Quick help for portrait!

DRT-Maverick

Kasey and I are possibly going to the lake (Tahoe) tomorrow, and I really want to get some nice photos of her, rather than just snapshot style photos. Any suggestions on lighting, aperture in sunny days, and poses?

Thanks!

dragon300zx

use fill flash, keep her back to the sun so she isn't squinting, try to shoot early morning or late afternoon when the sun isn't as bright, pray for cloud cover.

DRT-Maverick

There might be a stormsystem moving in. Fill flash. I've never been good with flashes. I'll have to experiment.

That reminds me. Uhm, are there lenses made for taking photos of people? :P I want to get some bikini shots that look professional.

XO-Studios

DRT-Maverick wrote:

There might be a stormsystem moving in. Fill flash. I've never been good with flashes. I'll have to experiment.

That reminds me. Uhm, are there lenses made for taking photos of people? :P I want to get some bikini shots that look professional.

That 28-200 should work awesome. I have personal rule, that even with my D70 (digital 1.6 factor) I do not shoot ppl with anything less than 50 mm, some of my best work is done with a 50mm/1.8, but my 80-200/2.8 does great too. I would bring a reflector (preferably silver one side/gold the other) and if you go for bikini/wetlook bring a squirt bottle.

FWIW,

XO,

DRT-Maverick

How much are reflectors, I wonder if i can make a makeshift tinfoil one. (Is that a good idea?) What about making her go into the lake to get wet?

XO-Studios

DRT-Maverick wrote:

How much are reflectors, I wonder if i can make a makeshift tinfoil one. (Is that a good idea?) What about making her go into the lake to get wet?

Reflectors can be ahd cheap, but mainly online.

Even a white piece of posterboard or foamboard will work. If you use tinfoil on one side make sure it is smooth with NO folds or creases.

Yes she can get into the lake, but that is an all or nothing deal and doesn't leave the nice small droplets that make those pictures look good.

FWIW,

XO,

Steve Cavigliano

DRT-Maverick wrote:

There might be a stormsystem moving in. Fill flash. I've never been good with flashes. I'll have to experiment.

That reminds me. Uhm, are there lenses made for taking photos of people? :P I want to get some bikini shots that look professional.

Fill flash is pretty easy to use. If you're close enough, you can even use a camera's internal flash. What I always do when all I need is a fill is I switch to Aperture Priority and enable the flash. FWIW, I usually keep the aperture between F4.0 and F5.6. If you are trying to get the lake background in semi-focus, you might need to use a narrower aperture, or not zoom in too much on your subject.

Good luck,
Steve

Higgmeister

Just torture the poor girl
by making her go into the lake. That's frigid water, might want to get her a wet suite for the shoot:D. The bikini can go on the outside. A squirt bottle sounds like a great idea. Keep the sun out of her eyes or she's going to be squinting. A car windshield screen/sun block can work in a pinch, but you will probably want to use a grey card for white balance.

Have some fun and let's see what you get,
Chris

Nee7x7

Another cheap reflector idea...
The kind of car sunshade that folds up into a small circle can be used for a reflector. One side is usually silver or white and the cost is generally under $10!

You might also try a google search for portraits and see what comes up. Look for natural light portrait photographers (Senior Grad Photos are a good place to start...it's now in vogue for kids to have natural light photos taken for their Senior pics). Ulysses photography in New York has some nice examples of natural light and "unposed" photos (sorry, don't have the URL, but I think he uses Smugmug so you might try searching there first).

Simple props make for good shots -sunglasses on her head or in her hand; having her lean against a tree; holding a hat; being contemplative sitting on a rock looking at the lake, etc. Action shots are fun, too...her hair swinging, jumping in the air, sticking her toes in the cold water, etc. Anything where she is interacting with or reacting to the environment can be good. If you bring a blanket, you could have her lay on her stomach with her elbows propped up and her chin resting on her folded hands (hope that makes sense).

Good luck with your shoot. I did my first "official" portrait shoot for a graduating Senior in May...don't know if any of my shots would help you come up with other ideas, but here's the link to the gallery...

http://nee.smugmug.com/gallery/552902

Cheers!
~Nee