C&C Needed!

SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
edited July 9, 2007 in People
I have a portrait session scheduled for a co-worker, and his wife next Sunday. We are looking at about 3 hours, with changes in location and dress.

One location will be in his backyard which he says is in shade, and the other will be at an ocean side resort.

I went out today with a neighbor to a local park for some quick testing, and practice.

I did find I think my 70 to 200 mm 2.8 has better color than my new 100 mm 2.8 macro. So my thought was to see if I could use this for most of the shoot. If the quarters get a little tight I can use ether my 50 mm 1.8, or my 24 to 105mm 4.0 IS.

The main issue I had was using fill flash. It seemed that I had to constantly watch the LCD, and histogram. I made lots of changes using AV, and went into manual a few times to adjust for the results I saw.

One thing I didn’t try was to get an exposure lock behind the subject, and then let the flash fill in.

I did notice some of my shutter speeds were pretty low. The first one is at 25, the second 30, third 50, forth 125, and the last one a nice 200.

I am going to post five shots, and please let me know what suggestions you have to improve them. Ignore the background. That’s just what we had today. These are just for practice.

Thanks,

Sam

One:

Comments

  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited July 8, 2007
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited July 8, 2007
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited July 8, 2007
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited July 8, 2007
  • urbanariesurbanaries Registered Users Posts: 2,690 Major grins
    edited July 9, 2007
    Hey Sam!

    I am not sure if it is because the images are attached/compressed (rather than linked?) or the shutter speeds you referenced but they seem a bit soft. The color though looks great on my monitor.

    It sounds like you shoot Canon so you may find this thread helpful, Scott's extremely thorough Canon fill flash experiment in exactly the type of applications you're describing.

    good luck and make sure and post some results here!
    Canon 5D MkI
    50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8, 24-70 2.8L, 35mm 1.4L, 135mm f2L
    ST-E2 Transmitter + (3) 580 EXII + radio poppers
  • Scott_QuierScott_Quier Registered Users Posts: 6,524 Major grins
    edited July 9, 2007
    What she said +1.

    Another note - in the last one, it quite evident you are very close to the lady. The flash gives this away. To reduce the "flash effect" (which is what fill flash is all about), back up a little more.

    Shoot manual mode, setting the exposure for the background (maybe reduce exposure between 1/3 and 1 stop, depending on what effect you are looking for). To reduce the impact of the flash, set your FEC -1/3 to -2/3.
  • ~Jan~~Jan~ Registered Users Posts: 966 Major grins
    edited July 9, 2007
    I am not crazy about the last one, but I think the first couple are great!
  • ShepsMomShepsMom Registered Users Posts: 4,319 Major grins
    edited July 9, 2007
    I like first 1 the best. #3 looks very pixalated, look at her black shirt and pants. Wonder why that is? headscratch.gif
    Marina
    www.intruecolors.com
    Nikon D700 x2/D300
    Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited July 9, 2007
    :D Scott: Thanks for the input. I will give this a try.

    Urbanaries: The images are a little soft, and I did read Scott's fill experiment.

    ShepsMom: Yes I agree I think the firs one is the best of the bunch. As for pixalation, It must have something to to with down sizing / web view / monitor. The original image does not have any pixalation.

    Jan: Thanks for the input.

    I'm not real happy with these, but I think they show the promise what could be. I need to get shutter speeds up, and work with the fill flash more.

    As a side note, I showed these to my co-worker who I have the portrait session with, and he thought they were fine.

    While that's good, ( he will be easy to satisfy) I still wouldn't charge for this quality, so I need to get better fast. :D

    Sam
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