Last dance!!!

jeffreaux2 · April 27, 2008

WEll this was it!! Her last high school dance. My blog visitors will know that her looming graduation...and my son's are causing me to do quite a bit of reflecting lately.

Her senior prom was a few weeks ago, but last night she and some friends went to a prom with some guys from a cross town school. The string of photos begins as the girls were getting ready, and then on to my back patio. It began raining as we drove across town to meet their dates for photos at one of the boy's houses.

I used the Phoxle gels on my flash. The same light blue for the outdoor shots that I have been using, and the darkest of their oranges for the indoor stuff. I used the lightspere in all of the photos. For some reason, I shot about 80 photos before I realized I wasn't shooting RAW. No biggie!!! (:scratch ) I used the in camera indoor WB setting, but found it to still be a tad warm. A one-click solution in LIghtroom was too cool, so I found some middle ground that I was happy with....as I tend to like things to lean toward warm. The 17-55mm F2.8 lens worked well in the confined area of our hosts living room.

Enjoy!!

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14-Go Tigers!!!

15- This shows the difference in temperature between my flash(gelled) and that of someone elses camera that fired simultaneously.

evoryware · April 27, 2008

Beautiful photos again, faves are #2, 3, 12 (even though the one girl is looking away), and 13 .

Only other thing I can say is look at the cross-eyed face she's making in #14!

Scott_Quier · April 27, 2008

Simply gorgeous shots. Not a lot of room for improvement or critic!

jeffreaux2 · April 27, 2008

evoryware wrote:

Beautiful photos again, faves are #2, 3, 12 (even though the one girl is looking away), and 13 .
Only other thing I can say is look at the cross-eyed face she's making in #14!

The face in 14.....funny huh? There are quite a few in the gallery where they were all clowning. Thanks for looking!!

jeffreaux2 · April 27, 2008

Scott_Quier wrote:

Simply gorgeous shots. Not a lot of room for improvement or critic!

Thanks Scott. These are maybe my best indoor/flash photos ever. Existing light would have put me in the ISO 1600 range. I was able to work with the flash at ISO400 for much better/cleaner results. I used the lightsphere without the lid to allow more light to reach those 12 or 14 foot ceilings. The WB, although I like it, is debatable I am sure. I haven't decided yet whether my tastes for warm images is a good thing....or not!!:D

Also, I noticed that the group shot I posted ,#13, is super soft....and is the softest of my group shots.

A better example here...

Icebear · April 27, 2008

I don't know that there's anything to debate about your preference for WB. I think we've gotten way to anal about it. This ain't a physics lab. These shots are perfectly within the limits of "just right" and your "slightly warm" (and I'll have to take your word for it) is very flattering. I wouldn't fry any brain cells over it.

I use a Demb Diffuser, but your results with the Lightsphere have made me think I need to add another farkle to the never-ending list.

SloYerRoll · April 27, 2008

Icebear wrote:

I don't know that there's anything to debate about your preference for WB. I think we've gotten way to anal about it. This ain't a physics lab. These shots are perfectly within the limits of "just right" and your "slightly warm" (and I'll have to take your word for it) is very flattering. I wouldn't fry any brain cells over it.

This coming from the person that shoots everything w/ a white/grey card to get WB spot on..

Icebear wrote:

I use a Demb Diffuser, but your results with the Lightsphere have made me think I need to add another farkle to the never-ending list.

I've tried both. I'm sure in the right hands the demb is a good tool, but it doesn't hold a candle to the LS IMO.

Hey Jeff,

As usual, your shots are wonderful and your ability to catch people in a natural state is close to uncanny.

That being said, I'd like to add my personal feedback that I've seen from this series and recent posts I've read from you.

Multiple cameras:
I've read you give the moms (or whoever) a camera to shoot the event ro when your shooting. I love the idea, but it I don't see one shot in your groups that at least two people aren't looking in the wrong direction. Even the peep shot over the moms shoulders has people looking all over the place.
I don't know if you have any control over this, but may want to consider it can be an inhibitor when shooting groups more than three to have the P&S clicking away.

White Balance:
I disagree w/ John on the fact that ppl are too anal about white balance. Anyone that takes pictures for profit and gives a damn about how their images look should pay careful attention to WB. That being said, you don't have to be super anal about WB, but getting side by shots within reasonable proximity should be a big concern. Allot of the shots in this series were taken within minutes if not seconds of each other, but the WB varies pretty drastically from shot to shot. This may be something you should consider in your post workflow.

As I said before, the shots are lovely and I'm not trying to belittle your wonderful accomplishments. I'm just pointing out what I'd like someone to show me if I were in your shoes.

Best,
-Jon

jeffreaux2 · April 27, 2008

Icebear wrote:

I don't know that there's anything to debate about your preference for WB. I think we've gotten way to anal about it. This ain't a physics lab. These shots are perfectly within the limits of "just right" and your "slightly warm" (and I'll have to take your word for it) is very flattering. I wouldn't fry any brain cells over it.

I use a Demb Diffuser, but your results with the Lightsphere have made me think I need to add another farkle to the never-ending list.

Thanks for the feedback.

As for the diffuser, I won't go out on a limb and say the LS is the end all be all, but it does give you the option of shooting through it to the ceiling while still giving you a short range bare bulb effect. Comes in handy especially when the ceilings are higher than normal. I like it, but don't use it 100% of the time. I had one shot out of....203....with red eyes. Not a bad ratio.

jeffreaux2 · April 27, 2008

Multiple cameras:
I've read you give the moms (or whoever) a camera to shoot the event ro when your shooting. I love the idea, but it I don't see one shot in your groups that at least two people aren't looking in the wrong direction. Even the peep shot over the moms shoulders has people looking all over the place.
I don't know if you have any control over this, but may want to consider it can be an inhibitor when shooting groups more than three to have the P&S clicking away.

I don't have much control....really none in this instance. I was there as a parent really, and not a photographer(there for my daughter...and not hired). I have no reason to supply a camera to anyone on prom night as all the parents....and most of the kids bring their own. So you throw 25 to 30 people in a living room....half dressed for prom...the other half lined up against a wall with cameras in their hands and this is what you get. The "lookaways" are invarably from someone looking at their parent rather than me. I usually count off...1...2...3....snap.......quite loudly....but other than that really ....it's a bit helter skelter. I only brought one camera. I have provided a camera to a couple moms during senior shoots to take some shots of me working with their kids, but never have made it a habit to bring anything like that into my shoots.

White Balance:
I disagree w/ John on the fact that ppl are too anal about white balance. Anyone that takes pictures for profit and gives a damn about how their images look should pay careful attention to WB. That being said, you don't have to be super anal about WB, but getting side by shots within reasonable proximity should be a big concern. Allot of the shots in this series were taken within minutes if not seconds of each other, but the WB varies pretty drastically from shot to shot. This may be something you should consider in your post workflow.

I varied the WB about three times during post. That is 3 different settings divided among ALL of the photos taken in that living room. The three setting changes were slight. Probably the biggest impact on the difference was the wall of windows at the rear of the room, and the glass door and window at the other end. Either way, I am satisfied with the results as my first true attempt at working with gels indoors. Previously I have only dabbled and experimented a little. I did not spend a great deal of time on these after the fact. I had inadvertently left my camera on jpeg capture from an afternoon shoot the day before, and didn't realize it since I ....always....shoot RAW+jpeg. I had been shooting a galloping horse, and my camera couldn't swallow the data fast enough in RAW+jpeg. Anyway enough excuses there....I think I spent one hour total on the 203 shots I captured in LR just making very minor adjustments to the jpegs.

As I said before, the shots are lovely and I'm not trying to belittle your wonderful accomplishments. I'm just pointing out what I'd like someone to show me if I were in your shoes.

Best,
-Jon

Thanks.....I appreciate your feedback.

Rhinotherunt · April 28, 2008

Besides the WB issues and shooting in JPG... these are GREAT! Nice memories!!!

joshhuntnm · April 28, 2008

SloYerRoll wrote:

White Balance:
That being said, you don't have to be super anal about WB, but getting side by shots within reasonable proximity should be a big concern. Allot of the shots in this series were taken within minutes if not seconds of each other, but the WB varies pretty drastically from shot to shot. This may be something you should consider in your post workflow.

there ought to be a way to fix this more or less automatically/ simply in ps. If anyone knows one, please post.

joshhuntnm · April 28, 2008

jeffreaux2 wrote:

. The WB, although I like it, is debatable I am sure. I haven't decided yet whether my tastes for warm images is a good thing....or not!!:D

Just one vote: I like the warmer WB

SloYerRoll · April 28, 2008

joshhuntnm wrote:

there ought to be a way to fix this more or less automatically/ simply in ps. If anyone knows one, please post.

There is. Just set you WB to any manual setting so the camera doesn't try to make adjustments. Then make global changes in Lr. You can do it in Ps, but it's quite a bit more slow and clunky.

Now back to your original topic...

jeffreaux2 · April 28, 2008

SloYerRoll wrote:

There is. Just set you WB to any manual setting so the camera doesn't try to make adjustments. Then make global changes in Lr. You can do it in Ps, but it's quite a bit more slow and clunky.

Now back to your original topic...

Thanks Josh for your comment and vote on warmth.

....and your input as well Jon...

I can assure you both that no one is more anal about MY images than me!!!:D

Oh.....and I told you it was debatable!!!!

leaforte · April 28, 2008

They all made me smile--Ah, youth. Nicely done.

jeffreaux2 · April 29, 2008

leaforte wrote:

They all made me smile--Ah, youth. Nicely done.

Well thank you!!!

An old man who lived next door when I was young always teased me that he wished he were a little boy. More and more I am beginning to see things as he did!:D

Swartzy · April 30, 2008

Sorry, been away for a bit.....always like looking at your posts...especially those elegant settings your girls are involved in...

.

Yea, the warm thing....red is ok to an extent...green and overly yellow (in my book) aren't. I'd favor toning the reds down a tad as it would compliment everything else you are doing correctly....great focus, great poses, great smiles, great comps, great shots..then to see the color balance out of whack.....as they say (whoever they are

), the devil is in the details.

jeffreaux2 · April 30, 2008

Swartzy wrote:

Sorry, been away for a bit.....always like looking at your posts...especially those elegant settings your girls are involved in....

Yea, the warm thing....red is ok to an extent...green and overly yellow (in my book) aren't. I'd favor toning the reds down a tad as it would compliment everything else you are doing correctly....great focus, great poses, great smiles, great comps, great shots..then to see the color balance out of whack.....as they say (whoever they are ), the devil is in the details.

Thanks for your comments Swartzy.

Last dance!!!

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