What I Learned Today

sm4him · Oct 8, 2011

Actually, I already knew this, it just got reinforced today. I don't know how to DO portrait photography...I've read the books and tips, I've imagined different poses and settings, I've read all the forum discussions about lighting and camera settings. But there is NO substitution for doing...when I watch football, I understand what they're doing and why, but if I went out there and tried to play...it'd be ugly. That's how I felt today, doing my first "official" photo shoot with my new DSLR. Not truly official...it was for my niece and her family. My sister was supposed to do it, but at the last minute had to back out; they were here from out of town so it HAD to be this weekend. To top it off, NOTHING would do but it had to be at NOON, on a beautiful, cloudless, sunny, BRIGHT day. My sister and I both said, it needs to be early morning, NOT noon...but it was noon.

I had basically a family of 8--my niece, her husband and their 3 month old baby; his parents and brother; her mom and grandmother. Besides the baby, I had one guy (the brother) who REFUSED to smile...said it was enough that he was there, he wasn't gonna smile. Then there was her mother, who is a chronic complainer and has just enough legitimate health problems to really slow the process down. And her grandmother, who wanted to know why we had to keep moving to different places (we were at a beautiful garden with waterfalls, roses, different gazebos, etc and they wanted a variety of settings). When we started to move to the third "setting" (all within less than a football field distance), she said "let's just finish them all here."

And then there was me. All those tips and ideas about lighting, posing, settings, etc kinda went out the window when I started shooting.

I love photography. I especially love nature photography. I really, really love pictures of my beautiful grand-nephew. But I did NOT really love being a portrait photographer.

I'll do it some more, to get the experience and learn, but I think I can cross it off my potential career moves!

sm4him · Oct 8, 2011

Guess I'll go ahead and post a couple that I've done a TINY bit of post on already...go ahead and C&C, I guess...but please take note that I already KNOW I'm not a portrait photographer!! AND it was NOON.

1. The Family

DSC_0534edit b&w by sm4him, on Flickr

2. Baby Grayson, 1

DSC_0543edit by sm4him, on Flickr

3. Baby Grayson, 2

DSC_0803edit2 by sm4him, on Flickr

tirediron · Oct 8, 2011

Really, they're not bad at all. There have been much, much, much worse posted here in the past. Really, the only major issues I see here relate to lighting, and most of that could be solved by shooting at a different time of day (which I understand wasn't an option for today). Another issue is that your compositions all seem rather tight, with some cropped limbs, especially in #2. Keep practicing!

Derrel · Oct 8, 2011

I heart the first picture. Not too bad, really. As tirediron wrote above, "There have been much, much, much worse posted here in the past."

j-digg · Oct 8, 2011

Starting off with shooting that many people sounds like it could really only turn into the PITA situation you described hah. Maybe give it a shot next time with only 1 subject who is actually willing and I bet itll be infinitely easier -from directing the subject to lighting.

sm4him · Oct 8, 2011

j-digg said:
Starting off with shooting that many people sounds like it could really only turn into the PITA situation you described hah. Maybe give it a shot next time with only 1 subject who is actually willing and I bet itll be infinitely easier -from directing the subject to lighting.

You're right about that! When I got talked into doing this, by my sister and my niece, I actually THOUGHT it was just three people; my niece, her husband and the baby. Seemed low-pressure enough, especially since I'd told her several times not to expect much, as I am a nature photographer, not a portrait photographer.

I had NO idea until about 3 hours before the shoot that the others were going to be involved; and since I don't even KNOW his family, it was suddenly much more a pressure situation. I'll be having a little *discussion* with my sister when she gets back in town, lol.