Portrait Photography..Help!

B643

My niece has asked me to do her graduation pictures. I accepted the challenge although I have never done portrait photography before. I don't have any of the "studio lights". I have a large reflector I use in landscape photography and a Speedlight external flash. I use the Canon 40D. My lenses are all Canon...28-135....100 macro...11-22 and 100-400. Any tips or links would be greatly appreciated.

jeffreaux2

B643 wrote:

My niece has asked me to do her graduation pictures. I accepted the challenge although I have never done portrait photography before. I don't have any of the "studio lights". I have a large reflector I use in landscape photography and a Speedlight external flash. I use the Canon 40D. My lenses are all Canon...28-135....100 macro...11-22 and 100-400. Any tips or links would be greatly appreciated.

The best bet with your lens line-up is the 100mm macro. Don't be afraid to use it at F2.8 to F4.0. This will help to blur out the background and focus attention on your subject. The 11-22 might also make for some fun shots, just be aware that it will distort your subject and exaggerate features, and try to set up compositions with it that will minimize those effects.

If you have the 430EX or 580EX speedlight you can use it for fill flash. With large apertures you will need to be familiar with high speed synch and flash exposure compensation in order to be able to control how much effect the flash has on the exposure.

Try to keep your shutter speeds up above 1/125.....and maybe even a bit faster with that 100mm to insure that the eyes are tack sharp. Your focus point should be on her eyes.....and on her head in full length compositions. With the apertures and shutter speeds mentioned just bump up the ISO only as much as neccesary to attain those speeds....this will keep any noise to a minimum. You will likely be able to shoot anywhere from ISO100 to ISO640 in open shade during daylight hours and stay with the listed apertures and shutter speeds. AV mode may work just fine, but you will have to "ride" the exposure compensation to insure that your subject is properly exposed. Instead, I recommend full manual mode....using the histogram to insure that your exposure is set to expose as far "to the right" as possible without blowing highlights.

I have some tips for this type of photography at the following link...
http://jkmann.smugmug.com/gallery/6057673_NvijZ

...and you are more than welcome to visit my galleries and peruse the "seniors" portraits for ideas.

B643

jeffreaux2 wrote:

The best bet with your lens line-up is the 100mm macro. Don't be afraid to use it at F2.8 to F4.0. This will help to blur out the background and focus attention on your subject. The 11-22 might also make for some fun shots, just be aware that it will distort your subject and exaggerate features, and try to set up compositions with it that will minimize those effects.

If you have the 430EX or 580EX speedlight you can use it for fill flash. With large apertures you will need to be familiar with high speed synch and flash exposure compensation in order to be able to control how much effect the flash has on the exposure.

Try to keep your shutter speeds up above 1/125.....and maybe even a bit faster with that 100mm to insure that the eyes are tack sharp. Your focus point should be on her eyes.....and on her head in full length compositions.

I have some tips for this type of photography at the following link...
http://jkmann.smugmug.com/gallery/6057673_NvijZ

Thank you for your response... the advice and link is greatly appreciated. I will use this information. I do have the 430EX speedlight. I was also thinking about bouncing the light off the reflector to generate some interesting lighting on her face.
Again...thank you for your response.

jeffreaux2

B643 wrote:

Thank you for your response... the advice and link is greatly appreciated. I will use this information. I do have the 430EX speedlight. I was also thinking about bouncing the light off the reflector to generate some interesting lighting on her face.
Again...thank you for your response.

Bouncing off a reflector might provide some interesting light if you can manage it.....or....

Look for areas where shade (for your subject) is adjascent to full sun (to grab light with the reflector) and bounce in natural light with the reflector (no flash). You will need someone assisting you for this.

Using flash...
If you dial back the power of the flash far enough...the natural light will provide the interest. Don't knock out those naturally occurring shadows completely with the flash. Use just enough flash to brighten the eyes.

FEC (flash exposure compensation) may have to be dialed back as far as -3 to get it right, but use -1 1/3 FEC for a good starting point. The flash can be directed straight at your subject. ALL of the example photos in that article that used flash used that method.

If you shoot indoors, then by all means....bounce the flash from walls or ceilings for a better look.

Choose your location VERY CAREFULLY. AVOID full sun and dappled light. Keeping to shade will greatly affect your results...and also help to better manage exposures. Shooting early or late in the day will allow the sun to be at angles that provide for the type of shade you want on one side or the other of buildings...walls...etc. If you are lucky enough to get overcast skies....anywhere is game!

I shoot RAW so that I can fine tune white balance in post...but I nearly always capture using the "Cloudy" white balance to get nice warm tones.

thomasjm

I do a fair amount of natural light portrait photography. I find it difficult to use flashes for fill and to keep it looking natural. Often times it just ends up looking flat. I would recruit someone else to hold a reflector (if you haven't used one before get some practice it can be tricky to master) and focus on getting some depth with the reflector.

Here is a senior portrait I did with a 100% natural light and a single reflector.