New Model - Studio Portraits

tmlphoto · October 11, 2004

I finally got some time to set up my home "studio". I negotiated heavily with this new model, she demands rice cereal, and breast milk during her time in the studio. Boy, are these young models getting difficult. Comments appreciated.
I'm using an AB 800 with a softbox and a silver reflector for fill. Just playing around trying to figure out this lighting stuff.

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ginger_55 · October 11, 2004

Thomas, I hate to say this. I know I have done the same thing. I read not to do it, but I have never actually felt it before..............you amputated her arms, nah, it just looks that way.

I have done it lots of times. Wonder why I don't notice on my shots, smile.

And you gave her breast milk, too? That impressed me right off. I almost didn't notice the arm thing, thinking of you, her and the breast milk.

I do like the lighting. I love her expression, so the lighting must be good. Her expression might be from the breast milk???

ginger:D

tmlphoto · October 11, 2004

ginger_55 wrote:

Thomas, I hate to say this. I know I have done the same thing. I read not to do it, but I have never actually felt it before..............you amputated her arms, nah, it just looks that way.

I have done it lots of times. Wonder why I don't notice on my shots, smile.

And you gave her breast milk, too? That impressed me right off. I almost didn't notice the arm thing, thinking of you, her and the breast milk.

I do like the lighting. I love her expression, so the lighting must be good. Her expression might be from the breast milk???

ginger:D

He, he Ginger. I shot some more, but haven't had time to process yet. Here is a shot of my "studio" if anyone is interested.

ginger_55 · October 11, 2004

That is really neat. The lights and backdrop and all. And the whole place is so clean and uncluttered.

Bill's at work is more of a mess than that.

Your floors glisten. I am very impressed by that kind of stuff. It is scary, too.

I don't let people in here, don't know where I would put a studio.

I shot a baptism this weekend. I never process them very well anymore. No one cares. And they don't want, or use, a picture of the baby, but I always take one. I checked after your post. Sure enough, no arms. I played with it.
My computer is very slow and freezing a lot, so it is soooooo much work to bring things over here, I might though. Would have to get it on smugmug first.

Think that is what I will do. I added another spyware program. Ad-ware. It has never happened before, but I don't know how to use it. So I have spent hours with it, I am tired of it, think I will try to put some stuff on smugmug, just in case I can bring it over here.

I also shot some high noon scenics, jeez........ And they won't be that good, nor that bad. Don't know if I want to upset my computer by uploading them.
Got me an egret. I am going to have to hand focus those shots. They don't look soft at the time, but too many just don't make it. The egret had a fish, and that part is not clear. (I didn't have any lunch, but I did get an egret)

I was going to shoot scenics, like in an hour. It is a good thing I got something to play with this afternoon. It is back to grey dead weather.

Great set up. I can send you some papers to throw around, if you want.

ginger

mercphoto · October 11, 2004

Nice
Nice soft shadows. Implies texture and depth w/o being harsh. Nice catch-light glisten in the eyes. Maybe cropped a touch too much. I don't mind the right arm because it is cropped mid fore-arm (i.e. not at a joint) but the left arm is amputated at the elbow itself. Maybe bring her left hand in?

tmlphoto · October 11, 2004

mercphoto wrote:

Nice soft shadows. Implies texture and depth w/o being harsh. Nice catch-light glisten in the eyes. Maybe cropped a touch too much. I don't mind the right arm because it is cropped mid fore-arm (i.e. not at a joint) but the left arm is amputated at the elbow itself. Maybe bring her left hand in?

Thanks for the comments. She was quite the moving target today.

Here is one with all four limbs intact.

and another:

GThang · October 13, 2004

Great shots
Love the shots I love working in simple set ups wiht kids. Oh and those hardwood floors look great.....:D

tmlphoto wrote:

Thanks for the comments. She was quite the moving target today.
Here is one with all four limbs intact.

and another:

pathfinder · October 13, 2004

Very nice setup Thomas - What is the brand of your softbox? The lighting seems very nice and diffused and creates a pleasant soft quality to the image without losing detail. Nicely done. But how did you obtain the breast milk?

tmlphoto · October 13, 2004

pathfinder wrote:

Very nice setup Thomas - What is the brand of your softbox? The lighting seems very nice and diffused and creates a pleasant soft quality to the image without losing detail. Nicely done. But how did you obtain the breast milk?

It is an Alien Bee softbox with an AB 800 monolight. My assistant (read wife) provides all the milk she wants.

Here are a couple of more from today.

FreeUps · October 13, 2004

Nice shots TML. I really like the second one with the bumble bee the best. My main reason being that your model has much more pop than the others. Really nice. I've found a great way to bring them away from the backround is adding yourself a backlight. If you have another light it could work wonders used behind your model. Or, I'm sure you could pull off some kind of backlight with that bounce board.

Thats one cute little person!

FreeUps · October 13, 2004

btw that is one cozy looking den. Looks like your serious about your pool.

Up for a game of 9-ball?

Marshall

tmlphoto · October 13, 2004

FreeUps wrote:

Nice shots TML. I really like the second one with the bumble bee the best. My main reason being that your model has much more pop than the others. Really nice. I've found a great way to bring them away from the backround is adding yourself a backlight. If you have another light it could work wonders used behind your model. Or, I'm sure you could pull off some kind of backlight with that bounce board.

Thats one cute little person!

Thanks Free, I would like to get another light some day. I'm trying to start with the basics first. I've never done any studio stuff before.

tmlphoto · October 14, 2004

tmlphoto wrote:

Thanks Free, I would like to get another light some day. I'm trying to start with the basics first. I've never done any studio stuff before.

One more from this morning. Not my child this time. Much less demanding model:D . Now I know why all pictures of kids this age are in chairs. They won't sit still on the floor at all.

tmlphoto · October 14, 2004

FreeUps wrote:

btw that is one cozy looking den. Looks like your serious about your pool.

Up for a game of 9-ball?

Marshall

Rack 'em up.

wxwax · October 14, 2004

tmlphoto wrote:

He, he Ginger. I shot some more, but haven't had time to process yet. Here is a shot of my "studio" if anyone is interested.

Thanks for sharing this, it's very interesting.

photocat · October 17, 2004

Crawling baby
What a cutie pootie... I love the one where she crawls towards the camera. It looks as if she is ready to jump off the computer into my lap.
I might copy and steal your idea of your set up. I am new in this field, and can use every hint I can get. The black background works so well with the babypics.
Thanks for sharing those

tmlphoto · October 29, 2004

New Background - White
I got my white background today courtesy of UPS. Its a white fabric. I overexposed the background with one monolight and used my usual softbox with reflector fill setup (see setup above in thread if interested) Interested in comments on the lighting. I had to use myself again because none of my kids would sit still long enough to let me get the lights set up. I haven't used a lightmeter yet. So far I just use the shoot and teak method with the LCD.

photocat · October 30, 2004

tmlphoto wrote:

I got my white background today courtesy of UPS. Its a white fabric. I overexposed the background with one monolight and used my usual softbox with reflector fill setup (see setup above in thread if interested) Interested in comments on the lighting. I had to use myself again because none of my kids would sit still long enough to let me get the lights set up. I haven't used a lightmeter yet. So far I just use the shoot and teak method with the LCD.

The lighting looks OK to me Thomas, but the overall impression is very white... lol. I am trying to figure out wether I like it or not. Your pose is good, the subject is attractive (I am happily married!) so yes, you've got it.
A little voice inside tells me that there might be something more, I can just not fill in what. Would a different T-shirt make a huge difference???
Anyway, the lighting is nice and soft...

tmlphoto · October 30, 2004

photocat wrote:

The lighting looks OK to me Thomas, but the overall impression is very white... lol. I am trying to figure out wether I like it or not. Your pose is good, the subject is attractive (I am happily married!) so yes, you've got it.
A little voice inside tells me that there might be something more, I can just not fill in what. Would a different T-shirt make a huge difference???
Anyway, the lighting is nice and soft...

Thanks for the comments. I quess I could of dressed up a little. Here is a shot from this am. Much better looking subject. This white background stuff is turning out to be fairly straight forward.

ginger_55 · October 30, 2004

tmlphoto wrote:

Thanks for the comments. I quess I could of dressed up a little. Here is a shot from this am. Much better looking subject. This white background stuff is turning out to be fairly straight forward.

I like white backgrounds, it is not my forte, studio, that is what my husband does, a lot of his is company controlled, but he is more used to what these results should look like than I am.

There is a type of photograph that is very popular, and expensive, here in the Charleston area, and I would think all over. Children's photography. They MUST dress in white............... often on a natural background, but white can be very effective.

So I would take the white t-shirt, arrange it on the kid, and voila, a high key, expensive type high key shot...........upscale, but off beat. If you could get the girl to hold something unexpected like a baseball mitt and ball, well I like that kind of thing.............

Now for you, I think I would wear a tie with my t-shirt.

I do like the lighting, though I know nothing. I like that I can see your eyes.

Also that November 1 2004 New Yorker magazine that Rutt has mentioned, I bought it, great pictures, and other stuff, but Avedon was shooting for this election, this year in a series when he died. Darn we missed Rumsfield. Some of the shots are particularly great........and probably some aren't. Sorry Rutt, even the perfect, etc. I still like the editing. Greatest picture of Carter I have ever seen, realized that the photo on the other page was practically a mirror image.......interesting, and I don't think it was an accident.

Anyway, Avedon used a white background on all the subjects. I think that was a hallmark of his. So it might be interesting for you to check out that magazine, $4.00, and other books by him could be good.

When you reshoot the kid in the white t-shirt, I would love to see the shot, and also the one with you, tie and t-shirt.

ginger

tmlphoto · October 30, 2004

ginger_55 wrote:

I like white backgrounds, it is not my forte, studio, that is what my husband does, a lot of his is company controlled, but he is more used to what these results should look like than I am.

There is a type of photograph that is very popular, and expensive, here in the Charleston area, and I would think all over. Children's photography. They MUST dress in white............... often on a natural background, but white can be very effective.

So I would take the white t-shirt, arrange it on the kid, and voila, a high key, expensive type high key shot...........upscale, but off beat. If you could get the girl to hold something unexpected like a baseball mitt and ball, well I like that kind of thing.............

Now for you, I think I would wear a tie with my t-shirt.

I do like the lighting, though I know nothing. I like that I can see your eyes.

Also that November 1 2004 New Yorker magazine that Rutt has mentioned, I bought it, great pictures, and other stuff, but Avedon was shooting for this election, this year in a series when he died. Darn we missed Rumsfield. Some of the shots are particularly great........and probably some aren't. Sorry Rutt, even the perfect, etc. I still like the editing. Greatest picture of Carter I have ever seen, realized that the photo on the other page was practically a mirror image.......interesting, and I don't think it was an accident.

Anyway, Avedon used a white background on all the subjects. I think that was a hallmark of his. So it might be interesting for you to check out that magazine, $4.00, and other books by him could be good.

When you reshoot the kid in the white t-shirt, I would love to see the shot, and also the one with you, tie and t-shirt.

ginger

Thanks for looking Ginger. I will try to get to books a million to check out the New Yorker mag. I'll try and coax my daughter into dressing up for a portrait. Myself, I have an aversion to wearing ties

....

ginger_55 · October 30, 2004

tmlphoto wrote:

Thanks for looking Ginger. I will try to get to books a million to check out the New Yorker mag. I'll try and coax my daughter into dressing up for a portrait. Myself, I have an aversion to wearing ties ....

You could wear the kid's pink t-shirt.

I love white on white, just love it, and I think yours is fine. I like this shot of you more than the last one, before. This looks more like I think of you as looking.

g

tmlphoto · October 30, 2004

ginger_55 wrote:

You could wear the kid's pink t-shirt.

I love white on white, just love it, and I think yours is fine. I like this shot of you more than the last one, before. This looks more like I think of you as looking.

g