First time portrait help

duckhuntark · Nov 11, 2013

Need some help for a first time portrait shoot. I was asked by a friend if I would be willing to take some photos of his family. I'm still a little hesitant to do this because I don't think i'm very good yet at mastering photography. I figured I could come here and asks you guys what are some do's and don't for this shoot. The shoot will be of his girl mostly that is 3. These will be shot at a nearby college that has some beautiful landscape.

I just bought a reflector, diffuser, light meter, and remote trigger for flash. Do you guys you flash a lot for little children since they move quite a bit or just use natural light? I'm afraid to over expose the picture using the flash since that has always been my downfall.

I only have the two kits lens(18-55 and 55-200) and a 35mm 1.8G series lens. I don't care for the sharpness of the kit lenses at all since they always seem to come out not as sharp as i would like. Would you shoot with the 35mm and deal with the distortion or go with the longer lens to get a better depth of field? Sorry for all of the questions just want to make sure I can make them happy.

Thanks

wyogirl · Nov 11, 2013

Your your kit lenses would be best IMO. Know now that you aren't going to get a three year old to pose so you will be "chasing" shots.

duckhuntark · Nov 11, 2013

Thanks wyogirl, I have a 3 year old myself so I understand that. How many good photos would be expected for a 30-45min session?

wyogirl · Nov 11, 2013

that truly depends on your models. I've had a family who were naturals and I got over 100 good images. I've had a family who was totally uncomfortable in front of the camera and it showed. I think I got 3 keepers out of that (it was horrible).

Expect to take between 100-200 and keeping between 1/4 and 1/2 that. Of course that's just been my experience and I'm not a pro. I shoot families for fun and sometimes they buy the images. I don't charge for shooting, only images (I know a lot of you don't agree with that).

tirediron · Nov 11, 2013

Practice, practice, practice!

IMO, supplemental light (strobes, reflectors) is almost always essential for outdoor images since it is what provides the catchlight in the eye, without which, eyes tend to look rather 'bleah' at best.

I would use the 55-200 lens, at around >80mm, stopped down to f8 or so. Keep your shutter speed at at least 1/200 to freeze movement and eliminate any camera shake.

Go for very simple stuff: Choose nice, even homogenous backgrounds free of leading lines and other distractions, have lots of space between the subject(s) and the background and don't be afraid to move around yourself. Make sure the child is fed and has a chance to use the loo just before the shoot to avoid "issues" during the event. Have everyone in similar clothing & colours and suggest ones which will compliment the background in the area you will be shooting.

In a 45 minute shoot, if I got five keepers, I would be very pleased.

vintagesnaps · Nov 11, 2013

The 'don't' is that I wouldn't take this on. I'm an experienced photographer but in sports/events with some art background (but not formal or studio portraits) - and I'd probably refer them to where they can find a portrait photographer.

Edit - If you want to get into doing portraits it might be better to get in some practice with friends and family and develop skills before you start doing portrait sessions and certainly before you start handling money (which then gets into all the business aspects of photography).

duckhuntark · Nov 11, 2013

Vintage, this is more or less practice and have let him know that. I'm not charging any money for this just doing it for free.

raventepes · Nov 11, 2013

tirediron said:
Practice, practice, practice! IMO, supplemental light (strobes, reflectors) is almost always essential for outdoor images since it is what provides the catchlight in the eye, without which, eyes tend to look rather 'bleah' at best.

I would use the 55-200 lens, at around >80mm, stopped down to f8 or so. Keep your shutter speed at at least 1/200 to freeze movement and eliminate any camera shake.

Go for very simple stuff: Choose nice, even homogenous backgrounds free of leading lines and other distractions, have lots of space between the subject(s) and the background and don't be afraid to move around yourself. Make sure the child is fed and has a chance to use the loo just before the shoot to avoid "issues" during the event. Have everyone in similar clothing & colours and suggest ones which will compliment the background in the area you will be shooting.

In a 45 minute shoot, if I got five keepers, I would be very pleased.

I really couldn't agree more with this advice.

Usually, for families with small kids, I use a simple light set up, typically 2 continuous lights with a camera mounted flash and diffuser, more for stopping motion than actual lighting. The real trick is keeping shadows to a minimum, but that comes with patience with setting up lights and flash. I honestly don't use a whole lot of off camera flash, but again, my preference is continuous lights. Hope that helps some.

duckhuntark · Nov 18, 2013

Well, I learned quite a few things this weekend during the shoot. I'm not the best with kids who are very shy. I'm extremely disappointed in my camera's ISO performance even at 400 ISO. Figure out how to use flash(harder than I ever thought). Shoot lots of pictures. Get some better glass and a new camera.

Here are a few pictures from this weekend. Please give me some feedback to help me out.

1.
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2.
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3.
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Derrel · Nov 18, 2013

Shots 1,2,and 5 turned out reasonably well. Shy kids can be tough, for sure. I think overall, your background selection and background control was VERY good! COlor is nice, and the mood of the shots is good. If there's a nit to pick, it would be that the eyes are darkish, and lack much sparkle...that's the thing I notice, but which a family member would tend to overlook. For a first time shoot, I think you did better than most people would have done. Family members and friends tend to evaluate pictures like these based on emotional connection with the people shown; photographers tend to focus on the lighting and the technique and the technical stuff. But again, for a first timer, I think you handled 9 out of 10 issues reasonably well!

duckhuntark · Nov 18, 2013

Thanks Derrel, I noticed that as well. I had a reflector with me but it was almost too much overcat for that day along with some mist coming and going. I didn't want to flash the face, I was afraid I would over power and blow out their faces.

Hrgrace21 · Dec 5, 2013

I think you did great! When you go to buy another lens get something above 50mm for portraits, primes are best for clarity IMO but some zooms are really good (a bit out of my price range though). I have found it helpful to have simple activities for the kids to do. One time I had the child and parents make paper airplanes and toss them about. When it was time to get "posed" pictures I was able to get the child to go "show" their parents how much dirt got on his airplane. For a little girl you could use streamers on sticks. Even if half of your time is taken up with these activities and you get them warn out and warmed up to you it will be worth it when they are willing to listen to you when you ask them to go "sit on that" or "go show mom this". Great job though!

robbins.photo · Dec 5, 2013

wyogirl said:
Your your kit lenses would be best IMO. Know now that you aren't going to get a three year old to pose so you will be "chasing" shots.

See, everytime someone mentions taking pictures of a toddler somebody else says you can't get them to pose. Yes, you can get them to pose, you just need a little extra equipment. Ok, what you need is a large wooden crate, a stick to prop up one end of it and a good length of rope to tie to the stick. You'll need a hostess cupcake to place underneath the crate and of course at least one roll of duct tape..

Lol, yup, chasing shots.