My first 'real' Job

Paulcao · May 6, 2007

Well, here goes. This was a prom event that I did. It's my first time doing this type of event and I did this by myself. I painted the backdrop a few days before the event and I used a Canon 30D along with a 20-35mm L and some generic lighting. I know the lens isn't really for this, but the room I had to work in was small and I don't have a lot of lenses at my disposal. One thing I did notice was that the flash shows up in some of their eyes. Is there a reason why this is? Or is this just normal to happen sometimes? There were like 250-sih photos taken, here are a few:

Edit: added link to entire gallery, http://www.paulcao.com/gallery/2802708

christulk · May 6, 2007

Paulcao,

Good job with the lighting. It looks fine to me. Well done on doing it all yourself. My only point is that I think the background is 'too loud' and distracts from the subjects.

Good to see you got them looking natural and it looks like they were having fun.

Paulcao · May 6, 2007

christulk wrote:

Paulcao,

Good job with the lighting. It looks fine to me. Well done on doing it all yourself. My only point is that I think the background is 'too loud' and distracts from the subjects.

Good to see you got them looking natural and it looks like they were having fun.

Hummm--- good point about the background. I guess I wasn't really thinking about that while I was painting it...hehe.

ShepsMom · May 6, 2007

Nice shots and congrats on your "real job"

I agree with backdrop, but hey, you learn as you go!!

Seneca · May 6, 2007

Really good pictures

...I have my second prom gig in a couple of weeks. I am so excited this time...the school provided my backdrop, and they've done a great job.

Good job buddy!

pnphoto · May 6, 2007

I find the angle an interesting change - were you standing on a step stool or chair? I seems like you are slightly high to them, which is different than the standard eye level.

The flash in the eyes is common, I believe some go to the ringlight set-up to get one single flash reflection in the eyes rather than two reflections from two flash units.

Nicely done, I am sure your clients were happy!

Phyxius · May 6, 2007

Congrats on the job and I too think you did a nice job with lighting. The couples look very natural and happy too, well done.

<--this is almost exactly my prom dress from 6 years ago, but mine had a wider skirt at the bottom and no slit. Same design otherwise and colors, black with blue brocade.

Paulcao · May 7, 2007

pnphoto wrote:

I find the angle an interesting change - were you standing on a step stool or chair? I seems like you are slightly high to them, which is different than the standard eye level.

The flash in the eyes is common, I believe some go to the ringlight set-up to get one single flash reflection in the eyes rather than two reflections from two flash units.

Nicely done, I am sure your clients were happy!

I did shoot a little high. Honestly, it was mostly because I didn't feel like hunching over for 250 shots. Good thing the flash in the eyes is not abnormal...I wasn't exactly sure about it. You can't really see it unless you look really really close anyways. Thanks for the c&c every1. I'm trying to learn on the fly:D

krisbphoto · May 7, 2007

One thing I did notice was that the flash shows up in some of their eyes.

Haha! That's a good thing! It's called a "catchlight" and makes the eyes appear less flat, therefore more appealing.

Nice work!

Paulcao · May 7, 2007

krisbphoto wrote:

Haha! That's a good thing! It's called a "catchlight" and makes the eyes appear less flat, therefore more appealing.

Nice work!

lol---well, I guess the placement of my lighting wasn't completely off base then. I really just guessed and took a few test shots of myself.

dogwood · May 7, 2007

Just a couple comments-- that backdrop is a little dated and loud. The teens I shoot these days tend to like a lot more contemporary look like you see in magazines or catalogs. Can't remember seeing muslin backdrops in any recent magazines!

A great place for inspiration on shooting teens is myspace. Yeah, yeah, it's totally garish but it's PACKED with teen photos and how they want to present themselves to their peers. As I said, they tend to want a more contemporary look than you have here.

Your lens choice has also created a lot of wide angle distortion (the legs on your subjects look awfully squashed and out of proportion to their heads). If you do something like this in the future, I'd avoid a wide-angle lens go for something at least 50 mm (even then, you'll have some distortion-- 85 mm or longer is best). Yes, I realize space may be limited, but no one is going to remember that once their photos arrive. And keep in mind a longer lens at a wider aperature will also help blur out your background.

Paulcao · May 7, 2007

dogwood wrote:

Just a couple comments-- that backdrop is a little dated and loud. The teens I shoot these days tend to like a lot more contemporary look like you see in magazines or catalogs. Can't remember seeing muslin backdrops in any recent magazines!

A great place for inspiration on shooting teens is myspace. Yeah, yeah, it's totally garish but it's PACKED with teen photos and how they want to present themselves to their peers. As I said, they tend to want a more contemporary look than you have here.

Your lens choice has also created a lot of wide angle distortion (the legs on your subjects look awfully squashed and out of proportion to their heads). If you do something like this in the future, I'd avoid a wide-angle lens go for something at least 50 mm (even then, you'll have some distortion-- 85 mm or longer is best). Yes, I realize space may be limited, but no one is going to remember that once their photos arrive. And keep in mind a longer lens at a wider aperature will also help blur out your background.

Thanks for all the advice. The backdrop was really last minute, in that they provided a backdrop that was just not going to work in photos. As far as the lens goes, I REALLY wanted to use my 85, but it just was not possible with the space that was provided to me.

dogwood · May 7, 2007

Paulcao wrote:

As far as the lens goes, I REALLY wanted to use my 85, but it just was not possible with the space that was provided to me.

Yeah, that's always a challenge. Clients seem to very often think you can shoot in a space smaller than a closet, not realizing you'll need a longer lens for more flattering photos.

I have one client who wants catalog type shots in a boutique complete with white backdrop. Well, the boutique is small so I finally (after shooting the first job with the 16-35 and hating the results) figured out if we moved the backdrop and I stood in the other room and shot verticals only through the doorway-- that I could use the 70-200! In the end, of course, no one really cares how you shoot it-- they just care about the results.

Photosbychuck · May 7, 2007

Hi, Paulcao
I think the photos look GREAT!

Wow, you paint the backdrop your self... I like it! It is different than
most prom backdrops that I have seen.

Good Luck with more photography jobs!!!

Take Care,
Chuck
http://www.modellocate.com/action/goto/uid=4447

Paulcao · May 8, 2007

Photosbychuck wrote:

Hi, Paulcao
I think the photos look GREAT!
Wow, you paint the backdrop your self... I like it! It is different than
most prom backdrops that I have seen.

Good Luck with more photography jobs!!!

Take Care,
Chuck
http://www.modellocate.com/action/goto/uid=4447

Yeah, I just sorta went nuts with the paint and that's what came out---lol

My first 'real' Job

Comments