First Photo Shoot

Greetings to the group. I've attempted my first shot at a studio

photo shoot in my home. The photos are here:<br>

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<a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?

folder_id=479692">http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?

folder_id=479692</a><br>

<br>

This was done using a window on the left which faces west (I think).

We used fabric we bought at a fabric store. Six yards of sixty inch

wide black fabric. Cut in half and sewn together to give us almost a

3yds x 2yds background. I had some more black fabric lying around

which I used to fill in on the sides and in front.<br>

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Some things I learned:<br>

1. I now understand why people use a light meter. The camera was

one second showing -2 exposure, then it was showing +2 exposure. I

think I got the exposure correct.<br>

2. With Children (at least my boy), you only have about 20 minutes

of shooting, so you better make it quick and have everything

ready.<br>

3. I need to not use a tripod for all the shots. Towards the end, I

removed the camera and took a few shots from a different angle.<br>

4. Get different angles.<br>

5. Shots taken from the side (perpendicular to the subject) aren't

flattering and make my wife look fat.<br>

6. Dark colors on a black background are hard to see.<br>

7. I think I'm liking the square format.

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I think that's all I can remember. I do have one other question to

the group which might be answered better in the digital developing

forum, but since I'm here, maybe someone will have some insight.

When viewing and editing in photoshop, the colors are brighter and

deepers. On the same monitor on the same computer, when viewing the

same files, the colors appear duller. Why is that? Infact, with

Photoshop CS, using the "Save for Web" option, the colors also appear

duller. Am I missing something?<br>

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Thanks in advance,<br>

Tom<div></div>

Not bad. The main faults I see are: lack of fill on the shadow side and the folds in the background material give a distincly 'amateur' look. Its tricky to photograph dark-harired people against a dark background unless you have a hair light - which just adds complication to the lighting setup. The big picture was a nicely set-up shot but spoiled by the boy's grumpy expression.

Those look good. I love the expressions on your child's face. Very

cute. I like the soft left light.

 

You might also try a slightly longer lens. A portrait lens, or a

50mm or up to 100mm, place the subjects a little closer to the

camera (or farther from the backdrop). That might soften up the

background a bit.

 

If your shadows start going dark on you, put a white reflector card

on the right side to add a little fill. But the contrast in those

shadows most often creates very pleasing results.

 

Keep shooting.

Tom, just saw your Photoshop question.

 

If you work in Photoshop, I've found that the profile you save your

final photo in will dictate what that image will look like. And more

importantly, you need to save different profiles for different

applications. Example: AdobeRGB works well for print output,

and sRGB Profile works best for display (web or monitor).

 

And I never use the "Save For Web" option in my workflow. It's a

personal preference for me, as I am working with RAW files

most of the time, and convert to TIF, then to JPEG for each and

every file. So if I want to save for the web, I take a JPEG and

format it for optimum use for the application. (Photo.net requires

a <100K file, less than 500 ppi wide, but my website can take

larger images).

 

It is more time consuming I know, but I find I get the color, and

images I want for web and display.

 

I'm sure someone else will chime in for some hints, and I'm

always looking for help in saving time and optimizing.

 

Be well.

My next shoot will involve another light source. Either a big white board or another light. I would like to add more depth with another light.<br>

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Thanks BW Combs for the advice on the sRGB profile. I'll look into that. I also convert from RAW, but I go straight to JPEG. I might try the TIFF instead. I did notice TIFF files tend to be larger, but I am working in RAW, so I should be used to large files. Just burn to disk.<br>

You are off to a good start, reminds me of my first shoots. I would try to have the light more head on rather than to the side, but shadows add drama and it is a personal opinion, but when shooting women the shadows will highlight wrinkles and age them so getting some fill light will help. Wrinkles and folds in a background can be distracting, like others said, create more distance between subject and background for portraits and decrease your DOF using a tele and wide aperature. If you are shooting raw adjust your curves to darken the background out and make sure your monitor is calibrated so you will know what your prints will look like.

Good job. You got one excellent shot of the boy, and that's all one can really hope for with kids that age. And as you could tell, the secret was making it fun for him. Some pros will have an assistant toss them a small beach ball and have the kid toss it back, firing in between. Kids at that age just won't pose, and in fact, you wouldn't want them to. And yeah, having the camera off the tripod will give you greater flexibility and creativeness.

 

For file sizes, RAWs are 2x as big as JPEGs on your card, and when they're opened, Tiffs are 3x as large as JPEGs. That's at 8 bit - which you should convert to after making any serious tonal adjustments.

 

Get some white foamcore, or a white sheet over cardboard, for fill, and keep at it. The fact that you wrote out what you learned and where you want to go next and how to get there shows you're gonna get this down. I do that (or try to) with every shoot, and only get down on myself if I make the same mistake for the second or third time.

 

Finally, you might also want to experiment with a white sheet or light blue background, or simply the child playing on a bedroom or living room floor, with the background cleaned up and out of focus - the brighter tone will lighten the mood, which might be better for a child.