Shoot and learn, I suppose.

[JustJazzie]

I wasn't terribly happy with these to be honest. Its clear, I need to invest in a reflector stand. I tried having the older girls hold my reflector for me- but I feel the lighting angle is all wrong. Im still trying to figure out what to do fill-wise wise on our family photos..... Im thinking fill flash may be my best option there?

I am also tempted to begin requiring all outdoor sessions to be during the golden hour. (I'm not a business, So I am allowed to be picky, right?) ...As I think the backgrounds here are SOOO incredibly distracting.

I am definitely learning though, that I prefer to shoot individual's over group posing. So much easier to get connection.

 

[tirediron]

Ummm... well... let's just say that there's a lot more to holding a reflector than just holding it, right? As for the purchase of a reflector stand, while great for in the studio where the position of your lights & talent are static, outside? Not so much. You'd be MUCH better off investing in a nice battery powered moonlight for work like this. These new ones from Godox (in this case badged as a Flashpoint) do HSS will make your life much, much easier.

 

[JustJazzie]

Ummm... well... let's just say that there's a lot more to holding a reflector than just holding it, right? As for the purchase of a reflector stand, while great for in the studio where the position of your lights & talent are static, outside? Not so much. You'd be MUCH better off investing in a nice battery powered moonlight for work like this. These new ones from Godox (in this case badged as a Flashpoint) do HSS will make your life much, much easier.

Hmmm...I have 2 strobes but I don't think either of them...or any of my speed lights do HSS. Honestly I never thought I would get much into outdoor stuff, but it DOES seem to be the trend lately, doesn't it?....

I'll need to re look up the specs to my lights...

Flashpoint 650 and 350 I believe...
I used to know these things!


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[tirediron]

You absolutely DO NOT need HSS, but it can sure make life a LOT easier.

 

[JustJazzie]

You absolutely DO NOT need HSS, but it can sure make life a LOT easier.

Do I then need an ND filter to stay open?....suppose I'll have to re research this! I'm a bit rusty.


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[Vtec44]

Or you can just go the natural light route

 

[JustJazzie]

Or you can just go the natural light route

Guess I will have to head to California for some hands on training! Lol.

Seriously- without a reflector/fill, my natural light photos are lacking.


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[Derrel]

Exposure on these looks wrong...plus, these have too much fill light from the reflector.

Consider this 'early days', and you'll be more pleased with them.

I think the biggest issue is the lighting ratio between subjects, and backgrounds; the reflector light has become more than fill...it is clearly "the main light" or "the key light", and has been exposed and processed pretty "hot". There are no real shadows of any significance in three of the four. My first course of action would be to re-process the .NEF files, and go for an entirely different look; I think all of these are editable in Lightroom, for example, to come up with more pleasing images.

Between electronic flash fill-light and reflector fill, reflector fill is usually easier, and much more WYSIWYG. But again, these are beyond "fill" in terms of how the light hits the subjects; the reflector IS the key light source on the kids. Reflector fill is easier mostly because of the WYSIWYG AND because of flash/shutter synchronization issues, flash power fall-off over group width, flash fall-off in relation to background,etc.

Again, these are early efforts; having seen your prior work I KNOW you will get better with more practice!

 

[Designer]

Do I then need an ND filter to stay open?....

From this comment, I assume you wish to blur the background. The blur can happen in more than one way. Since you're outdoors, try to find a place where the background is WAY FAR beyond your models. I tried to read the EXIF, but got nothing. What was your lens f.l., aperture, and shutter? A speedlight on low power will flash for a very short duration, regardless of what your shutter speed is. Set the speedlight to about 1/32 power or even lower. It will flash for only a short portion of the time that your shutter is open.

Also, another reason you're not satisfied with these shots is because the light (from your reflector) (besides being too strong) is simply too flat. If the reflector was off to one side it would have been better.

 

[Piccell]

WOW...can the kids still see?

 

[Vtec44]

Guess I will have to head to California for some hands on training! Lol.

Or you just fly me out

 

[SteveGP]

Do I then need an ND filter to stay open?....suppose I'll have to re research this! I'm a bit rusty.

ND filters are nice if you want to tone down the harshness of natural light with a flash. If the goal is to stay open and add some fill on the darker side without using a reflector then here's what I would try:

1) Grab a flash, stand, and something to hold it in place.
2) Take an incident meter and set the shutter speed to slightly slower than the fastest speed the flash can handle. This will give some latitude for later adjustments.
3) Take an incident reading on bright side of the subjects face (without the flash on). Make a mental note of that aperture reading.
4) The number of stops difference between the aperture on the meter and the aperture you want to use will tell you which ND filter you'll need to use or how they'll need to be stacked together.
5) Put the flash where you want it and turn it on. You may need to put it fairly close depending on its power.
6) Take an incident reading toward the flash from the darker side and adjust the flash power until the aperture reading is more open than the aperture you read off the bright side. How much more open will depend on how much fill you want. The more open that aperture reading is from the bright side reading, the darker that side will end up. Depending on where the key light is coming from you may need to shield the meter dome from that when taking this measurement.
7) Set your camera speed to the speed you set on the meter, the aperture where you wanted it, and take a shot.

Obviously, depending on where the natural light is coming from relative to the flash and how much reflected light is hitting the subject, the flash measurement may be thrown off a bit.

Anyone see any flaws in this scenario?

 

[JustJazzie]

Do I then need an ND filter to stay open?....suppose I'll have to re research this! I'm a bit rusty.

ND filters are nice if you want to tone down the harshness of natural light with a flash. If the goal is to stay open and add some fill on the darker side without using a reflector then here's what I would try:

1) Grab a flash, stand, and something to hold it in place.
2) Take an incident meter and set the shutter speed to slightly slower than the fastest speed the flash can handle. This will give some latitude for later adjustments.
3) Take an incident reading on bright side of the subjects face (without the flash on). Make a mental note of that aperture reading.
4) The number of stops difference between the aperture on the meter and the aperture you want to use will tell you which ND filter you'll need to use or how they'll need to be stacked together.
5) Put the flash where you want it and turn it on. You may need to put it fairly close depending on its power.
6) Take an incident reading toward the flash from the darker side and adjust the flash power until the aperture reading is more open than the aperture you read off the bright side. How much more open will depend on how much fill you want. The more open that aperture reading is from the bright side reading, the darker that side will end up. Depending on where the key light is coming from you may need to shield the meter dome from that when taking this measurement.
7) Set your camera speed to the speed you set on the meter, the aperture where you wanted it, and take a shot.

Obviously, depending on where the natural light is coming from relative to the flash and how much reflected light is hitting the subject, the flash measurement may be thrown off a bit.

Anyone see any flaws in this scenario?

Thank you so much for such a detailed response. I will take note for when I finally invest in a set of ND filters!

 

[photo1x1.com]

First of all: I love those blurred backgrounds - awesome. Plus: most of your kids seem to enjoy it
I like No4 best because the background doesn´t distract from the model.

Lightingwise, No3 and No4 are better than the rest - they have a little shadow under the chin which is something people are used to because usually our light comes from above. While in your case it didn´t - the shadow made up by clothing in No3, gives you a more natural look.
So placing your reflectors a little higher would help a lot. Nothing against giving a little light from the bottom, but it has to be rather subtle compared to the main light. Otherwise it is perceived as "evil" . Remember your days as a kid when you took a torch and lighted your face from the bottom in front of a mirror - you´ve tried to look evil. That´s why light from below is often used for the bad guys in (especially old b&w) movies.
It looks as if you are using the gold side of the reflectors (probably silver if you changed the color temperature during editing) both of them produce really hard, strong light. Derrel is right - that is not a fill, but rather a second main light.
So you have two choices: either you outpower the available light and make it the new main light - by probably getting even closer with your reflector (if you can). That´s the more difficult option (for you and the models - because reflectors are not really easy to look "into".
Or you make it a fill, by either stepping back quite a bit (making the light a bit harder - smaller light source since it is further away - but it is now a fill, so not that bad), or by using a different surface. Some reflectors have a so called zebra side which is usually a lot softer. Or you use the white side of your reflector, get pretty close and produce a nice, very soft light just like a big softbox.

One more thing in regard to framing: No1 and No4 are great - for No2 and No3 you chose a higher standpoint. When photographing kids, get down to their level. It does make a huge difference. Especially with No2 - she looks a little more shy than the other kids. If you then shoot from above, the shyness is getting more pronounced. It is totally OK though if you´ve done that by purpose to show the nature of a sweet, shy girl.

One last thing: consider using your reflector as a rimlight, lighting your kids from the back on one side - I love that look.

 

[vintagesnaps]

Even with a background out of focus, colors show and lines and shapes can be noticeable or visually distracting (such as the bright yellow streak in the first one). I think these look like the lens was open wider than necessary for every picture and the exposure seems off (although this overly bright look seems popular now). The kids are so fair that in some they somewhat blend into the light background. The subjects look like you engaged well with them and brought out their personalities.