Portrait shoot with Lyla - C&C please!

[Designer]

My problem with both the exposure and the focus was the fact that she continued to move so much it was hard keeping everything right. With a model that is constantly moving should I be in AF?

This model has had some experience, and I think movement is usually exactly what the photographer wants because it gets the clothing and hair moving, and sometimes the pose is very interesting when caught between balance on one foot and before it is all the way on the other foot. Also, if she moves her head, then sometimes the eyes catch the camera with a "just right" glance.

The problem with trying to do that kind of shooting with available light is that your camera generally will have a difficult time keeping up with her. If you can, try to watch a professional photographer in a studio with good strobe lights, and maybe some wind effects. I'm guessing that the pro will run the shutter faster, even with a fairly wide aperture sometimes. They might use burst mode more than you and I would as well.

When you have limited yourself with the lighting you used (available ?) you should probably boost the ISO up from 100 to allow for faster shutter speeds.

If you can't get more light on the model, next time ask her to pause at each pose.

 

[Jwestmorelandphoto]

Hi,
For my two cents, the third image is the closest to the correct exposure for a 'print' type image. I would be more concerned with the white balance, but it's not too far off that it cannot be fixed in post. And don't believe the hype...photographers for years have been using the most advanced tools available to them...now we just happen to be able to post process when we make mistakes in camera. That is the beauty of digital. The last image is way too dark, and also the color balance is odd. Do you take a white balance prior to shooting? I know in the Nikon, a custom WB is very quick and easy to do. Not sure about Canon, Derrel might be more suited to tell you that. I'd be curious to see some close-up images, with a correct white balance. Great job!

 

[yetimeister]

- Don't ignore your backgrounds. You have limbs growing in/out of her head in a few, and if she had taken one step backwards (to camera right) in shot two she would have been nicely framed by the arch of the branch over her head. Shot two also has a couple mildly unfortunate horizon lines (the field/tree transition cuts right across her bust line, the tree/sky transition cuts right at her neck). None of these are particularly egregious in these shots, but keep an eye on such things in the future to really kick a shot up a notch.

Some great advice, thanks for the input Rob! I feel like you guys have created a thread which I will come back and reread many times!! I have read a lot on the exposure triangle, though I definitely have no perfected it yet. The backgrounds tip was something I didn't even think to look for before this, I didn't even think of the way the picture would look with a tree limb coming out of her head LOL. Definitely looking back it would've been an easy fix and something to keep in the back of my head (and not hers!!). I've decided to start taking my iPad with me and I have notes about camera settings and things not to do in my notes section on that. Hopefully until I can get it all drilled into my head I will be able to use that to remind me while i'm out shooting.

Posting my first shoot here was probably the best decision I could of had! Thanks for the positive feedback guys, it's extremely appreciated!!!!

Posted some of the, in my opinion, final edits on flickr for you guys to check out & give input on if you'd be so kind . Changing each image to low quality seemed a little silly. Not sure if I am allowed to post links here, but you can take it down..
flickr.com/photos/theyetimeister/sets/72157631181557380/

 

[yetimeister]

Do you take a white balance prior to shooting?

I absolutely do not. I have read up on WB a little though, seems to been pretty important as well as commonly looked over. I read it is as easy as taking a picture of a white piece of paper before shooting? I think part of my WB issues is simply experience and always watching to make sure my whites are true whites and being able to tell when they're not. Can anyone confirm if setting your WB is that easy? If so i'll be sure to do it before every shoot!!

 

[Jwestmorelandphoto]

I'm using a Nikon D300, and it is SO easy. i usually carry a white popout to bounce light, and use that for balance a lot. But like you can see in some of mine, even a white balance, if you don't take it several times during your shoot, can change because the sun changes temp within that final golden hour. On a Nikon, there's a button called 'wb' on top, you press and hold, then when it blinks, you point the camera at the white, and press the shutter. it will tell you if the WB is good, and then you're set. I've heard Canon is fairly simple, as well.

 

[Derrel]

Well, keep the shutter speed in mind. Focus carefully! And shoot,shoot,shoot!

BUT,before you shoot,shoot,shoot! one of the things that will really help you get better frames is to take the time to get the exposure JUST RIGHT for each scene or each pose you want to do, and then do what is called "shoot the daylights out of it". Take the little bit of extra time to nail down the right ISO level for the light. The right lens f/stop. The right shutter speed. The right background. And THEN, once the basics are really worked out, then go to town! Shoot each pose, in short sequences of 3 to 8 frames, to ensure that you get a good, solid shot of each pose, and only then move on to the next refinement of the pose.TELL your model ahead of time that that is the way you two are going to work together.

When the lighting is tricky, or the set-up is tricky or unfamiliar to you, pause and verbally TELL your model that you need to get the exposure worked out so it is, "Just so," and stay in control of the shoot. THEN, once you are satisfied, start shooting "for keeps". This is the best advice I can give to a newcomer. Make SURE to get the in-camera settings and the shot worked out JUST RIGHT, and only then shoot it "for keeps".

 

[yetimeister]

I experienced a big issue with attempting to get the exposure perfect last time, and your comment made me recall the incident Darrel. We were shooting in mid-day sun without any shade for the most part, clearly not ideal shooting - I unable to accurately see my images on the viewfinder due to the direct sunlight. What solutions are available for viewing the viewfinder better? I think shades might have helped but I wear glasses and that just wont work for me..

 

[Jwestmorelandphoto]

have you tried using a meter? It might eliminate ALL of your issues with light. But honestly, almost every issue with lighting can be tweaked in post.

 

[yetimeister]

have you tried using a meter? It might eliminate ALL of your issues with light. But honestly, almost every issue with lighting can be tweaked in post.

I feel a bit dumb, but i'm not even sure what a meter is! I'll do some searches for it now though for sure. You definitely seem to be right, this being the first time i've ever tried to edit a raw file in photoshop I was extremely surprised with how much could be corrected! With that said though, the pros here have it right - get it right the first time - which is definitely my goal!!

 

[Jwestmorelandphoto]

The thing with digital is that you can tinker a lot in raw converter, but that can be bad if you're not familiar. You shouldn't have to do too much. I sometimes adjust exposure 1 or 2%, and then i'll often times shoot a grey card during the shoot, and do a grey balance to all of the images at once. That's super helpful, especially when there are several different types of light sources. But yes, learn how to get it right in camera first and foremost. The other beauty with digital is that your in camera meter is sufficient. First things first, read your manual cover to cover, take notes, highlight and dogear. But overall, you have a wonderful eye, and the shoot turned out great. I crop in camera, so i felt like the images had too much extra around her that could have been cropped out. Yes, watch your composition. Also, finding good models who understand taking a beat in between movement is necessary. An account with Model Mayhem would be a good start to find local models. play play play. Read read read. and please, have fun. You have everything you need already, no need to buy new equipment. Learn to use what you have, but remember, you're already on the right track!

 

[Big Mike]

I don't know if it's been mentioned yet, but the thing that jumps out at me when first viewing the images, is the rather boring compositions. In the three (or was it four?) shots, her face is practically dead center of the frame...which tells me that you probably just used the middle AF point, put in on her face and snapped the photo....without putting much thought into the composition.
This, of course, leads to a bunch of images with a lot of 'dead space' above the subject, and leaves the subject to be a rather small percentage of the overall photo. You can crop the images down later on...but that hits on what John was saying before...about the mentality of 'fixing it in post' as opposed to shooting it right 'in camera'.

And the worst crime when shooting with too much dead space, is cutting off the bottom of your model, which you've done in each photo. It's simple to crop a photo tighter, but you can't add in parts that aren't in the original photo. With all that space above the model, there is no excuse for not including her lower half in most shots. Although, I'll grant some leeway for 3/4 or head & shoulder shots.