Family + Front porch= ?

KTBoom2006-E510

Anyone have any pictures of a family (around 10 ppl) on a front porch of their home? Or similar to show me? I have a photo shoot Sunday I need ideas.... Thanks

PineapplePhoto

How about these?

beetle8

Ooh the second picture is a prime candidate for a recon project

KTBoom2006-E510

wow... those are some old pictures....

KTBoom2006-E510

I need some help with my setttings for a group of 8.... How do I get the right settings on the camera where I don't have to have an high ISO and slow shutter... and what about aperature. I need to have the focus where everyone is focused on. What do I put my dot on? I only have a 3 dot system to focus on... HELP!!!!

PineapplePhoto

KTBoom2006-E510 wrote:

I need some help with my setttings for a group of 8.... How do I get the right settings on the camera where I don't have to have an high ISO and slow shutter... and what about aperature. I need to have the focus where everyone is focused on. What do I put my dot on? I only have a 3 dot system to focus on... HELP!!!!

What camera are you using?

I would say:

1) Use a tripod / self timer
2) Shoot early morning or late afternoon.
3) Aperture Priority - F11
4) Shoot from far away and zoom in

Any chances for fill in flash?

KTBoom2006-E510

PineapplePhoto wrote:

What camera are you using?

I would say:

1) Use a tripod / self timer
2) Shoot early morning or late afternoon.
3) Aperture Priority - F11
4) Shoot from far away and zoom in

Any chances for fill in flash?

I have an Olympus E-510 and an FL 36 flash I just bought. I am not completely familiar with the whole flash system yet, especially from far away shots. I have a tripod, but never used it. F11 or F8 is what I was thinking. But do I have to have my shutterspeed low? like 1/30 or 1/60? I will be starting to take the pictures around 6:00 pm and will be starting in the shade and working around to the porch where the sun is around 8:00. I went there today to see the lighting, and it seems as though 8-8:30 the sun was in a good spot. I am scared I am going to have fuzzy pictures with such a low shutter speed. I don't want to disappoint this client especially. So ANY help would be great!!!

PineapplePhoto

KTBoom2006-E510 wrote:

I have an Olympus E-510 and an FL 36 flash I just bought. I am not completely familiar with the whole flash system yet, especially from far away shots. I have a tripod, but never used it. F11 or F8 is what I was thinking. But do I have to have my shutterspeed low? like 1/30 or 1/60? I will be starting to take the pictures around 6:00 pm and will be starting in the shade and working around to the porch where the sun is around 8:00. I went there today to see the lighting, and it seems as though 8-8:30 the sun was in a good spot. I am scared I am going to have fuzzy pictures with such a low shutter speed. I don't want to disappoint this client especially. So ANY help would be great!!!

Set it on Aperture Priority, Spot meter on the subject's (one of them) faces, use that Shutter speed.

Use manual controls, F8 or F11, plus whatever shutter speed you got before on the spot metering. Set the camera on a tripod and use self timer.

You can use manual controlled flash for fill in or just for the little twinkle in their eyes.

KTBoom2006-E510

PineapplePhoto wrote:

Set it on Aperture Priority, Spot meter on the subject's (one of them) faces, use that Shutter speed.

Use manual controls, F8 or F11, plus whatever shutter speed you got before on the spot metering. Set the camera on a tripod and use self timer.

You can use manual controlled flash for fill in or just for the little twinkle in their eyes.

Ok, thanks SOOOO much! Do you have any advice on a family portrait? This will be my first.

jbakerphoto

One of your best bets to find poses besides here is to do a search in smugmug or istockphoto or flickr. There are probaly others sites out there but those are ones that come to mind. I was in the same boat last week when I was going to take maternity picture of my sister in law and brother in law. Find some poses on these sites , write down the poses you want to do and go down the list.
Good luck.

KTBoom2006-E510

unclejon wrote:

One of your best bets to find poses besides here is to do a search in smugmug or istockphoto or flickr. There are probaly others sites out there but those are ones that come to mind. I was in the same boat last week when I was going to take maternity picture of my sister in law and brother in law. Find some poses on these sites , write down the poses you want to do and go down the list.
Good luck.

Thanks

Travis

A few things that I have learned thus far (and i still have a way to go),

1. Do not line them up in that elementary school class photo sort of way, instead

2. Find a central object(s) for the group to rally around. This may be a chair, post, frontporch swing, etc. If there is a key person like a grandmother/father, I like to place them in the chair with the family posed around them

3. Make sure that there are dynamic shapes within the composition, meaning that you pose people of different heights so that they are not linear (see #1). A good start is to pose the first 3 people so that if you drew a line that went to the eyes of each person, it would form a triangle. Then add additional people keeping the same concept in mind.

4. Try at least a few that are spread out. This works good with siblings that have children. Pose the first group. Then a few feet away pose the second and then the third. It is easier posing smaller groups dynamically while still getting the whole group in the photo. It will also feel less cramped.

5. Don't forget to do a few "fun" shots where you tell everyone to make a funny face on the count of 3 or to jump straight up. Keep shooting even after the stop. These will often be the ones that display their true personalities and capture them relaxed.

6. Have fun. The more laid back you appear, the less stress they will feel.

Assuming that 2/3 focus rule holds true (the focal point for your camera is 1/3 from the front edge and 2/3 from the back), F8 focused on the eyes of the front most person should capture everyone in focus. If you don't have a lot of experience with your flash, I would use it for only adding catch lights by pointing the flash straight up and taping a white index card to the head of the flash to bounce a little light to the group.

Last thing is height. If the group is on the front porch andyou are on the ground, then you'll end shooting up at the subjects which is unflattering. A step ladder will enable you to get at or above the subjects eye-level.

Hope this helps...

tlee

I've got a porch shoot coming up as well. The comments/suggestions have been helpful to me. Thanks for posting the original thread!

cmorganphotography

The poses of the bodies are not what's important it's where you put their faces. Levels and having good coverage to work with the shape of the porch is probably the second important thing. Try to think of the relationships too. If it's a husband and wife they should be touching. If it's a father and his daughter there's a distance but turned towards each other. Brothers are side by side. Play a while and you'll get the hang of it.

KTBoom2006-E510

Thank you for all the help. Tomorrow is my shoot, so wish me luck!