Engagement photos, where do I start?

Flutist

I have a couple (friends) that want me to photograph them for their engagement announcement. While I'm honored, I'm scared out of my gourd. I suck in comparison to all of you here. So please tell me, what am I up against.

They want photos inside, formal studio style as well as some taken here

They know I am learning, and I explained that their picture may look like donkey poo :rofl but that if they understood that, I would be happy to do them.


Lead me in the right direction here. What do I bring for both sessions?


Here is what I have:

Canon XTi
Canon 50mm1.8
Canon 24-105
Canon 430EX
Red/Black/Blue/White backgrounds
I have http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=290291031285 that lighting unit coming. It's not great, but I had to make a sacrifice in quality while I'm still learning.

Scott_Quier

This is not hard - don't let it scare you.

First, schedule the shoot such that you can re-shoot in case they really do turn out looking like donkey poo. If you have to re-shoot, you'll have learned a lot from the first attempt.

For the outdoor session, that bridge is prime. Do the shoot in early morning or very late afternoon, so the light will be sweetest. Take an assistant to hold that reflector, should you need it. Face them away from the sun, reflect a bit of the lght back at them and you should have it nailed. You can also use your flash in High-speed shutter synchronization mode. A faster shutter speed will help you control the ambient light coming from behind them. If you use the flash, you will probably want to gel the flash to balance/match the color temperature of the flash with the ambient. Take your time, don't look rushed, think it through before the shoot and then think through each shot when you are with them. Taking you time will give them confidence in you and that will reflect in what you get. Finally, when you get a good one - SHOW IT TO THEM while making happy noises! They will be a lot more relaxed if they feel you feel it is a successful session.

For the studio.... You have two strobes. Use one for lighting from behind you couple and, maybe, spilling onto the background. Use the other to provide from lighting from either the side or from the front. If these strobes have optical slave units in them, you can mount your 430 on your camera and use it to provide fill and to trigger your strobes.

Or ... One light behind, one on one side of them, and the reflector to the other side of them for some fill from that side, as close to them as you can get without putting it in the frame.

Anyway ... practice with your strobes a bit. Do some google research for lighting setups. Try them out. Sweet talk two of your friends into being lighting test subjects so you can see the effect of each setup on a couple - couples will be different than lighting just one subject.

Finally, have fun with it and take your time, and practice. It's really not rocket science. Easy stuff if you approach it with a relaxed mind.

Flutist

Scott, you are amazing!!!! I know I say that every time you post in one of my threads, but you are truly an amazing help to me. I am printing out what you typed and sticking it in my pocket of Scott's knowledge.

Scott_Quier

Flutist wrote:

Scott, you are amazing!!!! I know I say that every time you post in one of my threads, but you are truly an amazing help to me. I am printing out what you typed and sticking it in my pocket of Scott's knowledge.

Shannon, I'm glad to have been of help. But I hope you understand that what I supplied is not a cookbook recipe to "fix your problem." When I post, I try to make it a "teach others how to fish" rather than handing them a basket of fish - NWIM?

BTW - Is that a new avvy? Or am I mistaken? Either way, groovy piccie (needs a little WB fix though lol4)

JohnBiggs

Scott_Quier wrote:

you can mount your 430 on your camera and use it to provide fill and to trigger your strobes.

You may have to use the 430 in full manual to get it to fire the opticals correctly. You could just set the 430 to it's lowest power if you don't need it to add to the scene.

I agree with Scott, It's not that hard because they understand what to expect. Now after you succeed at this shoot and they love their pictures DON'T let them talk you into the wedding. Its a whole other game.

Scott_Quier

JohnBiggs wrote:

You may have to use the 430 in full manual to get it to fire the opticals correctly. You could just set the 430 to it's lowest power if you don't need it to add to the scene.

I agree with Scott, It's not that hard because they understand what to expect. Now after you succeed at this shoot and they love their pictures DON'T let them talk you into the wedding. Its a whole other game.

That first is a very good catch - I'm surprised I missed it.

As for the second partdealdeal

Flutist

Scott-

Thank you, I'm not the type that does want things handed on a silver platter. I'd much rather what you do, offer the education but let the learning be my part.


Also, he** no am I doing their wedding. I would never do that unless someone hired me on as their second for a while so I could work under someone, who really knows the ropes and would be willing to teach.



(oh yeah, crud! Look at my avi, shoot I look pink) I didn't shoot it in raw, so not much better I can get it.

sweet caroline

Shannon, you are so cute, even if you are pink!

Like they said- no need to be scared of the engagement shoot. Have fun with it. If you can get them relaxed, you'll get great shots. Have you spent some time looking at engagement photos to get an idea of what you want to try?

Caroline

Flutist

Thanks, Sweet Caroline!! Not too bad for 32 (although I could stand to lose more than my age)

I really want to try to convince them to do more outdoor photos. I love this photographer

FedererPhoto

Seach 'engagement session' on google and look at the good photogs work. Right-click save the stuff you like to a folder. Keep going until you have like 100+ images that you all think are kick-arse.
Then sit back and actually think about the images you liked... what do they have in common? What are some common factors? Can you control those factors?
You can develop a style 'organically' by just 'letting it happen' over time... or you can actively develop your style (and you can do much of that developing without even having a camera in hand).

Much easier than simply starting out from scratch (imho).

Jeremy Winterberg

Let me know how you like that studio kit. I was thinking about getting that as a starter. (either that or I might get two 200watt stobes with umbrellas from calumet.com)

mmmatt

Jeremy Winterberg wrote:

Let me know how you like that studio kit. I was thinking about getting that as a starter. (either that or I might get two 200watt stobes with umbrellas from calumet.com)

I have that same ebay stobe kit. It isn't all that bad really! Great way to learn lighting techniques on a budget. I was shooting some cars for an exotic used car dealer yesterday (Fuel injected 64 stingray convertable, and an 85 280sl) in a big warehouse and I found that the opticals weren't tripping so I taped a 3x5 white card on the side oposite the other lightsourse so it would reflect the other flash back at the sensor. That worked really well. If you are shooting in a reasonable space with a background then that shouldn't be a factor, but remember the tip if you are having issues.

When shooting people sometimes the hardest part is getting them to loosen up. I find this is especially tough when I just shoot one location. Almost always, the best stuff I shoot comes after we changed locations a couple times.

I'm not a big studio shooter so I will just recomend you do some googling. "2 strobe studio lighting", "hair light", "rim light", and "glamour lighting techniques" should yeild some good information. As for the outdoor stuff, bigest advice I can give is to really look at the ambient light. Find GOOD light, and then use your flash to compliment it and/or soften some shadows. Using a gel is good advice because it will go a long way in making your flash seem very natural by matching the color of the ambient light. I personally like my fill flash to be barely visable, but not all people prefer that.

Assuming you are shooting ettl, you will probably find that turning down the flash comensation (start with -1 unless you have strong backlighting) will give you a more natural look. With strong backlighting you may very well want to crank the flash comp up +2 to get good ballance. Using highspeed sync is a great technique for strong backlighting, but it does cut down the power of your flash and with less flash it sometimes doesn't really help that much. you can test those techniques anytime by setting a volleyball or other item on the rail of your bridge. I have gotten to the point that before I start shooting I take some test shots of the background area to set the camera settings for the background, then I add flash to light the subject. This allows you to see the shot as the two seperate exposures that it really is. Keep in mind also that the shutter speed has no effect on the flash output with the exception of the hss mode in which case it is reduced.

Good luck, and make sure you share the results with us!!!

Matt

Flutist

I will, and thanks for Chiming in Matt!!

ccoggins

reply to mmmatt
Just wanted to let you know , you have a way of explaining things that make it easy to understand. Do you teach ?

dimitra72

FedererPhoto wrote:

Seach 'engagement session' on google and look at the good photogs work. Right-click save the stuff you like to a folder. Keep going until you have like 100+ images that you all think are kick-arse.
Then sit back and actually think about the images you liked... what do they have in common? What are some common factors? Can you control those factors?
You can develop a style 'organically' by just 'letting it happen' over time... or you can actively develop your style (and you can do much of that developing without even having a camera in hand).

Much easier than simply starting out from scratch (imho).

Make a checklist based on what you like for engagement photos, then put like shots together so you can save time. Are you re-enacting the proposal? Is it a love story? You want to save yourself from going back to redo things you forgot, butyou also want to continue the flow. Then you can tell the engagement story better. Also remember the basic portrait rule - take a full length, 3/4, crop of the same shot. You'll be surprised how many clients love the full length -- plus, you can always crop rther than add! GL!:D

mmmatt

ccoggins wrote:

Just wanted to let you know , you have a way of explaining things that make it easy to understand. Do you teach ?

HA! Nope, but it is in my genetics. Both parents and my only sibling were teachers. Thanks for the compliment.

Matt