the skills and then the reputation to be in the situation to take that photo. So, no, I don't get annoyed. It's very easy to sit at a computer tearing into people, it's a lot harder to get out there and build a reputation as one of the best in the world.
Click to expand...

Even the top people in any given profession can have off days. Two examples of just that are posted in this thread.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Even the top people in any given profession can have off days. Two examples of just that are posted in this thread.
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We don't know if they were off days though.

I saw the Obama shot as Hoppy did. Very contrived to look like it does, I think it's selling her just a little short to say the detached hand, etc are mistakes. I bet she hit the brief right on the head.
 
lukewoodford said:
Just being in his presence would put me off.
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:lol::clap::clap::clap:

If this photo is truly the work of Leibovitz then I'd be willing to bet the time restrictions were insane.

It doesn't matter how 'pro' you are or how much jaw dropping work you have against your name, there is only so much you can do with too little time.

The viral quote that knocks around the place that goes along the lines of:

'A pro can take a pro pic with anything, anytime'

is utter tosh, put simply, it's overly optimistic and non comprehensible garbage nonchalantly flapped about and repeated without any thought to what it actually means.

Personally, I'd like to believe the Leibovitz detested the Obama family that much, she had no desire to make the portrait look good.
 
8utters said:
Could have been taken by anyone.
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Glenn Surtees said:
She probably stole the credit from the maid who actually took the photo :D
Click to expand...

Glenn beat me to it :lol:

When did TP become a news organizations, after all the fuss folk on here post about copyright too.


EXIF Data - Caption said:
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, sit for a family portrait in the Green Room of the White House, Sept. 1, 2009. (Official White House Photo)

Photo by Annie Leibovitz/Released by White House Photo Office

This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.
Click to expand...
 
Can't wait to see the family photo of the new president of Europe, maybe a Litchfield masterpiece. One things for sure, we will all be paying for it.
 
The photo comes across as a quickly taken family snap and if that was the intention, then its successful. I like it, I think it shows a relaxed, happy family who obviously care for each other.

Start going into the technical aspects of it and you start to lose the meaning.
 
squizza said:
Not great, and the girls arm on Obamas shoulder is shockingly bad and irritating and distracting!
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Its a young girl putting her arm around her dad, what's shockingly bad about it? Its something quite natural in my humble opinion.
 
bbb said:
There is some speculation that it was deliberately made to look like a snap to make the first family appear more "normal", rather than a photo that looks like a painting. :)
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Unless she’s lost her mental abilities... It can't be anything else. Quite interesting I think ...I mean how many of us (especially you pros) could go take a photo of that family, in beautiful and expensive surroundings and end up with a perfectly exposed looking 'quickie snap' that so perfectly fits that deliberate family next door snap brief.

Not that easy to unravel what makes a beautiful portrait from a amateur snap and still get all those other aspects like lighting, exposure and context.

or am I talking rubbish... :thinking:
 
Is there anyone out there who's able to determine how this was lit?
 
On the plus side there's nothing shocking or out of the ordinary that Leibovitz seems to produce. At least they are clothed ;)

I think the brief was an intimate family portrait, which I think she's achieved. The lighting is good, the children are close to the parents, there's a nice touch of the youngest holding the mums hand...
 
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