lindseydy
TPF Noob!
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- Dec 6, 2016
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Most of the ones I have of this pose are from this height. I believe I was standing. I will remember for my next one to get a little lower. Thank you for your reply.6 people looking good at the same time is quite an achievement!
The starkness of the studio setting juxtaposed with the red couch is not something I've encountered before but I think I like it. Did you get any at eye level? I'm not too sure about the way you're looking down on them.
.... AND let me be the first to welcome you to the forum!
A couple of things stand out: (1) A light gray sweep is probably the most boring set I've ever seen for a family portrait. (2) The lighting is adequate, but... well... boring, and (3) the posing. It really looks like no direction at all was given to the clients, either in regard to their dress or their posing.
Thoughts for improvement: Separate your wall and floor. For shots like this, I prefer "normal" floors (hardwood, tile, etc) and a dark background. Lighting-wise I likely would have gone with a key about 15-20 degrees camera right, and a fill about 1 stop below just off-axis camera left. That should give you just a bit of contrasting shadow; even lighting that isn't quite flat. I would also probably boom in a strip box as a "bulk" hair light light, and maybe a contrasting gel on the background.
Clothing isn't bad, but did you actually do a pre-shoot consult and discuss clothing choices? That's a lot of gray, and while it doesn't work too badly with the red of the couch, it doesn't do a lot for their skin tones. The biggest area for improvement, IMO, is posing. Dad has legs apar, Mom has legs angled and daughter has knees together and feet apart. Everyone is leaning at least a little bit except for the infant and the young lady on the arm of the couch. I prefer to post families so that Mom and Dad are either in the center (The center of the family) or the outside (protective). In this case I think I would have gone for Mom & Dad in the middle, infant on Dad's knee, older boy on Mom's knee and daughter's flanking. That should give you a nice triangular pattern of heads (remember: Triangles are one of the most powerful compositional elements).
All that to say that it's by no means a bad image, rather that there are a lot of little things that could be improved and raise it from "Okay" to "Wow, I want that in a 30x40 float wrap!" On the upside, you could not have got the infant more perfectly posed!
Thank you!i like it. right up my alley.
i like the contrast of the red couch against the plain clothes and gray background.
really makes it pop.
well done.
This is actually one of the most important aspects of a retail shoot like this. While it's not a guarantee, it will help avoid couple showing up in "inappropriate" clothing such as the man in all black and the woman in too-tight jeans and a sleeveless white blouse. It also gives you an opportunity to get a feeling of what will work best for these particular clients. Ideally, in the studio is best, but failing that, a coffee-shop or similar meeting will work, and at the very least, a telephone consult will work in a pinch. The most common issue is that [usually] Mom makes sure everyone's dressed nicely, but there's no coordination. You don't need or want them all dressed the same [usually], but a coordinated look will really help the final result.I "actually" did not do a pre shoot consult. I will work on my posing and lighting for future sessions. Thank you for your suggestions.
Thank you for the reply. My current lighting is an AB800 with a 72in PLM and I also have a large panel reflector. I had the PLM set up next to me pointing towards the subjects at a slight angle and the reflector was next to the girl on the right. The light was pointing at the subjects not the reflector, but I was hoping to get some fill at least from the reflector. Do you have any suggestions to make the lighting better next time using only the one strobe?I too like the red couch and the white background/floor.
Like tirediron I suggest the lighting is less than flattering.
Except for the baby, everyone's eye sockets are dark to one degree or another.
Note the almost blown out right cheek of the young boy compared to the left cheek of the daughter camera right.
The lighting also delivers a general gradient left to right on the entire scene.
This is a good example of when posting more than one shot will help with further critique. Ordinarily I recoil at someone posting half a dozen shots asking for C&C. I usually don't offer much in that case.Cc welcome.
Yes, buy another light. Seriously... ABs are very inexpensive, and this scene is just too big to light artistically with only one light. A reflector isn't going to be a lot of use; it will add a little fill, but just not enough. The first technical step in a shoot like this is to plan your lighting. The first step in planning your lighting is determining your lighting ratio. For something like this, I'd want probably no more than 2:1 (shadows 2 stops darker than highlights or to put it another way highlights one step above mid tone and shadows one step below). This will give you some definition through highlight and shadow, but keep the overall image on the brighter side (an important consideration for photos of this nature which are often sent to older relatives with less than perfect eyesight).Do you have any suggestions to make the lighting better next time using only the one strobe?
I am planning to purchase another one in about a month or so. Its top of my list of things needed.Yes, buy another light. Seriously... ABs are very inexpensive, and this scene is just too big to light artistically with only one light. A reflector isn't going to be a lot of use; it will add a little fill, but just not enough. The first technical step in a shoot like this is to plan your lighting. The first step in planning your lighting is determining your lighting ratio. For something like this, I'd want probably no more than 2:1 (shadows 2 stops darker than highlights or to put it another way highlights one step above mid tone and shadows one step below). This will give you some definition through highlight and shadow, but keep the overall image on the brighter side (an important consideration for photos of this nature which are often sent to older relatives with less than perfect eyesight).Do you have any suggestions to make the lighting better next time using only the one strobe?
I would probably light this with at least three lights, and use a large, gridded SB as the key. If I were going to do this with your single PLM, I would re-arrange the family so that the children are seated on the couch and Mom & Dad are standing behind. This will lessen the spread of light required, and allow you to pull your key off to the side a bit more, say 20 degrees. Remember that if you do this, you will have to pull the light a bit farther back to avoid fall-off.