I published the shots to a proof gallery today. Gave my contact the call to go check out the photos, give me feedback of any changes or if they're good, the green light to order prints. She was busy so couldn't do it while I was on the phone. Sent her a follow up email with gallery info. Starting praying from there.
Got a call later today from her. She was extremely happy with the photos. Such a relief. I was already prepared to offer a reshoot with the butterfly overhead. Very happy dude right now.
Here are the shots... UGH
This one is from the first day. Full sun. Really damn hot. Worst of all, we had 4 people that had the group waiting for 20 minutes outside. By the time they arrived, people were not in the mood. This is actually a composite of two shots. One with flash and one without. I used the one without flash for the building because the flash was causing a lot of specular highlights off the windows in the back.
OH.. and you should've see my face when I saw they were wearing black and white shirts.
I know they're not terrible but given creative freedom, I could have done so much better.
This is the 2nd location with half shade, half sun. I decided to squish them all into the shade after my experience the day before, shooting the other group in full sun. The side walk in front of them was actually in sun but I cloned it out. This one went smoother because the line manager at this facility actually had a roster of the people getting photographed so he was able to tell me exactly how many people were in the group. It helped a lot in the pre-planning of where we would position them.
I could've sworn I took a BTS shot but I can't find it on my cards. I basically set it up just like the photos Ziggy shared earlier in the thread. Two AB800s with 64" PLM soft silver umbrellas. No diffuser. About 15' from the group and set to the side just enough to not be in the frame.
Very nice work in some tough conditions, Alex! Your prep work certainly paid off. I know your thread title is "Not a wedding..." but given the color scheme of their outfits, it almost looks like a mob of brides and grooms. ;-)
When shooting this many people it helps to draw an imaginary line down the center of the group and have everyone face shoulders and feet to the center. Then have them turn only their heads to the camera. Now just have the people in the back rows position themselves between the people in front of them. It saves space and makes alignment easier. If they can see the back of some ones head then they need to move.
Very nice work in some tough conditions, Alex! Your prep work certainly paid off. I know your thread title is "Not a wedding..." but given the color scheme of their outfits, it almost looks like a mob of brides and grooms. ;-)
When shooting this many people it helps to draw an imaginary line down the center of the group and have everyone face shoulders and feet to the center. Then have them turn only their heads to the camera. Now just have the people in the back rows position themselves between the people in front of them. It saves space and makes alignment easier. If they can see the back of some ones head then they need to move.
That's very helpful, actually. Will have to use this technique next time I shoot a large group. Getting them in place was the hardest part. Didn't help any that they were really uncomfortable and not really listening.
I certainly see what you mean in #1. Those folks do NOT have the warm fuzzies.
Given the drought conditions in California these days, what were the chances of having a day with some overcast or fog around 2pm that could have diffused the sun for you? Slim to none, or have you had some of those awful teasing days where it looked like it was going to rain... and didn't?
By the way, you and that stunning lady of yours sure do have a beautiful back yard. With an awesome view of the hills!
What I said when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time: "The wide ain't wide enough and the zoom don't zoom enough!"
I certainly see what you mean in #1. Those folks do NOT have the warm fuzzies.
Given the drought conditions in California these days, what were the chances of having a day with some overcast or fog around 2pm that could have diffused the sun for you? Slim to none, or have you had some of those awful teasing days where it looked like it was going to rain... and didn't?
By the way, you and that stunning lady of yours sure do have a beautiful back yard. With an awesome view of the hills!
Will... here's the most frustrating part. The first day, it was perfect. Woke up in the morning to a sky filled with nice looking storm clouds. Looked and felt more like Florida than California. I couldn't believe my luck. I my gut was right. Literally 20 minutes before I started shooting, the clouds blew by and the sun came out.
HAHA! I can remove "Make Ziggy proud." off my bucket-list.
Will... here's the most frustrating part. The first day, it was perfect. Woke up in the morning to a sky filled with nice looking storm clouds. Looked and felt more like Florida than California. I couldn't believe my luck. I my gut was right. Literally 20 minutes before I started shooting, the clouds blew by and the sun came out.
Ugh. Mother Nature just seems to be really pissed off at SoCal the last few years.
Pretty soon they'll stop with the high-speed rail nonsense and start with the solar desalinization plant nonsense (not that it's a terrible idea, it would just never happen due to costs, graft, and environmental concerns).
What I said when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time: "The wide ain't wide enough and the zoom don't zoom enough!"
Do you mean the "not-so-high-speed rail" that is "not quite from Los Angeles to San Francisco"?
Yup.
We have had a similar boondoggle on the east coast running through study after study, sucking away funds from transportation departments and allowing consultants to buy new Lexus' since the early 1990s. It's never gone anywhere and I doubt that it ever will.
But if the things ever do get built, on either coast, I'm sure there will be some DGrinners out there taking photos of them. (How's that for bringing the thread back on topic?)
What I said when I saw the Grand Canyon for the first time: "The wide ain't wide enough and the zoom don't zoom enough!"
Thought I'd share one more shot from my test. This is a shot I took when a small cloud covered the sun. Everything else remained constant with the other two shots above. You can see that the background is just a bit darker. I could stand to slow the shutter speed a bit to bring the exposure on the ambient up without have any impact on the flash exposure. But you can see that with just a bit of cloud cover, how much more pleasing the ambient light. Again, these are low res JPG straight out of camera.
Just take one look at her legs...not appealing...or so I think. More light down low. Her legs have a kind of strange color to them.
Just my two cents...
Comments anyone?
Remember, no one may want you to take pictures, but they all want to see them. Educate yourself like you'll live forever and live like you'll die tomorrow.
Just take one look at her legs...not appealing...or so I think. More light down low. Her legs have a kind of strange color to them.
Just my two cents...
Comments anyone?
Parabolic silvered umbrellas, with the light source at the focal point, emit a highly collimated beam of light. At a close distance it can be restrictive in coverage. Note that her fingers are also underexposed, indicative of being outside the beam.
I don't really see much of the problem in the formal shoot images, so pretty sure Alex had the lights slightly detuned to allow some light spread on those images.
Ziggy is right. I really didn't pay much attention to light throw or coverage in the test shots of my wife. I was really most interested in seeing if I could over power any highlights casted on the face by the sun. I was a little more deliberate with distance and position of the lights during the actual shoot.
Comments
I published the shots to a proof gallery today. Gave my contact the call to go check out the photos, give me feedback of any changes or if they're good, the green light to order prints. She was busy so couldn't do it while I was on the phone. Sent her a follow up email with gallery info. Starting praying from there.
Got a call later today from her. She was extremely happy with the photos. Such a relief. I was already prepared to offer a reshoot with the butterfly overhead. Very happy dude right now.
Here are the shots... UGH
This one is from the first day. Full sun. Really damn hot. Worst of all, we had 4 people that had the group waiting for 20 minutes outside. By the time they arrived, people were not in the mood. This is actually a composite of two shots. One with flash and one without. I used the one without flash for the building because the flash was causing a lot of specular highlights off the windows in the back.
OH.. and you should've see my face when I saw they were wearing black and white shirts.
I know they're not terrible but given creative freedom, I could have done so much better.
This is the 2nd location with half shade, half sun. I decided to squish them all into the shade after my experience the day before, shooting the other group in full sun. The side walk in front of them was actually in sun but I cloned it out. This one went smoother because the line manager at this facility actually had a roster of the people getting photographed so he was able to tell me exactly how many people were in the group. It helped a lot in the pre-planning of where we would position them.
I could've sworn I took a BTS shot but I can't find it on my cards.
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Thanks.
I was up on a 4 rung step ladder. On the 3rd rung and I'm 6' tall.
That's very helpful, actually. Will have to use this technique next time I shoot a large group. Getting them in place was the hardest part. Didn't help any that they were really uncomfortable and not really listening.
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I'm very proud of you!
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I certainly see what you mean in #1. Those folks do NOT have the warm fuzzies.
Given the drought conditions in California these days, what were the chances of having a day with some overcast or fog around 2pm that could have diffused the sun for you? Slim to none, or have you had some of those awful teasing days where it looked like it was going to rain... and didn't?
By the way, you and that stunning lady of yours sure do have a beautiful back yard. With an awesome view of the hills!
Thanks Daniel.
HAHA! I can remove "Make Ziggy proud." off my bucket-list.
Will... here's the most frustrating part. The first day, it was perfect. Woke up in the morning to a sky filled with nice looking storm clouds. Looked and felt more like Florida than California. I couldn't believe my luck. I my gut was right. Literally 20 minutes before I started shooting, the clouds blew by and the sun came out.
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My Smug Site
Ugh. Mother Nature just seems to be really pissed off at SoCal the last few years.
Pretty soon they'll stop with the high-speed rail nonsense and start with the solar desalinization plant nonsense (not that it's a terrible idea, it would just never happen due to costs, graft, and environmental concerns).
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My Smug Site
Yup.
We have had a similar boondoggle on the east coast running through study after study, sucking away funds from transportation departments and allowing consultants to buy new Lexus' since the early 1990s. It's never gone anywhere and I doubt that it ever will.
But if the things ever do get built, on either coast, I'm sure there will be some DGrinners out there taking photos of them. (How's that for bringing the thread back on topic?)
Just take one look at her legs...not appealing...or so I think. More light down low. Her legs have a kind of strange color to them.
Just my two cents...
Comments anyone?
Educate yourself like you'll live forever and live like you'll die tomorrow.
Ed
Parabolic silvered umbrellas, with the light source at the focal point, emit a highly collimated beam of light. At a close distance it can be restrictive in coverage. Note that her fingers are also underexposed, indicative of being outside the beam.
I don't really see much of the problem in the formal shoot images, so pretty sure Alex had the lights slightly detuned to allow some light spread on those images.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Moderator of the People and Go Figure forums
My Smug Site