Family Saturday Shoot.

Travis · March 9, 2009

For the last couple of months, I have been trying to schedule a date for family portraits with Shaun, Christine, and Shaemus. Each weekend that we tried to make it happen, the weather washed out our plans or an unexpected trip got in the way. Christine really wanted to get the images done while Shaemus was still a 1-year old. Finally this Saturday the weather cleared, temps soared to high 70's, and everyone was available. What I didn't count on is that it being the first beautiful day in months, everyone and their brother would be at the oceanfront, occupying the locations that I initially planned to use for backdrops.

We ended up shooting at an old favorite location at the north end of the beach where we discovered that the wind coming off of the 45-degree ocean dropped the temps down to the low 60's. Because of that (and a slight accident the little man had) we ended up cutting the shoot a tad short before the great evening light arrived. :cry Anyway, the clients were real troopers and we had a great time. C&C welcomed!

1. Shaemus

2. Old man face

3. Family

4. Business Man in the Making

5. One More of the Happy Family

Thanks for looking and your suggestions!

Swartzy · March 9, 2009

I like them all Travis! Just a thought (as the temp reflects it)....maybe a bit of additional saturation....nothing over the top of course but you could blue the sky and deepen the sand color. What a little character!:D

Travis · March 9, 2009

Swartzy wrote:

I like them all Travis! Just a thought (as the temp reflects it)....maybe a bit of additional saturation....nothing over the top of course but you could blue the sky and deepen the sand color. What a little character!:D

Hey Swartxy, believe it or not, on the beach shots, I goosed the vibrance! It was 3:00 in the afternoon and took every ounce of flash I had just to bump the shutter speed enough to get some color in the sky. One of these days I'll spring for a vagabond battery pack and bring some real horsepower with me.

I may create a PSD, and reapply the saturation. Thanks for the suggestion!

Shrikrishna · March 9, 2009

I dont know #4 looks like has off WB, or is it low saturation, too much grey?. Rest are good!.

Travis · March 10, 2009

Thanks Shrikrishna! It could be. I was struggling with white balance on that day (forgot the trusty gray card). I've made some adjustments since (not uploaded yet) that warms it up a bit. Appreciate the input!

Cuties02q · March 10, 2009

I really like #1 & #5 nice job

Travis · March 10, 2009

Thank you Stephanie!

jeffreaux2 · March 10, 2009

These are nice Travis!

The lighting looks a bit strong...but I can see that you were trying to power down the sun also.

What are you using for a modifyer. I have given some thought to a contraption named the "Halo". Ever use one?

Travis · March 10, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

These are nice Travis!

The lighting looks a bit strong...but I can see that you were trying to power down the sun also.

What are you using for a modifyer. I have given some thought to a contraption named the "Halo". Ever use one?

Thanks Jeff. For the family protraits, I was using a Softfliter. The sun was absolutley blazing from the back. The child portraits were shot on the walkway leading to the beach that created a dense canopy. No fill was used on those other than the white shirts of the parents. So what is this halo????

jeffreaux2 · March 10, 2009

It is this....

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/62710-REG/Westcott_2025_Round_Halo_Softbox_.html

I see several of the folks on one light forum are using them for groups and beach work.

Travis · March 10, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

It is this....

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/62710-REG/Westcott_2025_Round_Halo_Softbox_.html

I see several of the folks on one light forum are using them for groups and beach work.

That is very similar to the softliter. I do like the way it bubbles out which would soften the edge shadows surrounding the subject. Thanks for posting the link.

jeffreaux2 · March 10, 2009

Travis wrote:

That is very similar to the softliter. I do like the way it bubbles out which would soften the edge shadows surrounding the subject. Thanks for posting the link.

The results I have seen from it look pretty nice. The "bubble" offers a pretty wide lit area. Most of what I have seen has been used with AB lights rather than speedlights.

I just recently picked up a stand and a couple umbrellas. Cant wait to get to using it!

Im trying to schedule some shoots for this weekend. I have a backlog that has been waiting for warm weather...and then for me to finish up a project at work. Im hoping to catch up some in the next week or so. Stay tuned?:D

Travis · March 11, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Im trying to schedule some shoots for this weekend. I have a backlog that has been waiting for warm weather...and then for me to finish up a project at work. Im hoping to catch up some in the next week or so. Stay tuned?:D

I'll be looking for to seeing some more spectacular portraits. I understand the backlog as I have a list of clients waiting for pretty day at the beach. While I love doing the beach photos, I look forward to a few non-beach settings as well!

Here are a couple of more from Sat...
6.

7.

Agnieszka · March 12, 2009

These are wonderful Travis!! The sky looks perfect to me, love the colors, the pose is nice too .... A picture for the wall

Travis · March 12, 2009

Agnieszka wrote:

These are wonderful Travis!! The sky looks perfect to me, love the colors, the pose is nice too .... A picture for the wall

Thank you Agnieszka! I got down on the sand and showed the dad how I wanted him to pose 3 times and i still couldn't get his extended leg (it wasn't supposed to be extended lol) into the right position. Is it wrong to slap clients when they don't follow direction?

j/k, they were too much of a joy to work with.

JulieLawsonPhotography · March 12, 2009

jeffreaux2 wrote:

It is this....

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/62710-REG/Westcott_2025_Round_Halo_Softbox_.html

I see several of the folks on one light forum are using them for groups and beach work.

So you put this on your flash?

jeffreaux2 · March 12, 2009

JulieLawsonPhotography wrote:

So you put this on your flash?

It mounts like an umbrella or softbox to a stand. The flash mounts through the back.

Agnieszka · March 13, 2009

Travis wrote:

Thank you Agnieszka! I got down on the sand and showed the dad how I wanted him to pose 3 times and i still couldn't get his extended leg (it wasn't supposed to be extended lol) into the right position. Is it wrong to slap clients when they don't follow direction? j/k, they were too much of a joy to work with.

I think so

I had the same issue last weekend, haha ....

Family Saturday Shoot.

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