First Portrait Photo Shoot C&C

photo_joe · Jun 19, 2012

So did my first portrait photo shoot. Had a couple of lights with umbrella's and the back drops. So looking for advice. I tried a flash pointed into on of the umbrella's but wasn't really liking the way that was coming out. Here are a couple of the shoots that I thought were the better ones. So let me know what you think, and thanks in advance for any feedback.

Mach0 · Jun 19, 2012

1/15s ? You might want to shoot faster than that. The first image seems to have to motion blur. Stop down the lens to get sharper images.

photo_joe · Jun 19, 2012

Mach0 said:
1/15s ? You might want to shoot faster than that. The first image seems to have to motion blur. Stop down the lens to get sharper images.

I guess I need more light to be able to stop down to be able to shoot with a faster shutter speed. I just ordered another flash unit so I might try again with flash. What would you recommend for the f-stop? Should I kick up the ISO some as well.

What is a good ISO setting for shooting portraits?

Mach0 · Jun 19, 2012

What's your current light set up? You can keep the iso down and maybe try f8? You have the tamron 17-50?

photo_joe · Jun 19, 2012

Right now I have light stands with 30W CFL bulbs, not sure what that equates to in incandent, with white umbrellas. Yes I have the 17-50mm tamron which is the lens that I was using for these. Originally I wanted to shoot with the 85mm 1.4, but just didn't have the room, then I tried the 50mm 1.8 and still didn't seem like I had enough room due to some furniture that was in the way. I know next time I will be getting the couch completely out of the way.

Mach0 · Jun 19, 2012

Flash is much more efficient. What flash did you order? For shots like this, any decently powered manual flash will do the trick.

Also, you can shoot slow shutter speeds. You just gotta work on the handling skill. Is your d7000 gripped ?

photo_joe · Jun 19, 2012

Well I've got an SB700 and just ordered Yongnuo YN460II. I also have some wireless remote triggers, just didn't really have the time to play with flash since it was kind of a last minute thing and the kids I was shooting weren't really in a mood to let me experiment very much.

Mach0 · Jun 19, 2012

photo_joe said:
Well I've got an SB700 and just ordered Yongnuo YN460II. I also have some wireless remote triggers, just didn't really have the time to play with flash since it was kind of a last minute thing and the kids I was shooting weren't really in a mood to let me experiment very much.

I've never used the yn's but many love the 560. I would use your sb700 and maybe grab a sb24/28 or vivitar 285 hv from KEH. If you wanna spend about 30 bucks more, Adorama has the flashpoint 320 m ii. It's pretty darn good. World of a difference from your continuous light.

kundalini · Jun 19, 2012

photo_joe said:
Right now I have light stands with 30W CFL bulbs, not sure what that equates to in incandent, with white umbrellas. Yes I have the 17-50mm tamron which is the lens that I was using for these. Originally I wanted to shoot with the 85mm 1.4, but just didn't have the room, then I tried the 50mm 1.8 and still didn't seem like I had enough room due to some furniture that was in the way. I know next time I will be getting the couch completely out of the way.

You will spend your money more wisely for either speedlights or monolights rather than the 85mm 1/4, IMO. With flash you can shoot at your x-sync speed (1/250s ?) and keep your aperture at f/8-f/11 with no problem lighting your subject. Continuious lighting has its' purpose, but portrait shooting is not one of them.

The background looks similar to mine, Lastolite maybe?

photo_joe · Jun 19, 2012

Well I already have the 85mm 1.4 so money spent isn't really the issue. I will definetely have to play with flash lighting next time for sure. As for the backgrounds the first two are a black and white marble that I think I got from cowboy studios and the blue background I think I picked up on craigslist a while back. I've been looking at backdrop outlet here recently to try and find a few more backgrounds.

kundalini · Jun 19, 2012

:blushing: Sorry, I misread the bit about lenses...... multi-tasking got me.

photo_joe · Jun 19, 2012

kundalini said:
:blushing: Sorry, I misread the bit about lenses...... multi-tasking got me.

It's all good I know how it goes with the multi-tasking with the wife and kids always trying to get me to do something when I'm already involved in a project.

DiskoJoe · Jun 20, 2012

I would focus on framing before worrying about the lighting.

jowensphoto · Jun 20, 2012

^^Agree with this. As in the first, try not to cut off parts of the subjects head. Head-space is fine in the second two, but there are other parts that got amputated.

Read up on posing as well; generally, with portraits, you want some eye contact. The "over the shoulder" pose can work well (when shot from correct angle), but it looks awkward in #3.

photo_joe · Jun 21, 2012

Thanks for the help. I've been doing some reading the last couple of days and will be re-shooting this weekend to see if I can improve on the first shoot. I definitely noticed a lot of blur when I would zoom in so definitely need to get the shutter speed up and work on the posing of the kids.