Prom Portraits

leebase

Family with triplets going to the jr. prom had me come do portriats of them individually, as a family, and as their dates arrive. 2 hours -- 300+ photos -- lots of sweat on my part

First real outing with the 5D. Shot with the Canon 85mm f1.8 when doing headshots, and the Tamron 28-75 when doing the groups. It was raining so all hopes of doing outdoor shots were dashed.

However I did take some shots on the front porch. When using f1.8 aperture, most any scene is suitable as the background blurs to just colors. And, of course, the outdoor lighting was outstanding compared to indoors.

It'll take me some time to get the photos prepared -- but I had to put up this one:



I'm very pleased with the combination of the 5D with the 85mm f1.8

This photo hasn't (yet) been retouched -- just converted from raw.

Lee

Dave_RG40

Wow that came out really nice. I bet you have a large stack of great shots!


Dave

leebase

Dave_RG40 wrote:

Wow that came out really nice. I bet you have a large stack of great shots!

I wish. I have maybe a dozen of photos in this league out of 300. I'm not a great poser of groups -- and the lighting inside isn't nearly as sweet.

Still -- more than enough good ones for print orders.

thanks for the compliment.

Lee

DavidTO

Nice. I did a quick little RGB curves playing with it, and once you dive in, you'll have a very nice shot. With a little work on curves alone, she has a nice glow to her.

As for the shot, I think that with the shape of her shoulders, a profile like that is not as attractive as a slight turn towards camera would be. Just a nit. Nice shot.

leebase

DavidTO wrote:

As for the shot, I think that with the shape of her shoulders, a profile like that is not as attractive as a slight turn towards camera would be. Just a nit. Nice shot.

Good point -- and for me -- always feel free to give critiques. That's why I share.

Lee

leebase

This pose was requested as it mimics one they took as small children. I put up my selections from the rest of the shoot.

Gallery

The only lighting was on camera flash with lightsphere.

Nonny

binghott

were you shooting these for like 2 hours?

Scott_Quier

You have a number of really nice shots in the gallary. There is one with all the kinds on the stairs that I think is a real winner. And there are others.

Something that I might suggest as a lessons learned: Some young ladies, especially very tall and slender and those well developed usually develop an unattractive curve in their upper back as an uncouncious attempt to "hide" either their height or develpment. Both of the ladies with their hair up exhibit this trait to some degree, the one in the lighter dress to a greater extent. Lesson Learned: Look for back posture and encourage the ladies to stand/sit straight - they will probably fight you on this, but they will appreciate the results, especially later in life.

Out of the 100+ photos in your gallary, you easily have better than 20 that will be greatly appreciated by your customers. Very nice job!

And, I love the light you got from the light sphere. It's on my list of "things to get."

leebase

binghott wrote:

were you shooting these for like 2 hours?

Exactly. Shoot shoot shoot for two solid hours. The family had triplets (2girls and 1 boy) going to their jr. prom, and an 8th grade daughter graduating. Individual shots of each child, family shots. Shots of just the duaghters. Shots of the kids. This went on for an hour.

Then the dates started arriving. Shots of the corsages being pinned -- shots of each couple -- inside and outdoors on the porch.

Then shots of the couples with their parents. Then shots of aunts with each child, and grandparents with the kids.



Lotta shots -- hopefully, lots of orders.

Lee

leebase

Scott_Quier wrote:

You have a number of really nice shots in the gallary. There is one with all the kinds on the stairs that I think is a real winner. And there are others.

Thanks. The stairs were particularly difficult to figure out the lighting. If they choose to buy a print, I'll have some interesting work to do.

Scott_Quier wrote:

... encourage the ladies to stand/sit straight - they will probably fight you on this, but they will appreciate the results, especially later in life.

Trust me. Mom and I were both trying to get the girls to pull their shoulders back. There comes a point when you can make your subject so self conscious that it shows on their face. I was reall tempted to physically pull on their shoulders to show them what having shoulders back meant.

When they did pull their shoulders back -- they looked so uncomfortable and "fake" -- and they would instantly revert back.

Scott_Quier wrote:

Out of the 100+ photos in your gallary, you easily have better than 20 that will be greatly appreciated by your customers. Very nice job!

Thanks.

Scott_Quier wrote:

And, I love the light you got from the light sphere. It's on my list of "things to get."

It's a very nice tool for that type of situation. I wish I had put up my other flash and umbrella though. The photos looked so good on the LCD when they really were underexposed.

Lee

binghott

leebase wrote:

Exactly. Shoot shoot shoot for two solid hours. The family had triplets (2girls and 1 boy) going to their jr. prom, and an 8th grade daughter graduating. Individual shots of each child, family shots. Shots of just the duaghters. Shots of the kids. This went on for an hour.

Then the dates started arriving. Shots of the corsages being pinned -- shots of each couple -- inside and outdoors on the porch.

Then shots of the couples with their parents. Then shots of aunts with each child, and grandparents with the kids.

i can't believe you had kids that were willing to stand around for pictures for 2 hours on prom night!

leebase

binghott wrote:

i can't believe you had kids that were willing to stand around for pictures for 2 hours on prom night!

I showed up two hours early And btw the end of the time, the smiles were strained

Lee