Need family portrait advice.

[abel]

Hey guys… I have a few newbie family portrait questions for you guys. Ive been lurking in this side of the forum for some time now soaking in all of the information I can from you guys and now im off to shoot a small family portrait of a friends family tonight which will include about 6 members tops.

What I’m looking for is some advice on lighting and any other setup info u may have. we’ll be shooting in my friends home to give u an idea of the setting we will be in...

What I have in my little arsenal is a canon 10d, 17-40mm f4, 50mm f1.4 and a 550ex. Other accessories I have are a off camera shoe cord, lumiquest pocket bouncer, lumiquest mini softbox, sto-fen omnibounce, a 42” 5 in1 reflector disc and of course my tripod. my girlfriend will be on hand in order to be my lovely reflector-holder assistant person. Hehee.

i also have a 70-200 f2.8 and a 100 f2.8 but i figured they might be too long depending on if the setting is too tight... ill have to see what kind of room i have to work with once i get there...

Also a side note, ill will be shooting in RAW

Any tips, trick or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Big Mike]

With all that equipment...we should be asking you for tips. Not that equipment makes anyone a good phtographer but usually someone with that kind of stuff know a thing or two about lighting.

I don't have any advice to give but for some ideas on clasic possing of groups...check this out http://web.archive.org/web/20011230013215/www.zuga.net/freelessons/JZCH9.shtml

 

[abel]

hehe thanks for the link. ive focused more on inanimate photos for the longest and havent really spent much time (if any) on portrait photography...

nows my chance to get out there and learn first hand i guess. hhehee

 

[sbalsama]

Coincidentally, I just did a family portrait in my parent's living room with the one whole side of my family. It was a backlit situation, so I used a flash bounced off the ceiling. There were about 14 or so people in the picture, so I used the 28mm setting on my standard 28-100mm. Since you only have about 6 people, you could probably get away with using a longer lens, depending on how open the space is. I used film, TMAX 100, and it seemed to come out good, if a little underexposed.

Luckily you have digital, so you'll know on hand how the shot looks. A flash bounced off the ceiling is a great way to reduce glare on glasses or windows or whatever. Also, there aren't really any freaky shadows. Another good thing about the digital, is you could setup your girlfriend (gotta love them, mine helped me with my picture too) and test out different lighting with her before you go on location.

As far as arranging people, it all depends on how closeup you want and if it's a formal or casual portrait. I placed my family on couches, chairs, the floor, standing -- a very casual atmosphere. Hell, try a couple ways. Have fun!

 

[will965]

I dont know much/ anything about portrait/ group photos but i recall from abook i have that using widangle lenses will slightly distort people faces, bodys etc so you're better off going with 105mm/ 125mm (can't remember which) so long as you can fit everyone in.