Saturday Portrait Session

DavidS

Here a some shots from a portrait session my wife and I did on Saturday. C&C is most welcome. I have a lot to learn. They wanted me to use a white background. I still can't get it to come out white, but I think if it were much whiter their shirts would have blended in with it. They had an 18 month old, who was behaving as one would expect for an 18 month old boy. Extremely active. What a challenge. I felt bad for the parents. I think it really stressed them. I had my reflector too close for the first part of the shoot, given the ambient light in the room and the white backdrop. There was not much of a lighting ratio, which really bummed me. By the time we got outside, they were about ready to wrap it up. I would have liked to have shot more outside. I really enjoyed it though and the parents said they did as well. Hopefully I caught a few shots they will like.

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8. Not enough depth of field


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12.

saurora

David, except for the miscalculation on the DOF in #8, I think you did a super job! They look like they were really enjoying themselves....it comes through in all of the shots. I just love the butt shot on the swing #10! Great job! :saurora

Mrs F

I think my shoots that involve children around that age have been my most challenging. One to two years of age is a tough time for studio portraits with some children. You did a nice job.

#8 is my favorite family pose, but I agree with your comment that I wish it had a little more dof. #10 cracked me up...it's so cute!


Kari

tnoisaw

I'd be extremly happy with those!

System

these are very very nice, david-

have you shown the family yet?-


I would think they would be very pleased-

Scott_Quier

I love the blue "halo" in the studio shots. I agree that if you were able to drive it all the way to white, the family's white shirts would not seperate from the background. In this instance, I think I would not worry too much about what the client wants, but would take the opportunity to educated them a touch before you deliver the photos.

In all the studio shots, you have evident wrinkles in your backdrop. Would be very good if you could remove those somehow.

For future, I think your DOF was a touch too wide or you need to move your subjects a little further away from the backdrop. I KNOW this can be very difficult in cramped quarters. Something to think about though.

In the FWIW column, my faves are (oh, man this is hard!)...3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. These are all just wonderful. I believe, not knowing this family, that you were quite successful in capturing something of THEM! Well done!

Awais Yaqub

Very cute
great photos

jeffreaux2

4, 7, and 10 are my favorites..........I think you could get the outdoor shots to "pop" a little more, but they are all very nice. I agree w/ Scott on isolating your subject with DOF.

JimW

David,

I think that if you want the background white, you can do it. I (respectfully) disagree about the shirts blending in. If you could pull them at least 6 feet away from the background, use white seamless instead of a sheet, put a light on either side to make the background white without detail, then you can deal with their white shirts by making sure they have some detail, and are not blown out. Then they will separate from the background. Some well placed shadows will define the shirts as white. I'm not saying it's a great idea to do this, but if the client wants it, then ...

I agree with Scott that the wrinkles detract. If white seamless is not an option, then perhaps the sheet could be ironed.

The grey "cloud" on the background that surrounds them in the studio bothers me, as it looks unintentional.

Maybe his face needs a little PS work, to fix the hotspots and red spot (#3).

Having said all that, I think you did a really good job. This is a tough assignment, with a high degree of difficulty. Anytime there's a little kid in the photo ...

And you hung in there after the studio shoot, and took them outdoors. That's a clear understanding of the word commitment. Bravo.

Jim

(didn't mean for this to sound too critical)

DavidS

Thank you Saurora, Kari, tnoisaw, George and Awais for the nice words.

Thank you Scott, Jeff and Jim for the helpful critiques and nice words.

I am very new to backgrounds and studio lighting, so please forgive my ignorance. I have heard that muslin is suppossed to be wrinkled, because it gives them texture. Is that not the case? Having said that I think these wrinkles looked bad. Would the wrinkles have been acceptable if they were less obvious, such as by making the background lighter or using a shallower depth of field. Are wrinkles acceptable in other colored muslins, but just not white?

JimW

David,

Would the wrinkles have been acceptable if they were less obvious, such as by making the background lighter or using a shallower depth of field. Are wrinkles acceptable in other colored muslins, but just not white?

I didn't realize it was muslin, I thought it was a sheet. It would help, I think, to make them out of focus. But that's nearly impossible to do when the subject is so close to the background.

First thing to do is decide if you want white background to be white with detail or white without detail. If you choose with detail, then it's personal taste, but I would iron it. If you choose without detail, the wrinkes won't matter as they won't show.

Cheers, Jim

DavidS

JimW wrote:

David,

I didn't realize it was muslin, I thought it was a sheet. It would help, I think, to make them out of focus. But that's nearly impossible to do when the subject is so close to the background.

First thing to do is decide if you want white background to be white with detail or white without detail. If you choose with detail, then it's personal taste, but I would iron it. If you choose without detail, the wrinkes won't matter as they won't show.

Cheers, Jim

Jim,

Forgive me if I'm a bit dense, I'm new to this. I know you say it's personal taste, but it sounds like you are saying it would look better not showing any wrinkles, either way. By ironing I take it you mean ironing it so there are no wrinkles at all. By personal taste do you mean some people think wrinkles are acceptable? When you say without detail do you mean blowing it out or rendering it out of focus? Thanks for your help.

JimW

David,

but it sounds like you are saying it would look better not showing any wrinkles, either way.

True.

By personal taste do you mean some people think wrinkles are acceptable?

Yes, I expect so.

do you mean blowing it out or rendering it out of focus?

I mean blowing it out.

I think it is up to your own personal taste as to whether the wrinkes are attractive. My own taste is that they're not attractive. Yes, I am saying that I think they should either be way oof (too difficult), or ironed out (completely), or else decide to have the background be white without detail, meaning completely blown out no value at all.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. And I'm no expert on studio either. Just plugging along trying to learn this fun stuff.

Thanks for your help.

You're most welcome.

Jim

DavidS

JimW wrote:

David,

True.

Yes, I expect so.

I mean blowing it out.

I think it is up to your own personal taste as to whether the wrinkes are attractive. My own taste is that they're not attractive. Yes, I am saying that I think they should either be way oof (too difficult), or ironed out (completely), or else decide to have the background be white without detail, meaning completely blown out no value at all.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. And I'm no expert on studio either. Just plugging along trying to learn this fun stuff.

You're most welcome.

Jim

Thanks for your patience with me Jim. Your answers have been a huge help.

David

Photosbychuck

Hi,
DavidS

Great Photos!
I think the DOF on #8 is ok.
what type of photo packages do you offer for a family shoot?

Take Care,
Chuck,

DavidS

Photosbychuck wrote:

Hi,
DavidS

Great Photos!
I think the DOF on #8 is ok.
what type of photo packages do you offer for a family shoot?

Take Care,
Chuck,

Thanks Chuck. I am just gettings started and do not offer packages yet. They are not possible with Smugmug. My prices are on the website.

David

DavidS

Potential fix for the wrinkles
I did some work in Photoshop to try and make the wrinkles not as noticeable. I created a curves layer with a mask and came as close as I thought I should dare to blowing the background out. Here is the photo that had the worst wrinkles. The white shirts still stand out, because they are darker than the background now. Thoughts?

Original


Fix

Elaine

That was one of my faves of this set and it looks like you did a very nice job smoothing the background, at least to my untrained eye! (She is sitting on a couple little wrinkles that could probably be cloned out easily enough.) The shot is crisp and full of personality. I love it! Bravo to you for jumping into studio type work!

pathfinder

David,

Just a thought, that you might consider in the future - transmissive backgrounds like this can be lit from behind also, with a fully diffused strobe and blown to white that way.

If the subjects are not directly in front of the white backlighted background, they will still be nicely separated from it then.

Anyone with any experience with this approach?

Shooting families with toddlers can always be fun or drive you to distraction

DavidS

Thanks Elaine.

Thanks Pathfinder for the advise. The little one drove his parents crazy. It was a challenge, but I had a great time.

JimW

David,

Technically, I think you did well with the curve to eliminate the background. Except, the contrast looks lower on them now, you sure the mask is ok?

However, I'm not sure that this is the answer for these particular pictures. I'm probably not the one who knows, as I don't photograph kids, but it's probably a good thing to have little kids and mothers surrounded by muslin, as long as it looks warm and cozy and all that.

I'm gonna have to go with the ironed muslin as first choice, because it fits the subject. Now that I've got this in my head, I know it won't leave until I make an image, so I'll get back to you with that.

Jim

JimW

Here's one I found in my files, from about 10 years ago, shot on neg film, printed (badly) in my Jobo, and scanned. The color looks bad, but at least it illustrates my point, I hope. Mothers, kids, warmth, muslin.

In my view, the tan muslin works better for a mom & kid than the stark white muslin. The warm gels look wrong to me on my image (too magenta), but the general idea is there.

And after I mentioned your wrinkles, look what I posted! Yikes, tons of wrinkles, although they may be folds.

Well, I guess I've beat my point to death. I hope this is of some use in some way.

Cheers,

Jim

DavidS

JimW wrote:

David,

Technically, I think you did well with the curve to eliminate the background. Except, the contrast looks lower on them now, you sure the mask is ok?

However, I'm not sure that this is the answer for these particular pictures. I'm probably not the one who knows, as I don't photograph kids, but it's probably a good thing to have little kids and mothers surrounded by muslin, as long as it looks warm and cozy and all that.

I'm gonna have to go with the ironed muslin as first choice, because it fits the subject. Now that I've got this in my head, I know it won't leave until I make an image, so I'll get back to you with that.

Jim

Jim,

I really appreciate all your advise and input on this. I noticed the lower contrast and can't figure that out. I did not think it looked bad though, but I don't have a great eye yet. Warmth would be nice, but white on white is the look they wanted. If I can't render it OOF or decide to blow it out I will definitely iron it the next time. I am trying to save this shoot the best I can. I don't think the wrinkles look bad in your muslin. They are not as noticeable as mine. As you said it is a matter of taste. Then again, maybe I have poor taste

By the way I checked out your website and love your portraits.