Need advice!

ccssk8ter11 · Dec 12, 2008

So I'm doing my first family portraits this weekend for a friend and I'm a little bit nervous as i have never done anything like this yet. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice as far as lighting and poses and stuff like that.
I have a d60 w/ nikon 18-55, 55-200, 70-300 and a sigma 10-20, nikon sb-800, and two constant lights with shoot through umbrella's (not sure the exact specs) to work with. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

chrisburke · Dec 12, 2008

i would recommend checking out strobist.com for lighting tips... as for poses.. i'd go to flickr.com and do a search for family portraits to see what others are doing... to be totally honest.. it sounds like your not really ready though if you asking these questions.. BUT, its just friends, so you can go back if they dont turn out...

i'd grab some people and practice, so you don't look silly before they come (or you get there)

ccssk8ter11 · Dec 13, 2008

ouch haha.
Well im not completely retarded lol, i have an idea how to do things and ive done regular portraits before, i was just seeing if anyone who has done it before had any tips. And yeah its just friends so its not really a huge deal.
Gotta learn somehow.

chrisburke · Dec 13, 2008

i didnt mean to zing you, sorry if i did.. i thought I gave you some ok advice, since it is THIS weekend, and you kind of need a quick fix

ccssk8ter11 · Dec 13, 2008

haha yeah i know, you did.
Thanks haha.

Dick Sanders · Dec 13, 2008

This will probably reach you too late, and of course you want to make use of what you have right now. But in the future, strive to rig up lighting that uses 2 to 3 layers of diffusion. The shoot-thru umbrellas only give you 1 layer of diffusion. For example, I have a strobe head with a diffusion disk on a 12 inch reflector, and I shoot that thru two layers of translucent material (3 layers total). I also have rigged up a softbox that bounces the light off the rear of the box, and then punches it through two layers of diffusion material (the one on the front of the soft box, and another I've draped over it -- again 3 total). You'll need more power in your lighting gear, but if you can get 3 layers of diffusion you'll be golden. For soft light and flattering portraits, never use less than 2 layers. The other thing to remember is that for closeup portraits, a single catchlight in the eye is better than two -- so you want only one key light (you can have another light or two, but they should be used to highlight the hair, or the background). Never put more than one light on the face... to maintain just one catchlight in the eyes. Your lighting will look better if you follow this policy, too. Lights should be a little high, aimed down, to put a little shadow under the nose. But not so high you lose light in the eyes. Use white reflectors to bounce light back in for fill where needed -- white foam core in 24 x 30 inches works great for this (get an assistant to hold the reflectors). Hope these tips help. Good luck.