1st attempts at portraits

anwmn1 · September 6, 2006

Okay I don't have any lights so first let me say how I set this up. Back drop is simply a white sheet hung over the bar in my house, bottom area is a comforter wiht a duvet cover and lighting is a mix of natural and incandescent with and without shades.

Now- go ahead and let me know your thoughts.

(Overexposed in post process on purpose)

sit · September 6, 2006

I like the tonal depth in the second one the best. Overall, it looks to me like the light is a bit harsh and the shadows (e.g., in the 3rd and 4th) don't seem appropriate for a portrait setting. Perhaps a softbox would help? The posing in the last one is good; I wonder if simply shooting that one a second before or after would have revealed more of the older girl's face.

Have you shot any natural light portraits?

anwmn1 · September 6, 2006

sit wrote:

I like the tonal depth in the second one the best. Overall, it looks to me like the light is a bit harsh and the shadows (e.g., in the 3rd and 4th) don't seem appropriate for a portrait setting. Perhaps a softbox would help? The posing in the last one is good; I wonder if simply shooting that one a second before or after would have revealed more of the older girl's face.

Have you shot any natural light portraits?

I have not as of yet. I have a few friends that are asking me to take some pictures of them so I should have some shortly. Thanks for the comments.

Aaron

douglas · September 6, 2006

I love # 4, her actions and expressions are priceless and the tones are great!
Best regards,
Douglas

jenirose3 · September 6, 2006

anwmn1 wrote:

Okay I don't have any lights so first let me say how I set this up. Back drop is simply a white sheet hung over the bar in my house, bottom area is a comforter wiht a duvet cover and lighting is a mix of natural and incandescent with and without shades.

The conversion on the b/w's looks slightly flat. The lighting looks a little off for some reason. The wrinkles in the backdrops (sheet) and the comforter are distracting. I would try a piece of black velvet from the fabric store and use clamps from Home Depot to hold it up. Make sure all of the wrinkles are out of it. If you are going for high-key you can also use white color backdrop and get a piece of plexiglass from HD for the kids to sit on.

Otherwise good job!

photogmomma · September 6, 2006

I think these are a really great start! Certainly better than my first portraits!

! Your girls are just precious. (I have two, also - 38 months and 16 months!)

Let's see, I often use a sheet as a backdrop to get a nice background. One thing you can do to soften it is use a shallower depth of field. (I'm going to assume that you dont' know some of this so if I sound like I'm talking down, I'm not trying to! Just trying to help!) You can do this by setting your fstop (aperature) to a small number. This opens it up very wide and less is in focus. (If you remember the smaller the number, the less that's in focus, you got a good feel!)

You can also move them a little ways away from the sheet, too, if it's still too in focus. Also try to smooth it out so you don't have too many wrinkles. These catch shadows and pull your eyes away from the subject - your cute girls!

If you aren't familiar with natural light, I suggest you get a book called Professional Secrets of Natural Light Photography by Douglas Allen Box. It's very simple to follow and you get awesome results!

In the meantime, you can generally get good results by being close to a bright window. Just make sure if the light is shining through, you and they aren't IN the sun, just next to it.... Then face your girls about 30 degrees from the bright areas. What this does is "sculpt" the face with light a little better than a standard flash. You'll see how one side of the face is brighter than the other. You want that (generally speaking, of course!) so that about 2/3rds of the face is brighter than the other 1/3. They'll be moving and looking around a lot so don't stress it too much, but if you're close, it'll help out!

Definitely try to steer clear of the on camera flash. If you have an external flash, try taking a look at a diffuser. I really love the Lightsphere. (Just google it.) Then, when you have adequate light, you can use your external flash for fill instead of lighting. That means filling up the darker areas without over exposing the brighter ones. If you can learn how to tell your flash to slightly underexpose, that's what you'd need.

One of the biggest reasons I don't like an on camera flash is that you get a dark shadow on the background. I find that VERY distracting!

Here is an example of a shot with the light from a bright window to the left (90 degrees) to the subject. I then used a lightsphere on my flash to fill in the dark spots and give a catchlight in the eye. Oh, and check out the sheet in the background!

While this may not be the best shot out there, it may give you some ideas on how to soften your images and let the faces speak for themselves. (Oh, and see how that rounded wrinkle is a little distracting. Whoops!)

Oh! One final thing! Watch out for cutting off limbs! For example, the adorable baby girl with the pretty blue eyes is missing her hands. ACK!

! You could very easily crop in the middle of the upper arms and closer to the head and get a much more pleasing shot. When you accidentally do cut off limbs, just make sure you crop it in post between the joints not AT the joints. (I love photoshop!

!)

These a GREAT! Definitely keep it up and I'd love to see more! Oh, and holler if you have questions. (PMing is best since I'm so busy with my two girls!) Good luck photographing your friend's kids!

Cantfeelmyfingers · September 11, 2006

I would just like to say I really like the overexposed black & whites! Jamie.

Mitchell · September 11, 2006

Andi gave you some great tips.

Nice try on these, but you need some work to get them up above the amateur level. My first thought is to move your subjects away from your background and decrease your DOF. The wrinkled sheet on the background is not flattering and is very distracting. The harsh shadow on the 4th pic ruins the shot. I used a black, velvet fabric purchased for $30 for my first attemtps. It is more forgiving with no wrinkles or shadows.

The white background can work even if it is wrinkled if you move the subject far enough away and overexpose the background with a separate light.

I'm also a fan of tight crops in young children if you can't control a distracting background. This was taken by window light.

Keep shooting and posting!

1st attempts at portraits

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