First portaits...

Grumpy_one

So I sold some photos, so that makes me a pro (by definition) and here's my first attempt at some family portaits using my family. Always start with family and friends first right?... The lighting was supplied by a friend. I had no idea what I was doing, this was all from the hip.


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I'll post a pic of our set up when I get it uploaded. I have an idea where the failures are. So please let'r rip! What did I do right, what did I do wrong? Thanks

One thing we did that I would change is the backdrop. We used a white sheet of paper, my first choice would be something grey to dark cloth. Thanks

Grumpy_one

Set up
Here's our set up.













So I'd like to know what kind of gear you use. Thanks!

Blurmore

The vignettes have a very hand drawn look, not that it is bad...but the gradiation may be a bit harsh. May I suggest filter > lens correction > - vignette slider to add a very natural looking vignette. There are other ways including a gradient layer mask to make it smoother. I use Alien Bees 2 (800s) a Sunpak 622 (with various heads) and Canon Speedlights. I use white bounce umbrellas (with a standard reflector) to control spill and for big groups or very soft close up light a large lightware retangular softbox with a baffle. I like to think I can make nice light anywhere with the standard kit I carry everywhere...but that is probably not totally true.

Good work, posing is solid.

Grumpy_one

Blurmore wrote:

The vignettes have a very hand drawn look, not that it is bad...but the gradiation may be a bit harsh. May I suggest filter > lens correction > - vignette slider to add a very natural looking vignette. There are other ways including a gradient layer mask to make it smoother. I use Alien Bees 2 (800s) a Sunpak 622 (with various heads) and Canon Speedlights. I use white bounce umbrellas (with a standard reflector) to control spill and for big groups or very soft close up light a large lightware retangular softbox with a baffle. I like to think I can make nice light anywhere with the standard kit I carry everywhere...but that is probably not totally true.

Good work, posing is solid.

Thanks for the reply. Ya, the vignettes are hand drawn. I probably could fine tune them. I was trying to do something about the harsh white background. I was more interested in the lighting and poses. As far as the poses, I tried to replicate some of the past photo sessions we've posed for. My friend who came over with his lights has never done portraits either. It was a first for the both of us. It was actually kinda fun. Execpt the part trying to coral your own family for posing. Thanks Mike. Here's his website. The vingetting I could always change/fix. I'll try your idea. Thanks again!!

roentarre

Very well done. I love the lighting and vignetting. Works effectively

clemensphoto's

Nice shoots. I really like you simple set up in the living room.

Ed911

Blurmore wrote:

The vignettes have a very hand drawn look, not that it is bad...but the gradation may be a bit harsh. May I suggest filter > lens correction > - vignette slider to add a very natural looking vignette. )

Did you mean to say, Filter, Distort, Lens Correction, and then Vignette slider.

Blurmore

Yeah thats the one.

divamum

I have recently discovered that vignetting is possibly the easiest thing in the world and it looks SO great and is so infinitely adjustable when using a layer. Here's what I've been doing (I'll assume you're using photoshop, but this would be just as easy in paintshop or any other program that lets you do a fill layer) - I figured this out by trial and error so if there's an easier way to do this, by all means somebody let me know! Edited to add: just read the post above (duh) - I'll try that method too!!

I use the lasso tool OR the preset shape selection tool (marqee in cs3) depending on the look I want - the preset gives a more precise and (to my eye) "formal" studio-look vignette, but the handrawn ones I've been playing with let me adjust highlight/shadow and sneakily manipulate the center of attention without necessarily looking like a vignette. Pretty cool to be able to do that (I know, I know - to you experienced photographers this is so old-hat, but I'm new enough at this that I think it's miraculous to be able to do it so easily and to use it for so many things!!) Keep the feathering high unless you want a really harsh, sharp line - I've found I like 100-200 pixels to keep the edge really soft.

Select "invert selection" (right click in PS/windows)

Select layer/new fill layer from the layers menu

pick your colour (for a subtle look, I've been playing with colours other than black, eg that tone in with the picture's colours)

tada! Really pretty vignette. Adjust it with the layer opacity slider, or if you don't want a perfectly clean edge (eg if you're using it more to enhance/adjust exposure than to be a specific vignette shape)

If I can do it quickly, anybody can! I'm sure there must be presets and stuff out there which automate it to 1-click, but this has been working nicely for me and I'm absurdly excited by how much control it gives me. Like I said, I'm like a little kid as I discover this stuff for myself.....

Great shots - and impressed you even got the DOG to cooperate! I've been wanting to do a family shot include the 4-foot but as yet haven't figured out how to get everybody cleaned up, sitting in one place AND in a good mood at the same time!

Nikolai

I used to have only two lights (and much worse than yours:-) and a backdrop for a relatively long time, so I think I know your struggles.
What I would suggest to do next time is to keep using the large softbox as the main light and transform the other into the hair light, putting it on top of your backdrop. You'd have to come with some DIY solution to prevent its light from spilling into the lens and thus polluting the shot, but it is nothing a dark poster board and a few patches of tape wouldn't be able to deal with, all under $5 and 5-10 minutes.
If you feel desperately under-lit upfront, get a reflector. It can be a real one or just a large piece of foam-board, poster-board, drywall, sheet on a PVC frame, etc.
I concur with the comments on the harsh hand-drawn shadows and not-so-good desaturated version.
Posing/expressions look good though.
And remember Joe McNally's mantra: "To make something look interesting you don't have to light it all". :-) You can do *tons* of stuff with your two light sources, as long as you don't get stuck with "let's get it all evenly lit" approach - which seems to be a big rut for novice portraiture photogs (was guilty myself:-).
HTH

Grumpy_one

We had four lights
You don't see it in the photos, but we had two speedlights on the floor behind the subjects. You can see some highlight on my sons right side of his face on 1,4 and 5. We moved them off to the side at one point. Nikolai you'll have have to expand on "(and much worse than yours:-) ", never having worked with strobes before, not sure if these are good portrait lights, I would only assume that they are great lights. I plan to read up on good portrait equip, now that I've got a taste, I'm getting hungry. Thanks

Nikolai

Grumpy_one wrote:

...Nikolai you'll have have to expand on "(and much worse than yours:-)..."

For 2+ years I only had two "potato mashers" Sunpack flash units. No modeiling lights, AA-powered, no sophisticated modifiers (only brollyboxes and umbrellas). You're much better off at this point.
After being able of working with 11 lights total plus a wide range of modifiers my sense of studio lighting shifted rather dramatically.
Here's what I think is the most effective usage of a limited number of lights (naturally all-off camera and remotely controlled with full manual control) for some basic portrait scenarios:

1. Somewhere up front; add a reflector for fill; as an alternative - backlighting
2. + hair/rim; diagonal lighting works great
3. + key/fill
4. + bg or rim

HTH

ivar

I think the lighting looks very nice for a home studio setup

I agree that the vignetting is a bit too much for me, but it's 'a look' and I can see people liking it, too.

Grumpy_one

Nikolai wrote:

For 2+ years I only had two "potato mashers" Sunpack flash units. No modeiling lights, AA-powered, no sophisticated modifiers (only brollyboxes and umbrellas). You're much better off at this point.
After being able of working with 11 lights total plus a wide range of modifiers my sense of studio lighting shifted rather dramatically.
Here's what I think is the most effective usage of a limited number of lights (naturally all-off camera and remotely controlled with full manual control) for some basic portrait scenarios:

1. Somewhere up front; add a reflector for fill; as an alternative - backlighting
2. + hair/rim; diagonal lighting works great
3. + key/fill
4. + bg or rim

HTH

Those aren't my lights. My friend brought those over. My lighting equip is a 580EX, that's it. I aspire to have lights like that. He did me a favor by lugging that stuff over to my house. I only hope to have equip like that some day. So my question is this, what would you use for a portable system for portraits? We had a photog come over one time, for the life of me I cant remember her set up. Cheers

Nikolai

Grumpy_one wrote:

Those aren't my lights. My friend brought those over. My lighting equip is a 580EX, that's it. I aspire to have lights like that. He did me a favor by lugging that stuff over to my house. I only hope to have equip like that some day. So my question is this, what would you use for a portable system for portraits? We had a photog come over one time, for the life of me I cant remember her set up. Cheers

Oh I see.. Well, it all depends on the budget and intentions. The best lights won't help you if you don't know how to use them and what to use them for.
FWIW, my location setup is very simple: two 6xAA powered Sunpacks 555, 2 10ft lights stands, 3 PocketWizard Plus units (one on the camera trasmitting, two receiving), couple of sand bags. Lightmeter, naturally. If I don't have to walk further than a 100ft and need more elaborate setup, I can bring a Vagabond II (inverter/battery) and up to 4 AlienBees with a larger variety of modifiers.
Yet again, it's all in your head... As it's been said here many times, start small, exhaust the options and then you'll *know* what to get next.