School Portraits

celeste · August 26, 2009

:dunno I am taking school portraits this year. I need some opinions. The school is k- 12th grade. So lots of height variation. How do I make all the shots look unifrom. In other words, without croppping on the computer after the shoot. What is the best way to have the same amount of backdrop at the top of each student. My chair does not adjust.

Would it make sense to have a line on the back drop and all heads must be at that level? The editor of the yearbook says that when they put pictures in to the yearbook, the picture can not be adjusted within each little picture box, all they can do is zoom in. If they have to zoom, then you cut of some head and have mostly face....suggestions as to how to set this up?

celeste · August 26, 2009

any suggestions?

adbsgicom · August 26, 2009

If your chair doesn't adjust, it seems the only variable you have (if you don't want to crop them all after the shoot), is to change the height of your camera. Never done this, so there might be a more clever solution. I have an older Slik tripod that has a nice crank on the vertical.

Qarik · August 26, 2009

adbsgicom wrote:

If your chair doesn't adjust, it seems the only variable you have (if you don't want to crop them all after the shoot), is to change the height of your camera. Never done this, so there might be a more clever solution. I have an older Slik tripod that has a nice crank on the vertical.

after giving this some thought..I come up with the same solution. Change the camera height. It's probably even faster then adjusting a stool.

celeste · August 27, 2009

Thanks! My thoughts were that when the yearbook staff would put the photos in the little picture boxes they would be able to adjust within the box...would make things much easier. Has anyone out there done school yearbook portraits....help please. Tell me how you set this up.

whiteagle · August 27, 2009

Easy peasy. You have to start off with a really insipid lighting setup. I recommend a poorly done Rembrandt style setup. Just be sure the light is a little too low so the shadow from their nose goes tearing across their opposite cheek. Of course you'll need ample fill to make everything look flat, and dont' even think about a rim light.

Second you'll need a bland background. Be prepared to get your hands dirty on this one, cause I recommend going through the dumpster behind your local Olan Mills. If you can find one of their old ones, they're awesome for this.

The final step is to coax one of three looks from each of the students: 1st is the "I'm too cool for school" or the indifferent look. 2nd is the fake smile/self conscious look. You'll mostly get these from the people with pocket protectors. 3rd and finally there will be a small percentage that are good as smiling (mostly cheerleaders) as they should be as much time as they've spent practicing it in the mirror.

Good luck!

celeste · August 27, 2009

ok, thanks!

Could you also comment on how to make them all look uniform...I did them last year and the only complaint from the yearbook staff was that when they put the pics into the yearbook software, they can not adjust, other than zoom. But that makes a person be all face if they zoom in. My problem is deciding how to make them all have the same ratio of backdrop around them, should i crop after or should i make some sort of imaginary line on the backdrop and make all head be at this position? The age range is k- 12th grade so there would be alot of adjusting!

sweet caroline · August 28, 2009

I wonder what software they are using. I've used blurb, and their software allows for movement of the photo and zoom. Of course, the school I do this for doesn't need uniform looking photos. I shoot the photos outside with a natural background. I can see how they would want more uniformity, I guess, in a larger school. I would say that you should crop all photos yourself, but I don't know how many students you are dealing with.

Caroline

celeste · August 30, 2009

Not sure about the software, I will try to find out! About two hundred students so not too bad. Thanks for your suggestions, if you think of anything else, please let me know!

Art Scott · August 30, 2009

How long before shoot day starts?
What is your current equipment?

If you had medium format film equipment it would be easy peasy or if your digital gear has interchangable focus screens it will work also.......
You need crop lines inside on the focus screen to match too.......I used to draw mine with a sharpie using a cardboard printing mask........but if you had say a KATZ EYE 8x10 vertical mask on your focus screen then your worries are over.......and if doing group shots use a 2nd camera for that............

some Nikon's come with them as a menu turn on/off item....personally I use them to keep things straight all the time....................

Sam · August 31, 2009

If your chair doesn't adjust for height and you need to adjust for height why not just buy the right tool for the job?

If you don't want to buy a new chair the one downside to adjusting your camera height is that it can end up in a height position that becomes very uncomfortable for you.

How about building, finding different height platforms and use this to raise or lower the chair height based on the average for the age group?

Ether solution will keep the camera height at a good working height for you.

Sam

Sam

celeste · August 31, 2009

I have nikon d80, thanks for that info! huge help. I am about to go look through my menu and see if i have that option.

Nikolai · August 31, 2009

Well, to be honest, I really don't see what the problem is...

1) have a tall stool (kinda like a bar one), but without the backrest. Sometimes they are called "posing stools" even. Stools are great equalizers, since the tend to diminish the height difference in half.

2) set your lighting approximately for an average kid. Rembrandt, diagonal hair, plus reflector in diagonal clamshell position if you have it. Don't set them too close, so you don't have to adjust them all the time.

3) forget the tripod. Use 50 (or 85 or 100) prime and zoom with your feet. Imagine rule of thirds grid (if you have a special focusing screen or liveview you can actually see the grid) and make sure the face always fills the central cell. All you need to do is to ensure approximate angle of shooting is the same.

Note: if you actually have a shooting stand - by all means use it, since it can be asjusted really easily and quickly.
I would also shoot tethered and used remote triggering, but I'm not sure if your camera is easy to set up like that.

HTH

School Portraits

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