Family Photoshoot CC appreciated :)
Hi All,
Just did a very quick shoot the other day for some friends who stopped by. Just wondering how these look. I'm always eager for CC.
I am also just testing out a pro account at Smug Mug. I'm not sure I'm ready to invest but I'm very impressed with the ease and privacy. (I had some issues at Flickr where several of my Explore photos were stolen).
Please let me know what you think. I'll post a link to the full gallery also for anyone interested. THANKS! BTW, as far a shooting location goes---all we did for this was step in my backyard. I would have loved to go somewhere more interesting but we literally spent 10 minutes max on this shoot (they were just passing through on a road trip).
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Link to all photos:
http://kfsphotography.smugmug.com/Family/The-Z-Family-2010/11537827_XDZ68#812473310_Fuhnj
Thanks everyone!
Just did a very quick shoot the other day for some friends who stopped by. Just wondering how these look. I'm always eager for CC.
I am also just testing out a pro account at Smug Mug. I'm not sure I'm ready to invest but I'm very impressed with the ease and privacy. (I had some issues at Flickr where several of my Explore photos were stolen).
Please let me know what you think. I'll post a link to the full gallery also for anyone interested. THANKS! BTW, as far a shooting location goes---all we did for this was step in my backyard. I would have loved to go somewhere more interesting but we literally spent 10 minutes max on this shoot (they were just passing through on a road trip).
1
2
3
4
5
6
Link to all photos:
http://kfsphotography.smugmug.com/Family/The-Z-Family-2010/11537827_XDZ68#812473310_Fuhnj
Thanks everyone!
__________________________
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com
0
Comments
As for protecting your photos - do you realize that you have the originals exposed and sharing. If you go into gallery settings, you can restrict the maximum size photo that SmugMug will download. As you have it now, it's a simple process for someone to get to the original, full-sized, un-watermarked image. If this is a concern for you, go into the gallery settings and restrict the maximum size that SmugMug will download to a visitor and also turn off the "Sharing" option.
My Photos
Thoughts on photographing a wedding, How to post a picture, AF Microadjustments?, Light Scoop
Equipment List - Check my profile
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com
Compose looser.
Not sure what camera you shoot, but I have installed a focus screen with a grid printed on it that was available for the 50D from Canon. It helps a bit in this regard.
I used to shoot AV exclusively for outdoor work, but now rarely shoot anything other than manual. For me, there are too many variables involved with using this method. A simple speck of sunlight peeking through an insignificant part of the background can cause the meter to set a severe under exposure for the subject. In manual I disregard the metering and expose for the subject and use the histogram to determine if the overexposed bits are acceptable. For me this is a much more consistant method...as opposed to trying to guess what the camera's meter will be doing to each shot. Consistancy when shooting for pay is a must.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
As for the Aperture Priority...I'm not sold on it. I was a full manual shooter until that session and I just got nervous that I might mess things up in manual. I am pretty quick now to adjust and meter, but I thought it would be more than enough just focusing on shooting people other than my kids, lol. Luckily everything was spot on but I can see what you mean about metering being off in AV. That is the whole issue with Auto and why I switched over to Manual in the first place. Manual finally gets me the shots I like consistenly...I wasn't disappointed in the AV setting though--it was a pleasant surprise but I did have my eye on the histogram to be sure.
Thanks so much for the framing tip! That grid sounds so very very useful. I will check it out. Wonderful knowledge gained today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :ivar
Otherwise how were they? Do you think they will be pleased??? They aren't paying, but you know what I mean
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com
I doubt they make a focus screen replacement for that body....and I say this only because there isnt one available for my old XTi.
Full frame or not shoot the same ratio....a 2x3......or 4x6......those are the same ratio.
An 8x10 suddenly becomes nearly square.....and 11x14 is even worse......but luckily 5x7 is pretty easy.
Yes I can glance.....usually...and be able to tell if it will work for an 8x10...or not. This is important to learn....even more so if shooting for pay. Remember that the most common print size will be 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, and wallet. Wallets are same ratio as a 5x7. Shooting without forethought for crops can put you in a sticky situation. YES....custom print sizes are available, BUT also require custom sized frames, which can be costly to your clients. Shoot for the same sizes as the commonly available frames at your local stores. For super large prints....16x20 and up....a custom frame will likely be required anyway....so you have some leeway there, but even then they might want a large print and smaller ones for realatives. Oh...and 16x20 is an 8x10 ratio!
Keep those common sizes in mind when shooting!
I used to do square 10x10 books for folks but have switched to 11x8.5 inch landscape format books for this very reason. Much easier to hang onto the original intentions of the framing AND put it in print.
The grid can be helpful for visualizing crops in camera and setting up a thirds type composition, but I use it most often as a guide when leveling the camera. It's not a must have, but I was happy to find it available when I scratched my original focus screen.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
-I may have tried a seated pose......or at least seated the adults to get Dad's head a bit closer to the others....and then put the little guy on the right on the opposite side to form a diamond with their heads.....rather than a trapazoid? Old school thinking is to keep the heads about 1 and a half heads apart maximum, and while contemporary photographers break all the old rules, THAT one, and using diamond or triangle compositions for groups is still a great baseline rule to use when setting up group shots.
The clothing could have used some attention.....the color pallette here is all over the map. Not a goodness, but that can be remedied with a good monotone conversion.
#4 is a great shot.
#5 the boys could have benifitted from a touch of fill flash to undo those racoon eyes.
Even still though...they will be happy with them.....I bet!
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com
Do you own a Canon speedlight? Using the pop up flash is no good at this.
The beauty of the speedlight is something called High Speed Synch or HSS. HSS allows the flash to pair up with the shutter at speeds above the native Synch speed.
Lets say you were in manual mode without HSS and you choose settings (such as an F2.8 aperture) that gets you to a shutter speed of 1/500. Adding flash in this case would either grossly over expose the image...or the image would actually capture the shutter in its action. Awfull either way.
But with HSS, the speedlight pulses out light regardless of shutter speed. Couple that with FEC (flash exposure compensation) and ETTL (canons lingo for auto flash exposure) and you can do some amazing things with little effort. It allows the use of large apertures and thin depth of field for daylight portraits.
Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) works like this.
You set an exposure....manual....AV....whatever. The flash will add enough light to the image to bring the exposure up to the verge of blowing a highlight when used in ETTL mode. Its automatic....and will probably look obviously flashed....but....using FEC you can dial back the power in one third stop increments up to 3 stops. YOU can controll whether you want more or less (typical) flash power. I have taken thousands of frames with a bare...unmodified....flash head pointed directly at a subject at ten feet or less distance with excellent results by using negative FEC to kill off some of the flashes input on the exposure.....and still gaining the benifits of using fill. My current work usually uses off camera flash and umbrellas....but my earlier work used good old fashioned shoe mounted fill.....via ETTL, -FEC, and HSS.
Its super simple.....and definately can add something special to your skillset and photos.
Jeff
-Need help with Dgrin?; Wedding Photography Resources
-My Website - Blog - Tips for Senior Portraiture
Diva..the 8x10 MUST become my mantra too. I've learned the hard way and now I'll most likely just hip crop that shot for my friends if they want an 8x10. It will work, but it wasn't as I intended it. Live and learn. Live and learn.
KM
Kelly
My Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/freezethemomentphotography/
http://www.kfsphotography.smugmug.com