Brian R.

You seemed to have a lead on some options so I thought I'd ask, thanks for your response.

@samstevens Has this site really been abandoned? I've been away for a bit and been poking around wondering what happened.

@samstevens Recommendations?

I just wanted some guidance on making my first portrait at home in a tiny space and making it look better than her 3rd grade shot they took at school, so she wouldn't miss out on picture day during COVID. Now it's something she very much looks forward to, so we'll continue through the years. This is what they made at school, 3rd grade: This was the first portrait I've ever shot, 4th grade: This was the second, 5th grade: I wouldn't describe the look of the ones I did as 60's or 70's portraits, however.

Thanks to every for your help! Okay, my first portrait, here's what I came up with. Only very minor processing in Capture One and did some dog hair removal in Photoshop. I learned quite a bit, and mostly that I need more practice with portraits! 3 light setup with a reflector on camera left: Key, Profoto Deep Large Umbrella (51", White) Rim / Hair, Profoto RFi 1.0 x 3.0' Softbox with grid Background, zoom reflector 2, no grid but focused

Of course!

@Gary Naka Thanks so much. I have many, many years of experience with product photography, but this is my first studio portrait... and it's for my daughter so I want to do it well. I've put it off for too long trying to make sure I know what to do. I've done a lot of reading and watched a lot of videos so my goal here is to put all the pieces together and make the shot. I got a lot of practice virtually by simulating setups in software and came up with the above. It's what I can do in the space I can make in my living room, and it sounds like I'm going in the right direction based on what you said above. If I'm going about this more like a traditional portrait shoot, do you see anything wrong (or right) with my last posted setup?

I postponed the shoot to plan a little better. This is the second setup and render. I learned a little more about the program and found a virtual model with glasses to test reflections, and could make her the correct height.

@Bill C Today I'm planning on working on this! I did some planning with software that's new to me as of today, this is what I came up with. It's a little different than what we've been talking about since after some experimenting I like the look of one catchlight, but wanted to know your thoughts. I'll try a smaller umbrella for a smaller catchlight and see how I feel about the slightly harder light at that distance. I couldn't simulate glasses, and this may not be exactly the pose as I chose a preset, and posing is fairly advanced for the first day. I'm thinking shooting a little loose like this will give me options with cropping for print and digital, maybe not loose enough? Renders below:

@Bill C Thank you very much, very helpful!

@Bill C Thank you so much for your response! Good point about the background. I did specifically find a background that did not have a center gradient so I could make my own, but I can see the advantage. Can you tell me a little more about bringing the fill light closer to the camera? This makes a lot of sense due to shadows. Should the fill be generally positioned at the camera or between the distance of the camera and key? Previously with the lights at 45 degrees of the subject, I can control background spill from both lights, but when I bring the fill closer to the camera I don't think I have enough distance between the subject and background for the light to fall off before it hits the background. In this case, 1) is this okay, and 2) might there now be a shadow on the background? I'm thinking the power of the background spot will be enough to counter a shadow and the fill should not compete...? Great tips on shooting from a camera stand. I forgot to mention I'll be doing this and also will be tethered. Another thing I forgot to ask about was pupil size. I think the idea is to use modeling lights to get the desired pupil size... not too big, not too small... I think I'll know when I see it, or hope so anyway lol. Do you have an example of what we're describing here so I can study and compare?

With my 4th-grade daughter virtual learning at home during COVID, I'd like to make her school portrait at home and do it right. The look I'm going for is what I would consider the classic school portrait, consistent with school yearbooks as I plan on doing this from now on. My google-fu is failing me on how exactly a portrait photographer would approach this, so I thought I would ask here for a concise response. I'd appreciate any thoughts you have, this is my first school portrait and you'll help me approach this with more confidence. My initial thoughts on a plan Setup Background: A 5' x 7' painted mottled canvas backdrop supported with a backdrop stand at the back of the room. Background light: Profoto D2 with a reflector as the background light behind the subject position, not angled but parallel to the background surface. May need a grid and/or diffusion, try without first. My thought is to create a nice pool of light behind the subject that has a wide and even gradient. Subject position: An apple box angled 45 degrees to camera right (stage left). I'm thinking ideally this will be a distance that will be far enough away from the background that the background will be a little blurry, right now it's 4'-5' from the background. The subject sits at that angle and turns their head to the camera ... thoughts on this? Subject lighting: Profoto D2's for key and fill lights positioned about 45 degrees to each side, same height?, as best as possible in a narrow space with furniture, slightly above the subject's eyes angled down. The subject wears glasses so I may need to raise the lights more. Key on camera right, fill on camera left one stop lower than key. My goal is round catchlights so I was thinking to use either umbrella deep (small or medium) translucent with backpanels (more spread) or umbrella deep (small or medium) white (more spill control). For greater control I could use 2' x 3' softboxes with grids, this would help spill on to the background but I don't want grid catchlights... thoughts? Equipment options further below. Hair / rim lighting: The subject has dark hair on a dark background, so I'm thinking to put my fourth Profoto D2 opposite of my key light near the background on camera left using a reflector and likely with a grid. My thought here is to raise and angle this light enough to grace her hair and shoulders, and adjust power so it just separates her from the background a bit. Camera position: As close to the back wall as possible and shoot a little loose. Camera on a camera stand, parallel to the background, raising and lowering up and down rather than angling the camera up and down for height. Full frame camera, 85mm lens, ensure enough depth of field to keep the tip of the nose and the back of the ears in focus, my guess is f8-f11 but also want the background to blur a bit if possible. Subject The subject is my 9yo little lady :-) She wears glasses so I believe I may need to raise the key and fill lights and angle them down further, I cannot go any wider than about 7'. From the few good examples I've seen, I'm assuming the subject is usually angled 45 degrees to either camera left or right, I'm choosing camera right (stage left) ... thoughts on this? Should she look right at the lens? I've heard something about 'the head tilt'. Tips on pose? Tips on smile? Post I believe a school portrait is shot a little looser than a headshot for post-production options, thoughts on this? Any tips on making sure I have crop options for various print sizes and digital media? Below are specifics on space, backdrop, and equipment options. Space Living room: 11' (7' usable due to furniture) x 13' The walls are light cream The floor is a light wood [*]Ceiling: 8', flat, white Backdrop Savage Painted Canvas Backdrop (5' x 7', mottled dark blue) Equipment Options Camera / Lens Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR (full-frame) Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM Canon Normal EF 50mm f/1.2L USM Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM + more that may not be relevant to portraits Monolights x4 Profoto D2 1000 AirTTL x2 Profoto B1 500 AirTTL Flash x2 Profoto A1 AirTTL-C Modifiers Umbrella, shoot-through x2 Profoto Deep Small Umbrella (33", Translucent), with backpanel x2 Profoto Deep Medium Umbrella (41", Translucent), with backpanel [*]Umbrella, shallow x2 Profoto Shallow Small Umbrella (33", White), with diffusion x2 Profoto Shallow Medium Umbrella (41", White), with diffusion x2 Profoto Shallow Small Umbrella (33", Silver), with diffusion x2 Profoto Shallow Medium Umbrella (41", Silver), with diffusion [*]Umbrella, deep x2 Profoto Deep Small Umbrella (33", White), with diffusion x2 Profoto Deep Medium Umbrella (41", White), with diffusion x2 Profoto Deep Large Umbrella (51", White) x2 Profoto Deep Medium Umbrella (41", Silver), with diffusion [*]x1 Profoto RFi 2.0 x 2.0' Softbox, with grid and additional front diffusion [*]x2 Profoto RFi 2.0 x 3.0' Softbox, with grid and additional front diffusion [*]x3 Profoto RFi 1.0 x 3.0' Softbox, with grid [*]Profoto beauty dish, with diffusion [*]Profoto zoom reflector 2 (standard reflector), with various grids and gels [*]Profoto snoots [*]Profoto barn doors Grip gear C-stands Various extensions and booms Very wide assortment of grip gear... - Thank you!

I really appreciate everyone's time and expertise, thank you!

How do you feel about the fisherman in boat motion blur?