Taking portraits of my brothers tomorrow.ADVICE needed!

[westerngirl14]

Hey all~ I'm going to take portraits of my two brothers tomorrow... they are 11 and 14. What I'm needing is ADVICE!

How should I pose them, etc. We will be in a park with lots of woodwork, rock, brick, grass, etc. I want pictures of them together and pictures of them separate. I am planning on them wearing nice jeans and long sleeved shirts with nice shoes.

Also, any tips on getting them to look natural and relaxed? I'm talking about boys who normally hate getting their pictures taken. So since I'm finally getting to actually take their pictures, I want them to turn out really nice so they realize that they actually DON'T look horrible in pictures (their belief) I want to show them really great pictures of themselves and help them realize that being camera shy isn't necessary.

I will be shooting with an Olympus SP-500UZ...wish it was better but ya gotta use what ya got sometimes!!!!

thanks so much for taking time to read this...any tips, hints, advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[Tbini87]

avoid the middle of the day if possible since the light may be harsh. try to find open shade if possible which will help them not to be squinting the whole time, and will help in getting good light on their faces. i wouldn't try to force too many poses but kind of let them do their thing with some general guidance from you. that's about all i can think of, and am not a pro by any means. hope that helps!

 

[burgo]

The problem with answering your question is that I don't know them so that makes a big difference. Don't look at it like "what kind of poses can I do?" But think about them. What gets them excited, passionate, animated? You know them better than most people so use that knowledge to get emotions out of them. That will do far more for your photographs than just how you pose them. Get them to pose but also try and catch them off guard as well. Use what is available in your environment like swings, skate board ramps, slides whatever it is but use those objects as props to illicit the response you want, rather than photographing them next to a skateboard ramp. Keep the camera on them and make some magic happen.\

My advise is probably not that useful to you, but this is the way I take portraits.

 

[westerngirl14]

Thank you, ya'll!! So helpful. I was hoping to do the portraits this morning but things came up so it's not going to work out this morning. To avoid the harsh mid day light we're going to try to get some later in the day... late afternoon or early evening. If the weather doesn't hold for then, we are going to aim for next weekend!
I'm excited! thanks so much, again, for the help.

 

[westerngirl14]

UPDATE UPDATE! Saturday fudged on us and filled up with other things...Things that simply COULDN'T wait, soo... we're going to do it this week. QUESTION: I know it is better to shoot in the morning or evening, when the light is warmer, but when is the "perfect" light? Here in these parts at this time of year, the sun rises around 7:15 a.m. and sets around 6:15 p.m. I am pretty flexible and can do it pretty much any time. Advice?

I'm finally getting Mark and Will (that is their names, my brothers) excited about it...They still think it's kind of silly but I can tell they are getting into it! I'M definitely EXCITED! lol

BTW I will post the results on here after!

 

[burgo]

Final advise is the most important things in posing (in my opinion) is:

1. No slouching
2. No hands in pockets.
3. No crossed arms
4. No unflattering angles eg like up the nose.
5. Tell them what you want, don't just leave it to them to pose themselves (unless they are pro models and know all the right moves)
6. Most important, make it fun and have fun yourself.

Good luck

 

[westerngirl14]

Thanks burgo! Good, thumbs up advice but I think it's easier said than done. They ARE teenage boys(or nearly teenage) and they are at that stage where slouching is all they CAN do. It's like they don't realize they have a backbone, and have to lean against everything. *rolls eyes* the WORST posture evveerrrr!!! LOL. So I'm not sure how natural they would actually look if they WEREN'T slouching. Haha.... but here is my plan.... We are going to the park and surrounding area and we're just gonna have FUN. Relax, take our time, do our thing... take time to play on the merry go round if they want to. whatever does it! I messed with my camera tonight and got it to the settings I think I want it on. I'm going to be shooting in raw. Safer that way! LOL. We are planning on heading in around 8 or 8 thirty tomorrow morning.. so wish me luck and pray it goes well! thanks again!