Winter Assignment

Ann McRae

As fall approaches, and soccer is pretty much done for another several months, I think I will set a goal to learn the finer points of portraiture this year. Last fall I bought a 580EX, but honestly really haven't made good use of it. I am regularly asked to take family portraits and I always hesitate, worried that I won't be up to snuff. So this year, I am grabbing bull by horns and going to do it. An acquaintance called today, wondering if I would take a portrait of her four children ( teens) 'before they are all grown up', and with fall foliage as the setting. And I said yes!
Sadly, many of the trees have started turning (early!) and a good wind storm will end the color show. With that in mind, I suggested our first date be this Sunday about 6:30, hoping that the light will be fairly nice. (I will modify time once I sort out the exact time of sunset and thus the softer light in the hours before.
So I've given myself 48 hours to plan the shoot, including location, posing and lighting! But there is no way to do this but by trying.
I will keep record of my progress here, and maybe on my blog.
Meanwhile, any inspiration or tips are appreciated.

ann

heatherfeather

Hi Ann- Richard just updated the sticky on the top of the people forum, yesterday I through one of the tutorials on posing and lighting and it was fantastic! Probably the best current model I have read in a while. (the ones I went through before were decidedly dated!) Anyway, check out the goodies up there. Can't hurt to do a little reading, but don't overwhelm yourself. A relaxed photographer creates much better images.

Congrats on the brave step you are taking!

Edited to say: The tutorial I just read through was the Benji one... pretty good and easy.

Ann McRae

Well, the shoot got delayed (and delayed) and is happening today. So far, it is a flat light day. My customer has agreed to let me pick her four kids up - I think it will be much smoother without her watching. She has a very specific outcome in mind - the kids with a riot of fall color behind them. Well, I can do that but I think I can do more, and want to have the freedom to experiment with this.

I am planning to take:
a ladder
a tripod
my flash (mounted on camera is my only choice, but I may want some fill)
the brand new reflectors I bought yesterday, just in case there is some sweet light to reflect back.
both cameras
the 24 - 105
the 50mmf1.4
the 70 - 200mm f2.8

Yesterday I drove by a gorgeous tree stand, large runks, lots of color, not sure light will be from the right direction at 6:30 (and it is no where near the park that the customer picked), but I can see having the kids among the trunks and getting a great result.....

Any last minute advice?

ann

sweet caroline

It sounds like you may have some creative things in mind- that's great. Try to connect with the kids and get them to relax and have fun. Rather than perfect the pose off the bat, I usually let people (especially kids) get comfortable and see what happens naturally. Then, I'll follow up with small suggestions. Give them "breaks" to goof off, and take pictures while they do it (tell them you're checking light/camera settings).

Have fun!

Caroline

Scott_Quier

I have this image in my mind of the kids in and amongst the trees, peaking from around the trunks. Could be cool.

Looking forward to seeing some results!

Ann McRae

Scott_Quier wrote:

I have this image in my mind of the kids in and amongst the trees, peaking from around the trunks. Could be cool.

Looking forward to seeing some results!

Yeah - thats what I was thinking. I should clarify that the 'kids' are teens, ranging from a 17yr old high school senior, through a set of 16ish Irish twins (boy & girl) and then a 12 or 13 yr old boy.

It is really overcast today, so I think any hope for sweet light is gone. :cry

I need to call the mom to remind her to have them wear solid, matching colors. We will be pretty close to the University campus and the river valley so there should be good background options.

Thanks!
ann

Ann McRae

sweet caroline wrote:

It sounds like you may have some creative things in mind- that's great. Try to connect with the kids and get them to relax and have fun. Rather than perfect the pose off the bat, I usually let people (especially kids) get comfortable and see what happens naturally. Then, I'll follow up with small suggestions. Give them "breaks" to goof off, and take pictures while they do it (tell them you're checking light/camera settings).

Have fun!

Caroline

Hi Caroline

I expect there will be plenty of goofiness with these 4 - they are rather spirited young folks! Should be fun, and hopefully we will get the shot mom expects and then something far better!

ann

Ann McRae

Well, we did it!
Positives:
1. I felt really comfortable interacting and talking to the kids, and coming up with places and positioning.

Negatives (or, room for improvement):
1. The light sucked! Really overcast day, and then the family was about 20 minutes late. I had set the time so we were an hour before sunset, in theory. No sunset, and at half an hour before and overcast, the light was just awful.
2. My flash would not fire. Dang thing - I really need to learn how to use it, as it would have really helped me.

So, as is, I got some fun shots but everything is high ISO and grainy. Some unrecoverable.

For feedback, I am interested in hearing about posing, editing these, and also about lighting for next time.

First one, in a dungeon. I thought I'd waited for the couple in the background to proceed, but they are in all my shots:


Mom wants a.) yellow leaves as backdrop b.) all smiling c.) close ups:






and in a spot picked by the youngest son:


who, at this point, decides to lose the red hoodie:


They are actually straddling a little bridge:


Blinkers! Dang:



(not quite a) pile of leaves:


ann

Scott_Quier

I think your summation pretty well covered it. I hate to say it, but I don't think you have a winner here. If you can, I think I would blame most of it on the lighting and on them being late and ask if they would like to try again.

In general, it appears that the kids were not relaxed and/or enjoying themselves. You say you were comfortable talking with them. Were they comfortable with you? Did you take any time to talk to them before you started shooting?

Feedback:
1 - Very soft (motion blur, shutter speed issue?) and more than just a little muddy/dark conversion. The sky is already blown, so I wouldn't hesitate to boost the exposure/brightness a bit to light it up a bit. The pose I really like. The young lady seems to have a problem getting a genuine looking smile, but the one here is about as good as she's done in this set.

2-4 - Son in hoody - he's too bent over. #3 is better than #2 for the position exchange between the youngest and the girl. For posing improvements - get them to interact with each other just a bit. Can be as simple as hands on shoulders, arms wrapped around someone, etc. They do like each other, right? Let it show! Light here was not the best, but it wasn't flat either. Would have been greatly improved with either a reflector or off-camera flash from camera right to fill in eye-socket shadows and the left sides of their faces. In #4, watch the cutting off of fingers/hands.

5-7 - Again, they don't interact with each other. You have a serious blue cast - easy to fix in ACR. Do you have a gray card you could have used to determine an accurate white balance? Watch your background for things growing out of your models' heads. In #7, you've go a significant portion of her face hidden. Fill flash would have been nice - I'm wondering if you're popup flash would have been sufficient to the task - I think so.

6 - Her blinking eyes. Do you have another in this series from which you can copy and paste her eyes? It's not a hard thing to do.

7 - Appears to be a bit under-exposed?

Final thoughts for next time:

• Learn to use your flash.
• If you can, get the equipment to get the flash off camera.
• Schedule the shoot time, making allowances for late models/clients and to allow time to just talk with them before the shoot. Plan it with them so that everyone is on the same page.
• Maybe include one or more of the parents in the job. Usually they can be controlled enough to not interfer with the shoot and they can usually be used as a good and free lighting assistant (reflector holder).
  
  Writing this has been most difficult, I sure hope it helps some.

Ann McRae

Scott

Thank you - I am really looking for that kind of feedback. These guys were relaxed, and goofing alot - lots of climbing trees etc - way too dark for any hope of getting that kind of shot. I want to give a thorough response to your post but I have to get cracking to work, so later tonight.

But, Scott and others, don't hesitate to chime in because I want to be doing portraits and I need to learn.

Pity about the reflector - I left it in the car cuz I thought you needed light to use a reflector

ann

angevin1

...and so..
And so while Scott picked out several ways to improve the photos, there are other variables at work. One biggie mentioned by you and other/s were the timeline/tardiness. That never helps you, only hurts all. I found the same thing when doing some seniors last season. I always like to meet them first and try and interact with them a bit to learn their personalities and allow those to come to the forefront. You were right to have the Mom/parent stay behind, sometimes this helps.

You didn't mention having an assistant with you? Having just another individual not necessarily another photog can aid you with light and thoughts; following the cliche about two heads, etc.

These photos themselves may or may not be what you were after, but I think there are many ways to view and interpret them. I like them, but then, I don't count. Does the client like them?

cheers~tom

Ann McRae

I think your summation pretty well covered it. I hate to say it, but I don't think you have a winner here. If you can, I think I would blame most of it on the lighting and on them being late and ask if they would like to try again.

Well, as I was waiting for the kids, the mom showed me her cherised 'best photo ever of the kids'. It is a snap that their dad took in Scotland after a hike. Nice scenery, kids huddled together on a rock, centered composition, not close in, displayed as a framed 4x6. So, having seen that, while I do need to improve technically, I think the client will not be hard to please.

In general, it appears that the kids were not relaxed and/or enjoying themselves. You say you were comfortable talking with them. Were they comfortable with you? Did you take any time to talk to them before you started shooting?

We all drove together and I thought I could use that to chat with them, and did with the oldest but the others were pretty quiet. They relaxed after I had them walk through that dungeon like trees, but I agree that the little guy was having a hard time - he was very earnest about getting things right for his mom! And the oldest wanted one shot, and to be done. I am pretty sure that if we got together again, they would be relaxed from the get go.

Feedback:
1 - Very soft (motion blur, shutter speed issue?) and more than just a little muddy/dark conversion. The sky is already blown, so I wouldn't hesitate to boost the exposure/brightness a bit to light it up a bit. The pose I really like. The young lady seems to have a problem getting a genuine looking smile, but the one here is about as good as she's done in this set.

I didn't really do a proper bw conversion here, just set LR to greyscale to see if that helped the graininess. They were walking toward me and I'd love to reshoot this one in more light.

2-4 - Son in hoody - he's too bent over. #3 is better than #2 for the position exchange between the youngest and the girl. For posing improvements - get them to interact with each other just a bit. Can be as simple as hands on shoulders, arms wrapped around someone, etc. They do like each other, right? Let it show! Light here was not the best, but it wasn't flat either. Would have been greatly improved with either a reflector or off-camera flash from camera right to fill in eye-socket shadows and the left sides of their faces. In #4, watch the cutting off of fingers/hands.

They like each other but did not want to touch one another...not at all! I didn't notice the hands on 4.....yikes!

5-7 - Again, they don't interact with each other. You have a serious blue cast - easy to fix in ACR. Do you have a gray card you could have used to determine an accurate white balance? Watch your background for things growing out of your models' heads. In #7, you've go a significant portion of her face hidden. Fill flash would have been nice - I'm wondering if you're popup flash would have been sufficient to the task - I think so.

No pop up flash on the 1d, and the 20d was tucked away. They were straddling the railing of a little bridge - not super safe, and so I rushed. After, I really wish I'd moved around more to include the bridge in the shot.

6 - Her blinking eyes. Do you have another in this series from which you can copy and paste her eyes? It's not a hard thing to do.

Sadly this is theonly one of them walking toward me. The others they are more 'abbey roadish' and way to much in shadow to rescue.

7

- Appears to be a bit under-exposed?

Final thoughts for next time:

• Learn to use your flash.
• If you can, get the equipment to get the flash off camera.
• Schedule the shoot time, making allowances for late models/clients and to allow time to just talk with them before the shoot. Plan it with them so that everyone is on the same page.
• Maybe include one or more of the parents in the job. Usually they can be controlled enough to not interfer with the shoot and they can usually be used as a good and free lighting assistant (reflector holder).
  
  Writing this has been most difficult, I sure hope it helps some.

In this case, mom would have been a nightmare to have along. She told me she wanted them to pick their own clothes so that it was something they liked, then argued with each of them about their choices. We were better for not having her.

Tonight, at 6:30, we had gorgeous light. Absolutely freakin fantastic!!!! The leaves have at most a week before they are on the ground.

Thanks Scott. I know I will get better, and I am glad I won't have a problem with this client this time.

ann

Ann McRae

Thanks, Tom. I don't know the clients thoughts yet, as I want to do some more PP before I show her. SHe is a doll, and really easy to please, so I don't want her opinion to be the only one I seek. But hers is the one that matters most!

ann

angevin1 wrote:

And so while Scott picked out several ways to improve the photos, there are other variables at work. One biggie mentioned by you and other/s were the timeline/tardiness. That never helps you, only hurts all. I found the same thing when doing some seniors last season. I always like to meet them first and try and interact with them a bit to learn their personalities and allow those to come to the forefront. You were right to have the Mom/parent stay behind, sometimes this helps.

You didn't mention having an assistant with you? Having just another individual not necessarily another photog can aid you with light and thoughts; following the cliche about two heads, etc.

These photos themselves may or may not be what you were after, but I think there are many ways to view and interpret them. I like them, but then, I don't count. Does the client like them?

cheers~tom

Ann McRae

I edited/ re-edited some tonight. Used sweaters to set WB to get rid of the blue cast Scott noticed, so step ! is under control.

But more importantly, how does this photo look with this desat/sepia look goin on?

Scott_Quier

Ann McRae wrote:

I edited/ re-edited some tonight. Used sweaters to set WB to get rid of the blue cast Scott noticed, so step ! is under control.

But more importantly, how does this photo look with this desat/sepia look goin on?

This is so much better! Good resuce.

Ann McRae

Well, so far the customer has ordered Christmas cards and thinks she knows which shot to order, but has not decided on print size ... I thought she would be an easy customer because she is soo nice, but she is also pretty wishy washy!

Anyway, I now have a set of studio lights to learn how to use. And I am not starting slowly either! A colleague of my husband is in quick need of some portraits for his own advertising. He lives near a girlfriend that has just had a baby. So Sunday morning, me and my lights are going to do two sets of portraits!!!!

I have also had a request to cover an 80th birthday party late this coming summer. It kind of feels like I have the start of a clientele and intend to work that like crazy this year!

So, winter is (hopefully) half over and I have done this family shoot, the model shoot with Nik in SF, my husbands family at Christmas (not really on me at all - just a quick lg grp shot) and now the two this weekend. Not really a lot of progress, eh? Alas!

ann