Bad Portrait Session

[brian_f2.8]

I dont want to manufacture photos so Im trying to be different but also be in the ball park. The original pose, a few parents actually like because it didnt look common, it was different. Ordinary people want a variety. We all have different gear for our own reasons. We all listen to different music for our own reasons. Sorry ladies - if we all walked into a bar and saw a blonde and brunette, some would talk to the blonde while others would talk to the brunette. But as long as we own cameras, listen to music and talk to the ladies then we are in good shape.

 

[fjrabon]

if you reshoot, do it the right way....use flash. faster shutter. your d7000 would be able to handle iso 640-1000 perfectly without noise. if you are not equipped to do the job, don't re-schedule to flop it again. refund and forget about it

I shot 4 hockey teams annual portrait last year, i had to use 3 400ws flash heads in 3X4 softbox to do the group shots. a sb-900 is not going to cut it

Indoors, in a relatively dark locker room (which seems to be where he is intent on shooting it), you absolutely can use an SB910 and get workable results. Why wouldn't you? Why in the world would you need any more power than that? The only reason I can think is if you were married to the idea of a gigantic soft box. Or you wanted a modeling light.

Plenty of top end pros shoot athletic portraits with speed lights every day.

edit: I don't think he's re-doing the group shot, if that's what you're talking about.

 

[ghache]

if you reshoot, do it the right way....use flash. faster shutter. your d7000 would be able to handle iso 640-1000 perfectly without noise. if you are not equipped to do the job, don't re-schedule to flop it again. refund and forget about it

I shot 4 hockey teams annual portrait last year, i had to use 3 400ws flash heads in 3X4 softbox to do the group shots. a sb-900 is not going to cut it

Indoors, in a relatively dark locker room (which seems to be where he is intent on shooting it), you absolutely can use an SB910 and get workable results. Why wouldn't you? Why in the world would you need any more power than that? The only reason I can think is if you were married to the idea of a gigantic soft box. Or you wanted a modeling light.

Plenty of top end pros shoot athletic portraits with speed lights every day.

the locker room, sure, the on ice portrait group? i don't think so.

IMO, any sport team session should include one.

 

[brian_f2.8]

Im just going to re-do the individual portraits. The team photo, is kinda workable. Ill spend some time in PS - well lots of time. I can't get the whole team together. Yes a sb-900 will work just fine with a bounce flash on the side. I sent some pics to a few members who offered help and they both seem to agree.

 

[DiskoJoe]

I dont shoot raw(I use CS4 and a D7000 do not play nice with raw files).

Adobe has a fancy pants DNG converter, that will convert your raw files to DNG, which is adobe's "raw" digital negative format.

Oh, and it's FREE!

Freaking noobs man. I cant believe anyone would give up this easy on how to get the raw files to work. This is a deal breaker here.

 

[DiskoJoe]

if you reshoot, do it the right way....use flash. faster shutter. your d7000 would be able to handle iso 640-1000 perfectly without noise. if you are not equipped to do the job, don't re-schedule to flop it again. refund and forget about it

I shot 4 hockey teams annual portrait last year, i had to use 3 400ws flash heads in 3X4 softbox to do the group shots. a sb-900 is not going to cut it

Indoors, in a relatively dark locker room (which seems to be where he is intent on shooting it), you absolutely can use an SB910 and get workable results. Why wouldn't you? Why in the world would you need any more power than that? The only reason I can think is if you were married to the idea of a gigantic soft box. Or you wanted a modeling light.

Plenty of top end pros shoot athletic portraits with speed lights every day.

edit: I don't think he's re-doing the group shot, if that's what you're talking about.

Strobist.com has a tutorial about shooting this exact same type of session with nothing more then two junky speedlites and he talks about how you could get by with just one and shows a shoot where he did just that.

 

[John27]

I dont shoot raw(I use CS4 and a D7000 do not play nice with raw files).

Adobe has a fancy pants DNG converter, that will convert your raw files to DNG, which is adobe's "raw" digital negative format.

Oh, and it's FREE!

Freaking noobs man. I cant believe anyone would give up this easy on how to get the raw files to work. This is a deal breaker here.

Everyone has to start somewhere right? But OP, I would suggest you heed the advice and use RAW. It is such a great tool, and can fix a LOT of headaches.

 

[brian_f2.8]

When I shot NASCAR I was asked to shoot raw. I didn't see a need. In fact I also didn't like bursting shooting raw.

 

[John27]

When I shot NASCAR I was asked to shoot raw. I didn't see a need. In fact I also didn't like bursting shooting raw.

The "need" is that, especially with ever-changing lighting conditions of an outdoor sporting event, the white balance can be infinitely adjusted, exposure can be adjusted a couple stops in each direction, and so-so pictures can be converted to extraordinary. JPEG IS faster, but you need to be much more accurate.

In the case of your hocket photos, you could have adjusted the white balance (correctly, without distortion) and brought the skin tones back somewhat, and adjusted for over/under exposure.

I really, really hope you'll learn a bit more about RAW and re-consider it. There is a REASON the pro's use it when conditions aren't perfect. Pro's do shoot JPEG sometimes, like in the studio as described above, or when speed is absolutely necessary, but again the settings must be PERFECT. RAW is an excellent tool when things aren't PERFECT, but can be made perfect.

 

[bunny99123]

I know it is a pain, but I use an empty memory card, so I can pop it into my Ipad Mini to check for sharpness. My eyes are the greatest, and I can't tell on my camera. I would reshoot. I would try to get a time, not before practice, so they are not worrying about practice. Try to be forward on the fact you need time to set up, so you can produce good photos for the team.

 

[John27]

I know it is a pain, but I use an empty memory card, so I can pop it into my Ipad Mini to check for sharpness. My eyes are the greatest, and I can't tell on my camera. I would reshoot. I would try to get a time, not before practice, so they are not worrying about practice. Try to be forward on the fact you need time to set up, so you can produce good photos for the team.

It's a complicated setup, but it works well. Look into "DSLR Remote Pro" for iPad. It's pricey for an app, but oh man is it great for JUST THAT.

Again, it's a complicated setup, but will save you some time. Basically, you install the DSLR Remote server app on a laptop (Mac or PC), run that and then plug it in via USB to the camera. Then you need to have the laptop and the iPad on the same wi-fi network. (An android device or jailbroken iOS device with a wifi hotspot app will accomplish this, or an old router, or one of those small wifi hotspot devices). THEN, you can use the iPad as a remote controller device! You can do live view focusing, the images will be instantly transfered to the iPad for review, change camera settings, you name it.

Yes, you could just use the laptop too and EOS Utility (or the Nikon equivalent), but that wouldn't be near as nice as the iPad setup!

I know it sounds complicated, and it is, but it's totally cool once you get used to using it. I use an app called "MyWi" on my jailbroken iPad, which creates a mobile router. I have an older PC laptop that is really small, plug USB into that, and bam! Good to go. It's an excellent way to accomplish everything.

 

[brian_f2.8]

Well Im not happy but I think this is much better. The locker room is very bare and not much going on there. I had an assistant help out(show in pic). She is going a nerdy smile but thats irrelevant. I would say the color is much better, sharper and over all just better than before, any thoughts?

 

[fjrabon]

Well Im not happy but I think this is much better. The locker room is very bare and not much going on there. I had an assistant help out(show in pic). She is going a nerdy smile but thats irrelevant. I would say the color is much better, sharper and over all just better than before, any thoughts?
View attachment 27658

Color and lighting are much better. Seems a little soft, but I can never tell if that's just the forum's hosting or if it's actually soft.

she's cute.

 

[Derrel]

Well Im not happy but I think this is much better. The locker room is very bare and not much going on there. I had an assistant help out(show in pic). She is going a nerdy smile but thats irrelevant. I would say the color is much better, sharper and over all just better than before, any thoughts?
View attachment 27658

Worlds better than the first hockey shots done with the mixed lighting. This shot looks like it was made by a man with a plan.

 

[runnah]

The red of the walls and the blue, green and white of the jersey should make the images pop.

Are you opposed to having them standing?